25 July 2023, Tuesday, 18:03 173

Rada health committee to discuss PTSD treatment with ecstasy

Editor: Tetiana Herasimova

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Verkhovna Rada Member from the Holos faction, member of the committee on the health of the nation, medical care and health insurance Olha Stefanishyna said that the committee is going to discuss the treatment of PTSD with MDMA therapy.

She said this in an interview with Ukrainian News Agency.

"We plan on the basis of the committee to make a round table about this. It will be devoted generally to the psychological problems of the population in Ukraine, and we will also consider such methods (MDMA therapy) of assistance in PTSD," the MP said.

Stefanishyna noted that the Lisova Poliana (Forest Field) Center for Mental Health and Rehabilitation of the Ministry of Health discussed the treatment of PTSD with MDMA therapy (psychedelic-assisted therapy in the treatment of post-traumatic conditions).

According to her, this is not about legalization, but about the fact that in certain medical institutions, under the supervision of doctors in the hospital, this practice can be used.

"A person with PTSD will be able to get more effective psychotherapy with this medication. There are stories that a person has returned from the front and wants to commit suicide. With the help of three sessions, they get into a stable state. These are serious cases when neither medical cannabis nor other drugs nor psychotherapy helps," she explained.

Psychedelic-assisted therapy is a psychotherapeutic practice using psychedelics, especially serotonergic ones such as MDMA (known as ecstasy), LSD, DMT, psilocybin. Data from scientists suggest the effectiveness of the use of these compounds in depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and addictions, without causing physical dependence and withdrawal.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, Stefanishyna advocates the treatment of PTSD with medical cannabis.