The former chief of the Armed Forces has highlighted research into the illegal drug ecstasy to treat anxiety disorders caused by combat.
Yesterday’s edition of the BBC’s Today programme on Radio 4 was guest-edited by General Sir Nick Carter, who retired last month as Chief of the Defence Staff.
Listeners were told Sir Nick wanted Today to showcase the banned drug’s apparently positive effects on traumatised troops.
General Sir Nick Carter indicated that he wanted officials to examine whether ecstasy could possibly be used to treat PTSD-afflicted troops.
The United States has evidence that ecstasy might be effective for soldiers suffering from PTSD. Photo by a model
It is still considered a Class A drug by the British government because of its role in hundreds of seizures and high blood pressure deaths.
The penalty for possessing MDMA or ecstasy, also known as MDMA, is a seven year sentence, while dealing with the drug could result in a lifetime sentence. But early research in the US into the drug’s efficacy in treating conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder has been so encouraging that it could be prescribed to soldiers from 2023.
Radio 4’s Today featured interviews with US veterans who said MDMA had helped them rationalise battlefield trauma. British trials into MDMA-assisted psychotherapy are expected to start in early 2022 at King’s College London, the Daily Mail has confirmed.
Researchers have already discovered that MDMA can release hormones like oxytocin, and change brain activity patterns.
It was particularly found to decrease activity in the areas of the brain that are responsible for processing memories. MDMA also allowed veterans to more easily rationalise recollections of traumatic moments which would otherwise be ‘stuck’ in the heads.
It was combined with intense therapy sessions.
A US veteran told Today: ‘I was in Vietnam in 1968-69 and suffered for more than 50 years before joining this research. My anger was overwhelming and I felt able to release it. MDMA and the therapy calmed me down and I gained a tool kit for fixing negativity.’
Last night, Dr James Rucker, a consultant psychiatrist at King’s College London, said: ‘PTSD can be a life altering and extremely debilitating illness. The contract for hosting a trial is in the final stages of being signed. This trial will focus on finding a successful treatment for PTSD through MDMA-assisted Therapy.
‘We anticipate it will be signed in the very near future.’