Minutes Australia: Revolutionary Drug Trial Using Ecstasy To Treat Ptsd And Mental Illness
Summary: Its the first time weve seen a radically new treatment of this scale in mental health in the last 40 years, explains Brad Burge during an interview on a recently aired 60 Minutes Australia exclusive about the therapeutic potential of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD. The episode follows the experience of a former participant in a Phase 3 clinical trial as well as interviews Brad Burge of MAPS and Erik Sienknecht, Psy.D., a MAPS-sponsored therapist working on Phase 3 trials of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD. It is going to change the face of psychiatry, says Sienknecht.
Will Sgb Interfere With My Psychological Therapy
Absolutely not! SGB helps to remove the physical symptoms you experience from PTSD such as a racing heart, sweating, hypervigilance, and generalized body tension. Once these physical symptoms are reduced by SGB, you may find you and your psychologist or counselor can make great progress with therapy.
D Assessment Of The Risk Of Bias Of Individual Studies
To assess the risk of bias of studies, we will use predefined criteria based on guidance provided by AHRQ44 and the University of York Centre for Reviews and Dissemination.45 In general terms, results of a study with low risk of bias are considered to be valid. A study with medium risk of bias is susceptible to some bias but probably not sufficient enough to invalidate its results. A study with high risk of bias has significant methodological flaws that may invalidate its results. We will consider the risk of bias for each relevant outcome of a study.
Two independent reviewers will assess the risk of bias for each study. Disagreements between the two reviewers will be resolved by discussion and consensus or by consulting a third member of the team. We will rate studies that meet all criteria as having low risk of bias. Medium risk of bias ratings will be given to studies that presumably fulfill all quality criteria but do not report their methods sufficiently to answer all of our questions. We will give a high risk of bias rating to studies that have a fatal flaw in one or more categories and will exclude them from our analyses.
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A Criteria For Inclusion/exclusion Of Studies In The Review
Table 3 presents the inclusion/exclusion criteria for this review. We do not repeat all of the PICOTS information related to the inclusion/exclusion criteria Table 3 supplements the information outlined above in the PICOTS.
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How Long Does It Take To Complete An Sgb Injection
Once we have you in our procedure room and have cleaned your skin with special soap, the procedure takes about 10-20 minutes to complete. Most of this time is spent scanning your neck with our ultrasound machine to find the ideal target location. The actual time our needle is in your neck is a few minutes.
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F Grading The Evidence For Each Key Question
We will grade the strength of evidence based on the guidance established for the Evidence-based Practice Center Program.47 Developed to grade the overall strength of a body of evidence, this approach incorporates four key domains: risk of bias , consistency, directness, and precision of the evidence. It also considers other optional domains that may be relevant for some scenarios, such as a dose-response association, plausible confounding that would decrease the observed effect, strength of association , and publication bias.
Table 5 describes the grades of evidence that can be assigned. Grades reflect the strength of the body of evidence to answer KQs on the comparative effectiveness, efficacy, and harms of the interventions included in this review. Two reviewers will assess each domain for each key outcome, and differences will be resolved by consensus. We will grade the strength of evidence for the outcomes deemed to be of greatest importance to decisionmakers and those most commonly reported in the literature. We expect these to include PTSD symptom reduction, quality of life, disability/functional impairment, and adverse events.
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| Evidence either is unavailable or does not permit estimation of an effect. |
Scientists Roland Griffiths And Matthew Johnson Sit Down With Journalist Anderson Cooper To Discuss The Promise Of Psychedelics As A Form Of Treatment For Anxiety Depression Addiction And More
Image caption: Scientists Matthew Johnson and Roland Griffiths sit down with journalist Anderson Cooper
Scientists at Johns Hopkins are exploring a promising new branch of behavioral research: the effect of psychedelics on the brain. Led by Roland Griffiths, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral science, researchers at Johns Hopkins have discovered that psychedelic drugsincluding psilocybin, the active compound in “magic mushrooms”have been shown to improve the quality of life for patients with life-threatening cancer, help longtime smokers quit, and help patients overcome persistent depression.
In a segment that aired Sunday night on 60 Minutes, Griffiths and his colleague Matthew Johnson discussed the nature of their work with CBS correspondent Anderson Cooper, who also interviewed two of their volunteer test subjects.
One of those test subjects, Carine McLaughlin, was able to quit smoking after 46 years after she participated in a psilocybin trial at Johns Hopkins for an ongoing study. To achieve her goal, however, she had to endure a harrowing experience inside her own mind.
“The entire time, other than the very end and the very beginning, I was crying,” she told Cooper.
Carine McLaughlin was a smoker for 46 years and tried everything to quit before signing up for a hallucinogenic experience at Johns Hopkins University, as part of a clinical trial. She said the experience was awful, but she hasn’t had a cigarette since
60 Minutes
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New Ongoing And Published Research
VA is committed to funding research to better understand, diagnose, assess, and treat PTSD. VA research has led the way in developing effective psychotherapies for PTSD and exploring other approaches such as medications, behavioral interventions, and therapeutic devices. VA also has a strong track record of moving PTSD research into clinical practice.
VA researchers are working to better understand the underlying biology of PTSD, advance new treatments, and refine diagnostic approaches. Ongoing studies range from investigations of genetic or biochemical foundations of PTSD to evaluating new treatments and drugs.
VA research aims to improve Veterans quality of life by increasing the number and type of evidence-based treatments and identifying additional personalized approaches for treating PTSD. Current PTSD research includes studies of Veterans, their families, and couples. Veterans of all eras are included in these studies.
VA’s National Center for PTSD is the worlds leading research and educational center of excellence on PTSD and other consequences of traumatic stress. It currently consists of seven VA academic centers of excellence across the United States, with headquarters in White River Junction, Vermont.
In 2013, VA and the Department of Defense announced that they were committing more than $100 million to fund two new consortia aimed at improving diagnosis and treatment of PTSD and mild traumatic brain injury.
Combining Clinical Data With Patient
Our study was the first multi-site randomized controlled trial of SGB for treatment of PTSD. The trial determined that the SGB procedure decreases the severity of PTSD symptoms. Our researchers are still evaluating whether it affects other conditions such as anxiety, suicidal thoughts, pain, and alcohol use.
RTI coordinated all aspects of the study at three U.S. military facilities:
- Womack Army Medical Center in North Carolina
- Tripler Army Medical Center in Hawaii
- Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany.
This included developing the study protocol and monitoring its execution to measure patient health outcomes for 8 weeks after injections.
Study participants received either the SGB injection or whats referred to as a sham procedure , during which the patient received an injection of saline near the stellate ganglion instead of the SGB medication.
We also conducted focus groups and interviews with service members, spouses, and healthcare providers to explore how SGB is perceived in comparison to other treatments for PTSD, which should predict whether SGB could be widely accepted as an option for the many service members, veterans, and civilians who suffer from PTSD.
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Talking Treatments For Ptsd
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence the organisation that produces guidelines on best practice in health care currently recommends two types of talking treatment for PTSD:
- Trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy . This is a form of cognitive behavioural therapy specifically adapted for PTSD. NICE recommends that you are offered 812 regular sessions of around 6090 minutes, seeing the same therapist at least once a week. See our pages on for more information about this therapy.
- Eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing . This is a fairly new treatment that can reduce PTSD symptoms such as being easily startled. It involves making rhythmic eye movements while recalling the traumatic event. The rapid eye movements are intended to create a similar effect to the way your brain processes memories and experiences while you’re sleeping. EMDR Association UK – a professional association of EMDR clinicians and researchers – provides lots more information about EMDR on its website. They also have a search function to find EMDR-accredited therapists in your area.
NICE may recommend other talking treatments in future if they are found to help with PTSD, but more research is needed.
One of the most disturbing things has been the feelings of aggression and anger towards anyone who looks like the person who attacked me… EMDR therapy has been massively helpful.
What if I don’t feel better?
Background And Objectives For The Systematic Review
Studies suggest that individuals experience a broad range of traumatic events throughout their lives and that the frequency of these events may vary by the group studied, for example, civilian versus noncivilian samples. The fourth edition of the American Psychiatric Associations Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders defines a traumatic event as an event experienced, witnessed, or confronted by a person that involves actual or threatened death, serious injury, or a threat to the physical integrity of self or others.1 The DSM-IV-TR diagnosis of PTSD also requires that the persons response to the event involve intense fear, helplessness, or horror. Traumatic events may include military combat, violent personal assault, being taken hostage, a terrorist attack, torture, natural or manmade disasters, and being diagnosed with a life-threatening illness.1 The full DSM-IV-TR criteria are listed in Table 1.
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Safety And Potential Side Effects
Frequently reported side effects of MDMA include anxiety, tight jaw, headache, and fatigue . Episodes of anxiety can occur when the first effects of MDMA become noticeable and can easily be coped with by psychotherapeutic support . In some cases, a slightly depressed mood has been reported . MDMA is known to increase heart rate and blood pressure in a dose-dependent manner . Therefore, some forms of hypertension and severe cardiovascular pathology are seen as contraindications. Slight hyperthermia as induced by MDMA presents no problem when used in a medical setting . Some authors have raised concerns over a potential neurotoxicity and abuse liability of MDMA . However, neither of those have occurred in medically supervised use of MDMA .
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The new trial backs up findings of an earlier Phase II study, in which researchers looked into the optimal dosage of MDMA for therapy. They determined that 120 milligrams would yield the best results, made up of an 80 milligram tablet taken 60 minutes before the start of therapy and an additional 40 milligram tablet taken just as the session started.
For Phase III, the experts theorized the 120 milligram dose would help participants speak more openly with their therapists, allowing treatment to become more effective.
The results of their medical trial confirmed the hypothesis, with a whopping two-thirds of participants no longer meeting the criteria for PTSD two months after their last treatment.
You can imagine if people are reliving an experience that was stressful and fear-provoking in essence traumatizing its not simple in a therapeutic setting, Mitchell said. So MDMA allows them to recall the original experience without guilt or shame.
According to the American Chemical Society, around 6% of Americans will experience PTSD, a debilitating condition characterized by amnesia, flashbacks and nightmares related to a traumatic event.
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History Of Sgb Injections
The Stellate Ganglion Block was first used in the United States in 1925. The original purpose of the procedure was to provide relief of chronic pain. It has been administered millions of times since then, all across the globe. SGB was first used for depression in 1945 in The Cleveland Clinic. Unfortunately, its psychiatric impact potential was forgotten. Then in 1998 , a Finnish physician treated a patient who was suffering from both severe hand sweating and PTSD. The procedure for hand sweating involved modulating the sympathetic nervous system in the upper chest . Much to the doctor’s surprise, the patient reported relief of hand sweats as well as relief from his PTSD symptoms. During my research I realized that the Finnish doctors PTSD success could be achieved more easily and safely by blocking the sympathetic nervous system in the neck rather than the chest. Since 2007, I have performed over 550 SBG procedures for PTSD. An additional 2,000 SGB procedures have been performed by colleagues, mostly doctors in the US Army.
Selected Major Accomplishments In Va Research
- 1989:Created the National Center for PTSD to address the needs of Veterans and other trauma survivors with PTSD
- 2007: Confirmed the value of prolonged exposure therapy as a treatment for women Veterans with PTSD
- 2013:Funded, along with the Department of Defense, two consortia to improve treatment for PTSD and mild traumatic brain injury
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Minutes Try Psychedelics And Have A Surprisingly Good Trip
AOD Media Watch would like to congratulate 60 Minutes on their recent episode exploring psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. The complex issue, which is too often the subject of misrepresentation and fear-mongering, was handled with sensitivity and accuracy.
While AOD Media Watch articles typically draw attention to problematic reporting on alcohol and drug issues by the Australian media , the outlets report on the potential efficacy of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy as a means of treating post-traumatic stress disorder , came as a welcome surprise.
The program featured ex-cop and person diagnosed with PTSD Nick Watchorn, who allowed 60 Minutes inside his MDMA trial sessions. There, he was medicated, laid down and guided through his psychotherapy within a clinical setting. The scenes served to demystify MDMA-assisted psychotherapy to viewers who may have doubted its efficacy.
The episode also discussed current research, referring to results of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD clinical trial and consulted reputable experts, including Brad Burge, Dr Eric Sienknecht and Associate Professor John Allan. The experts accurately laid out the current risks and benefits: the results appear promising, but are dependent on therapeutic settings and require further research to determine reliability and safety.
Randomization Masking And Bias Minimization
Participants were randomized in a blinded fashion and were allocated 1:1 to either the MDMA-assisted therapy group or the placebo with therapy group. Randomization was stratified by site and occurred following enrollment confirmation . Randomization was managed via an interactive web randomization systemITClinical IWRS, version 11.0.1 based on a centralized randomization schedule developed by an independent third-party vendor to maintain blinding. Participants, site staff and the sponsor were blinded to participant group assignment until after the database was locked.
An inactive placebo with therapy was utilized as the comparator to isolate the efficacy of the MDMA itself. Although low-dose MDMA improved blinding in phase 2 studies, it led to decreased effectiveness compared with an inactive placebo in a PTSD population, making it easier to detect a difference between the active and comparator groups. The use of inactive placebo also allows for uncontaminated comparison of safety data between groups. Therefore, an inactive placebo was determined in partnership with the FDA as a more conservative statistical comparison, and the study utilized observer-blinded efficacy assessments to minimize bias in efficacy measurements.
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Minutes: Cognitive Processing Therapy
Collins said that Prolonged Exposure Therapy is helping him to overcome his survivors guilt, which is a building block to him for a next step in life. Every time I get through it, I get stronger, he said. I didnt want to be alive. My whole purpose of life was gone.
Anthony Apellido spent a year in Afghanistan. After one month off, he was back in Iraq and later returned to Afghanistan. He said in group sessions that he got mad and stopped wanting to get close to people because of the pain of losing fellow soldiers. Two were killed and 20 were wounded when Apellido and his company were ambushed one day.
The VA is offering a second experimental therapy called Cognitive Processing Therapy. Reeder said that repeated trauma can leave people feeling like the world is dangerous. This therapy method begins with writing an impact statement, which is shared with the group and talk about how their lives are still held in the grip of war.