treatment.
“We have five people who are completely dry and we have four or five who have had one or two drinks but
wouldn’t reach the diagnosis of alcohol use disorder,” he told The Guardian. Just one has completely
relapsed, he confirmed. Because most addiction is based on underlying trauma, often from childhood,
“MDMA selectively impairs the fear response,” Dr Sessa added. “It allows recall of painful memories
without being overwhelmed.”
He said: “MDMA psychotherapy gives you the opportunity to tackle rigidly held personal narratives that
are based on early trauma. It’s the perfect drug for trauma-focused psychotherapy.” The treatment itself
sees patients given an eight-week course of therapy with powerful doses of MDMA administered in week
three and six.
Discussing possible dangers associated with the drug, including the well-reported death of some
recreational users, Dr Sessa said: “Scientists know it’s not dangerous. The Sun newspaper thinks it’s
dangerous because the tiny number of fatalities that occur every year all get on their front page.”
He added: “If there was a craze of people going around abusing cancer chemotherapy drugs, you wouldn’t
then think, ‘Oh well, it’s not safe to take cancer chemotherapy when doctors give it to you’.”
Further research, which compares the study’s results with a random control group who receive a placebo
instead of MDMA, will now need to be carried out.