For Jon Lubecky, the scars on his wrists are a reminder of the years he spent in mental purgatory.
He returned from an Army deployment in Iraq a broken man. He heard mortar shells and helicopters where there were none. He couldn’t sleep and drank until he passed out. He got every treatment offered by Veterans Affairs for post-traumatic stress disorder. But they didn’t stop him from trying to kill himself — five times.
Finally, he signed up for an experimental therapy and was given a little green capsule. The anguish stopped.
Inside that pill was the compound MDMA, better known by dealers and partygoers as ecstasy. That street drug is emerging as the most promising tool in years for the military’s escalating PTSD epidemic.
The MDMA program was created by a small group of psychedelic researchers who had toiled for years in the face of ridicule, funding shortages and skepticism. But the results have been so positive that this month the Food and Drug Administration deemed it a “breakthrough therapy” — setting it on a fast track for review and potential approval.
The prospect of a government-sanctioned psychedelic drug has generated both excitement and concern. And it has opened the door to scientists studying new uses for other illegal psychedelics like LSD and psilocybin (commonly known as magic mushrooms).
“We’re in this odd situation where one of the most promising therapies also happens to be a Schedule 1 substance banned by the [Drug Enforcement Administration],” said retired Brig. Gen. Loree Sutton, who until 2010 was the highest-ranking psychiatrist in the U.S. Army.
Because of the stigma attached to psychedelics since the trippy 1960s, many military and government leaders still hesitate to embrace them. Some scientists are also wary of the nonprofit spearheading ecstasy therapy, a group with the stated goal of making the banned drugs part of mainstream culture.
But the scope and severity of PTSD makes it all irrelevant, said Sutton, who now works as New York City’s commissioner of veteran services. “If this is something that could really save lives, we need to run and not walk toward it. We need to follow the data.”
PTSD has been a problem for the military for decades, but America’s recent wars have pushed it to epidemic-level heights. Experts estimate that between 11 and 20 percent of soldiers who served in Iraq or Afghanistan suffer from PTSD.
The affliction is typically triggered after experiencing or witnessing violence, including assault and abuse. It has ravaged lives and broken up marriages. It often leaves its victims in sudden panic and prevents them from dealing with the original trauma.
And that last symptom is what makes PTSD particularly hard to overcome with traditional talk therapy. Because patients can’t talk about and process the trauma, experts say, it lingers like a poison in their mind.
Only two drugs are approved for treating PTSD: Zoloft and Paxil. Both have proved largely ineffective when it comes to veterans, whose cases are especially difficult to resolve because of their prolonged or repeated exposure to combat.
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By William Wan
August 26, 2017
Images Credit:
- Jonathan Lubecky, a Marine Corps and Army veteran, returned from a deployment to Iraq with severe PTSD. His participation in a study of MDMA, the drug commonly known as ecstasy, proved life-saving. (Travis Dove/For The Washington Post)
- A dose of MDMA in the office of South Carolina psychiatrist Michael Mithoefer, who has studied its use as a treatment for PTSD. (Travis Dove/For The Washington Post)
- Rick Doblin founded a nonprofit advocating research into the therapeutic use of psychedelic drugs. (Nirvan Mullick)
Source : Washington Post
Link to original article: Ecstasy could be ‘breakthrough’ therapy for soldiers, others suffering from PTSD
