Can "ecstasy" help patients overcome post-traumatic stress?
Can ecstasy help those with post-traumatic stress?
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 real-life exposure to reminders of trauma. The therapy is intended to help the patient "re-learn" a non-debilitating response to a trigger of fear. It's a phenomenon known as extinction learning.
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