British doctors want to repeat the findings of an American study that shows MDMA — the active drug in ecstasy — to be hugely helpful in treating post-traumatic stress disorder. The idea is not quite to hand combat veterans tabs of “E” for a night of clubbing, but the researchers do think a number of currently illegal drugs, like LSD or magic mushrooms, could help trauma-damaged brains. “I feel quite strongly that many drugs with therapeutic potential have been denied to patients and researchers because of the drugs’ regulation,” Dr. David Nutt, a controversial ... Read More
Researchers Re-Open Their Minds to Psychedelic Drugs
May 5, 2011 • By • Leave a Comment
Mike is hunched over a pile of soggy wood chips at the bottom of a glade in Golden Gate Park. It's a clear winter afternoon and sunlight filters through the eucalyptus trees, landing on grass still damp from a recent storm. Mike sifts through the wood chips, slowly and deliberately examining the soil beneath. Two paper bags fill a pocket of his Patagonia fleece jacket. Mike is a 28-year-old engineer at a prominent software company in San Francisco. He is soft-spoken and self-possessed; on weekends he drives his Subaru Forester to his time-share in Tahoe to ski. He donates to public radio, ... Read More
The Ecstasy and the Agony
August 10, 2009 • By • Leave a Comment
For people suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder — an anxiety condition that develops in the wake of extreme psychological stress or fear — often the only way forward is to confront the very memory that triggers the disorder. While group and cognitive therapies have shown promise, exposure-based therapies have become increasingly popular and successful. Exposure means confronting a distressing memory (a near-death experience, the loss of a loved one or a sexual assault, for example) to emotionally process it in a safe clinical environment — either through imagined scenarios or ... Read More
