SAN ANTONIO – The stage is being set for a San Antonio research team to use MDMA, also known as ecstasy, in its study to help active-duty military members with post-traumatic stress disorder.
MDMA has been used in trials before and has some record of success. This study, specifically requested by Congress, would be more robust.
Army veteran Paul Fowler served his last deployment to Iraq in 2006. He returned home with severe PTSD.
“The memories of the events and the ‘would’ve, could’ve, should’ve’ kind of thoughts and beliefs,” Fowler said. “I mean, that was just a constant unending kind of like a filmstrip. My startled response. It was bad.”
Looking back, Fowler said he wishes there had been more modern and creative PTSD trials, such as the Congress-endorsed MDMA trial.
“I got a nudge that I needed help,” Fowler said.
Fowler finally tried the available PTSD therapies and trials. They helped Fowler so much that he became a consultant for the STRONG STAR Consortium in San Antonio.
STRONG STAR is a research consortium under the UT Health San Antonio umbrella that researches psychological health conditions in military personnel, veterans and first responders.
As a Lived Experience Consultant for its Community Advisory Board, Fowler shared insights and feedback to help STRONG STAR design and carry out relevant research and studies for military service members and veterans.
Word that STRONG STAR was selected for the new MDMA study sent waves of excitement through the program.
“The hope is that we can treat active-duty military to the point where they’re actually in remission and they can stay on active duty,” STRONG STAR Director and Air Force Veteran Dr. Alan Peterson said.
Peterson, a retired Air Force psychologist, will lead the study.
“I served 21 years on active duty and was deployed three times after 9/11,” Peterson said. “So part of this story actually starts in 2004, when I was deployed to Iraq and started seeing a lot of the combat casualties with psychological health problems.”
Since then, Peterson has seen the military and the scientific community shift to open-minded approaches to solving the military PTSD crisis.
“We’re very careful to design this study in a way that minimizes the likelihood that someone would want to use this recreationally,” Peterson said.
In this new study, Peterson will add one dose of MDMA to a longtime PTSD therapy treatment that requires patients to talk about their trauma.
“People are very fearful of their memories, and they’ve pushed this down and really don’t want to focus on it,” Peterson said. “But we know part of what helps people with their trauma is they have to talk about it, have to go through the details.”
That’s where ecstasy comes in.
MDMA stimulates the release of serotonin, which can help regulate mood. The brain’s pituitary gland then releases the chemical oxytocin, which is important for feelings of closeness and communication.
When a PTSD patient feels calm and open to communication, it allows them to engage with a therapist who can successfully walk them through the proven therapy.
The therapy in Peterson’s MDMA study will only last for two weeks.
On the first day, patients would take their one dose of the drug.
“They will be in the clinic all day long. We’ll have two therapists that are with them,” Peterson said. “They’ll be administered the MDMA in the morning, and there’s a whole protocol that’s been developed where they’ll be monitored throughout the day.”
For the next two weeks, they will engage in daily therapy sessions. Fowler said gaining those tools, however possible, changes everything.
“Whenever something triggers me or reminds me of things, I have the tools in order to kind of utilize in that situation to keep things calm,” Fowler said.
The money for this study has been set aside through the Department of Defense.
After finances are finalized, Peterson and his team will start recruiting 75 military members to participate. They are partnering with Emory for this study. The Emory team will recruit 25 participants of its own.
Emory has already started a pilot MDMA study that is showing immense success in lowering or even eliminating active duty members’ PTSD symptoms.
Fowler said he wants other military peers to know there is a way toward healing.
“What you were feeling wasn’t normal because it had just been the status quo for so long. Like, this is what you can feel like,” Fowler said.
Recruitment for STRONG STAR’s specific study is approximately a year away. Anyone can visit this treatment page to see the available trials.
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