135
submitted 4 months ago by girlfreddy@lemmy.ca to c/news@lemmy.world

Some 13 million Americans struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Existing therapies only bring relief for a fraction of patients, and new treatments are sorely needed, according to psychiatrists wrestling with the scale of the problem. So, there was distinct disappointment when an advisory committee at the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) voted earlier this month against a therapy that many had hoped could offer the first new treatment for PTSD in 25 years.

A number of experts who study psychedelics have since spoken out in support of MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD and have sharply criticised the recommendations of the FDA's Psychopharmacological Drugs Advisory Committee. But some are still optimistic that the treatment might be approved when the FDA delivers its final decision in August.

Ahead of the meeting, FDA approval of MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD seemed likely, says Sandeep Nayak, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University, who investigates psychedelics as treatments for substance use and mood disorders. About two-thirds of people who received three sessions of MDMA and talk therapy no longer qualified for a PTSD diagnosis at the end of two Phase 3 clinical trials.

It's an outcome that is "almost double that of existing medications", says Gül Dölen, a neuroscientist at the University of California, Berkeley, who researches the mechanisms of how psychedelics achieve therapeutic effects. "What's more, [the treatment] led to durable improvements in these patients lasting at least six months."

top 38 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] treefrog@lemm.ee 16 points 4 months ago

I would love to know how many members of this board have stock portfolios in pharmaceutical companies that are currently collecting huge amounts of money from antidepressants being used to treat people with PTSD.

Antidepressants that really aren't effective in the treatment of PTSD but make the pharmaceutical industry a shitload of money.

Like most things, when we follow the money we learn why powerful people make the decisions they do. And I imagine this instance is no different.

[-] aniki@lemm.ee 9 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

The government doesn't work for us. The war on drugs continues.

[-] Varyk@sh.itjust.works -5 points 4 months ago

Psilocybin.

Let them use psilocybin, which more effectively treats the same symptoms of PTSD for a longer time with simpler therapy schedules and no physiological risks or side effects, and let the researchers pursue MDMA as long as they want until they can figure out an effective therapy that isn't dangerous.

[-] treefrog@lemm.ee 17 points 4 months ago

Psilocybin is not more effective for treating PTSD.

It's great for anxiety depression, those are not PTSD.

And you and I have had this conversation before but you are still spouting the same nonsense.

Both are needed. And you are minimizing what the FDA is doing here and how it will hurt people with PTSD.

[-] Fondots@lemmy.world 15 points 4 months ago

As a child on a taco commercial once said

¿Por qué no los dos?

Both show promise though need further research to determine how they should be used most effectively and safely, they have similar legal hurdles, and different patients may respond better to one, the other, or possibly even a combination of both,

[-] You999@sh.itjust.works -2 points 4 months ago

As much as I hate to say this, MDMA being used for treatment of mental illnesses might not be viable option because of it's negative effects. I do not know if short term severe depression and long term memory loss is worth a reduction in PTSD. Maybe as a last resort medication similar to how methamphetamine is prescribed for drug resistant ADHD.

[-] Varyk@sh.itjust.works -5 points 4 months ago

As I said, there's no reason why not two.

Similarly, there's no reason to make people wait for a potential mdma medication while psilocybin is available, effective against the exact same symptoms, perfectly safe and has a simpler therapy regimen.

[-] girlfreddy@lemmy.ca 7 points 4 months ago

Because not everyone is exactly the same. Different experiences, different histories, different types of injuries/traumas means different methods of treatment.

Yes psilocybin is good. But it may not be for everyone.

[-] Varyk@sh.itjust.works -4 points 4 months ago

Nobody argued everyone's the same.

All of the arguments that are put forth for using MDMA to treat PTSD symptoms already work for over 80% of patients using a single treatment of psilocybin that is already available.

Go ahead and research MDMA, but don't deny people an available, effective, safe and simple treatment while we wait for the development of experimental therapies.

[-] treefrog@lemm.ee 6 points 4 months ago

Again you're spouting statistics with no scientific evidence to support them. I remember that study you linked with the 80%. That rate was not for PTSD but other chronic mental health conditions being treated with psilocybin.

Your claims have no evidence to support them so please stop. Because you're not helping.

[-] quinkin@lemmy.world 4 points 4 months ago

Make it legal for cluster headache treatment too.

[-] Varyk@sh.itjust.works 0 points 4 months ago

Oh man, a thousand and 10%.

I did a deep dive into cluster headaches and that jaw nerve disorder that drives a lot of people to suicide, I really hope they do what psilocybin trial to relieve people of that.

Trigeminal neuralgia.

Yes 100%, people who have tried geminal neuralgia or any nerve damage and cluster headaches should probably try magic mushrooms.

Physiologically safe, rewires your brain in good ways in every study so far and a thousand anecdotal stories, why not try it?

this post was submitted on 21 Jun 2024
135 points (99.3% liked)

News

23287 readers
3421 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil


Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban. Do not respond to rule-breaking content; report it and move on.


2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.


Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. We have an actively updated blocklist, which you can see here: https://lemmy.world/post/2246130 if you feel like any website is missing, contact the mods. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.


Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.


5. Only recent news is allowed.


Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.


6. All posts must be news articles.


No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.


7. No duplicate posts.


If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.


8. Misinformation is prohibited.


Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.


9. No link shorteners.


The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.


10. Don't copy entire article in your post body


For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS