Evaluating the efficacy and safety of MDMA for the treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: a systematic review

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorKodancha, Meghaen
dc.contributor.authorChahrour, Housseinen
dc.contributor.authorCarey, Cassandraen
dc.contributor.authorFazeli, Hivaen
dc.contributor.authorAzadian, Anahitaen
dc.contributor.authorKajitani, Sten Hiroshien
dc.contributor.editorMehta, Shobhaen
dc.contributor.editorCronin, Pádraigen
dc.date.accessioned2025-10-28T13:54:55Z
dc.date.available2025-10-28T13:54:55Z
dc.date.issued2025en
dc.description.abstractBackground: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) affects approximately 5-7% of the population, with conventional treatments often proving inadequate for some patients. Recent studies suggest that methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) combined with psychotherapy may offer a novel therapeutic approach. This systematic review evaluates the efficacy and safety of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for the treatment of PTSD in individuals with chronic, treatment-resistant forms of the disorder. Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted in PubMed, OVID, Scopus, Cochrane databases, and select reference lists for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating MDMA as a treatment for PTSD. Eligibility criteria included RCTs with participants with confirmed PTSD diagnoses using standardized clinical assessments. Results: In the RCT studies, there are significant reductions in PTSD symptoms (p<0.05) in those with MDMA-assisted psychotherapy compared to those with placebo and psychotherapy; dose-dependent improvements were observed in various measurements scales (specifically in CAPS-IV/CAPS-5 scores). Open-label trials further demonstrated improvements in PTSD symptoms when given MDMA-assisted therapy (p<0.05) and long-term analyses of studies demonstrated that effects of MDMA-assisted therapy were maintained for a minimum of 12 months post-intervention(p<0.05). Adverse effects were transient and mild to moderate, including anxiety, headache, fatigue, muscle tension, and insomnia. Conclusion: Extant data suggests that MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD demonstrates significant symptom reduction, with sustained efficacy up to 12 months post-treatment. Functional unblinding is a major methodological challenge, which makes it difficult to interpret the magnitude of the effect MDMA has in the treatment of treatment-resistant PTSD. Future research should refine methodologies and explore long-term safety and efficacy in diverse populations.en
dc.description.statusPeer revieweden
dc.description.versionPublished Versionen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.citationKodancha, M., Chahrour, H., Carey, C., Fazeli, H., Azadian, A. and Kajitani, S. H. (2025) 'Evaluating the efficacy and safety of MDMA for the treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: a systematic review', UCC Student Medical Journal, 5, pp.28-37. https://doi.org/10.33178/SMJ.2025.1.4en
dc.identifier.doi10.33178/SMJ.2025.1.4en
dc.identifier.endpage37en
dc.identifier.issn2737-7237
dc.identifier.journalabbrevUCC SMJ
dc.identifier.journaltitleUCC Student Medical Journalen
dc.identifier.startpage28en
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10468/18081
dc.identifier.volume5
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherUCC Medical Research and Technology Societyen
dc.rights© 2025, the Author(s). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.en
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
dc.sourceBatch uploaden
dc.subjectMDMAen
dc.subjectPTSDen
dc.subjectPost-traumatic stress disorderen
dc.subjectPsychotherapyen
dc.subjectTreatment-resistanten
dc.subjectEfficacyen
dc.titleEvaluating the efficacy and safety of MDMA for the treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: a systematic reviewen
dc.typeArticle (peer-reviewed)en
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Evaluating+the+efficacy+and+safety+of+MDMA+for+the+treatment+of+Post-Traumatic+Stress+Disorder_+a+systematic+review.pdf
Size:
1.82 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Published Version
Download
Collections
UCC Student Medical Journal Vol. 5 (2025)