Essay Psychedelic medicine: the therapeutic potential of mind-altering substances (PSY3382)
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Psychedelic medicine (PSY3382)
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Maastricht University (UM)
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psychedelic medicine the therapeutic potential of mind altering substances
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Maastricht University (UM)
Bachelor Psychology
Psychedelic medicine (PSY3382)
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MDMA-assisted
psychotherapy for
PTSD patients
Name and student ID: Kiki Boumans (i6199324)
Tutor: N. Mason
Course: PSY3382 Psychedelic Medicine: The therapeutic
Potential of mind-altering Substances
Faculty: Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience (FPN)
Date: 16-12-2021
Word count paper: 1748
Word count abstract: 100
Number of references: 16
, Abstract
Currently available treatments for PTSD have failed to show sufficient reduction of PTSD symptoms.
A promising discovery is assisted use of MDMA in psychotherapy. This study aims to answer the
question ‘Is MDMA-assisted psychotherapy effective in reducing PTSD symptoms, and in what way
is it effective?’. Findings suggest that MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD patients has a
favourable risk-to-benefit ratio. MDMA causes interactions between neurochemicals, hormones and
downstream signalling molecules that stimulate learning and memory processes favourable to PTSD
treatment, like fear extinction and memory reconsolidation. Future research is recommended to
establish safety and efficacy for patients with complex PTSD.
Introduction
Posttraumatic stress disorder, PTSD, is a complex internalizing disorder which develops as a
consequence of experiencing a single traumatic life event or repeated stressful experiences, e.g.
childhood abuse (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). PTSD can be defined by the next
symptom groups: intrusive symptoms (e.g., vividly reexperiencing the traumatic event), avoidance of
stimuli that are associated to the pscyhotraumatic event, negative changes in cognition and mood,
increased arousal and reactivity, and significantly impaired daily functioning. Additionally, people
with PTSD have a significantly increased risk at developing a range of comorbid disorders (American
Psychiatric Association, 2013).
PTSD brings along immeasurable social and economic costs that affects the lives of millions of
people every year (Mitchell et al., 2021). Prevalence rates of traumatic events across the world differ
from 54 – 73.8% (Atwoli et al., 2015). However, not all people that are exposed to traumatic events
develop PTSD. Among the people that encounter a traumatic event in their lives, 23.6% meet the
criteria for PTSD over a course of time (Emmelkamp & Ehring, 2014).
There is a variety of treatment options available, of which exposure-based psychotherapy is
designated to be the first-line treatment for patients with PTSD, according to the PTSD treatment
guidelines (Krediet et al., 2020). Exposure-based psychotherapy contains imaginal visualization of the
traumatic events and exposure to trauma-related cues that trigger fear responses. The aim of this type
of therapy is to extinguish the fear-association with the trauma-related stimuli. Although some patients
achieve full remission after psychotherapy, about half of the patients do not respond adequately to the
treatment (Feduccia & Mithoefer, 2018).
There have been a lot of recent studies investigating the efficacy of pharmacological agents in
improving results and reducing dropout rates of exposure therapies and other psychotherapies for
PTSD. A promising discovery is the assisted use of psychedelic medicine next to psychotherapy
(Krediet et al., 2020). One of these psychedelics that has been a focus of recent studies is
Methylenedioxymethamphetamine, MDMA. Exposure-based psychotherapy for PTSD supported by
MDMA could enhance treatment results, as compared to psychotherapy with administration of
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