Psychoactive Drugs in the Management of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Promising New Horizon

Summary & key facts

This review looked at research on strong psychoactive drugs — MDMA, ketamine, and psilocybin — as new ways to help people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The authors explain how these drugs can reduce fear and anxiety circuits in the brain and why that might help people whose PTSD does not get better with current medicines or therapy. The idea is promising, but studies are still early and past laws and safety fears slowed research for many years.

Key facts:

• Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, is an anxiety disorder that can happen after a scary or life-threatening event, from a burglary to war.
• Current standard care for PTSD is regular psychiatric medicines and psychotherapy, but researchers are exploring psychoactive drugs (also called psychedelics) as another treatment option.
• MDMA, ketamine, and psilocybin have been shown in research to act on brain pathways linked to fear and anxiety, and they can reduce activity in those circuits.
• Because these drugs can change fear and anxiety responses, they may be helpful for people whose PTSD does not improve with usual treatments, but this is still being tested.
• Legal bans and the belief that these drugs are mainly harmful kept research limited for decades; growing public interest has recently increased scientific studies on their possible benefits.
• The review describes mechanisms and possible benefits, but it also notes that the evidence is not yet strong enough to say these drugs are proven, safe, or ready as standard PTSD treatments.

Abstract

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that often presents after exposure to a traumatic, life-threatening event. Experiencing a traumatic event is not rare, with inciting incidents ranging from being burglarized to politically motivated genocide. While traditional psychopharmacology and psychotherapy are the mainstays of the treatment of PTSD currently, psychoactive drugs (otherwise known as psychedelics) are being explored for their novel role in the treatment of PTSD patients. Psychoactive drugs such as MDMA, ketamine, and psilocybin have been shown to specifically target and decrease fear and anxiety pathways in the brain. These unique properties hold the potential to be utilized in addressing symptoms of trauma in those with refractory or treatment-resistant PTSD. Historically, federal and state laws have restricted research into how psychoactive drugs can be used to treat mental illness due to the widespread belief that these drugs present more harm than benefit. However, the current shift in public opinion on psychedelics has propelled research to look into the benefits of these drugs for patients with mental illness. This article aims to discuss the mechanisms of how MDMA, ketamine, and psilocybin work in the PTSD brain, as well as their beneficial role in treatment.

Topics

Psychedelics and Drug Studies Treatment of Major Depression Tryptophan and brain disorders

Categories

Clinical Psychology Psychology Social Sciences

Tags

Anxiety Hallucinogen MDMA Medicine Psilocybin Psychiatry Psychology Psychopharmacology Psychotherapist Traumatic stress

Substances

Ketamine MDMA Psilocybin

Conditions & symptoms

Anxiety PTSD Anxiety or worry