TRONDHEIM , Norway, Mar 10, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Ecstasy may help sufferers
of post-traumatic stress disorder learn to deal with their memories more
effectively, researchers in Norway suggest.
"A goal during exposure therapy for PTSD is to recall distressing experiences
while at the same time remaining grounded in the present," study authors
Pal-Orjan Johansen and Teri Krebs, based at the Norwegian University of Science
and Technology said in a statement. "Emotional avoidance is the most common
obstacle in exposure therapy for PTSD, and high within-session emotional
engagement predicts better outcome."
Psychiatrists who have administered MDMA -- the pharmaceutical version of
Ecstasy -- to anxiety patients have noted it promotes emotional engagement;
strengthens the bond between the patient and doctor; decreases emotional
avoidance and improves tolerance for recall and processing of painful memories.
Johansen and Krebs suggest there are three possible biological reasons for why
ecstasy could help individuals with PSTD -- ecstasy is known to increase the
release of the hormone oxytocin, which is involved in trust, empathy and social
closeness. It also acts in two brain regions to inhibit the automatic fear
response and increase emotional control and thirdly, ecstasy increases the
release of two other hormones, noradrenaline and cortisol, essential to
triggering emotional learning, including the process that leads to fear
extinction, on which therapy for PTSD relies.
The findings are published in Journal of Psychopharmacology.
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