MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy in People With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

This randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled pilot study assessed the safety and effectiveness of MDMA-assisted therapy among people with chronic, treatment-resistant PTSD, including veterans. Participants were assigned to receive either MDMA-assisted therapy or placebo with therapy during two blinded experimental sessions spaced three to five weeks apart during Stage 1 of the study. During these experimental sessions, participants received an initial dose of 125 mg of MDMA HCl followed by a supplemental dose of 62.5 mg of MDMA HCl, or they received initial and supplemental doses of inactive placebo. Psychotherapists and independent raters were blinded to participants' treatment conditions. This treatment period also consisted of non-drug preparatory therapy sessions and non-drug integration therapy sessions. During Stage 2 of the study, the blind was broken and participants assigned to receive MDMA-assisted therapy in Stage 1 underwent a third open-label experimental session of MDMA-assisted therapy. Participants assigned placebo with therapy during Stage 1 who chose to enroll in Stage 2 underwent three open-label sessions of MDMA-assisted therapy. Outcome measures were administered two months after the second experimental session in Stage 1 and four to six weeks after the second MDMA-assisted therapy session in Stage 2. A final data-collection session took place at two months after the third experimental session. The primary objective of the study was to measure change in PTSD symptoms via CAPS-IV across the study in participants receiving MDMA-assisted therapy versus placebo with therapy.