MDMA

From The SpiritWiki

MDMA is an extremely powerful Entactogen that temporarily suppresses the body's fear and anxiety response thus enabling one to recognize and process even deeply buried traumatic experiences.

List of Connection Supplements

Connection Supplement > 5-MEO DMT, Ayahuasca, Cannabis, Chloroform, DMT, Datura, Haoma, Kaneh Bosm, Kava, Ketamine, Kykeon, LSD, MDMA, Maikua, Manna, Nitrous Oxide, Peyote, Psilocybin Mushroom, Santa Rosa, Soma, Tobacco, Yaqona

Notes

MDMA is not a recreational drug and should not be used as such. MDMA is a powerful psychoactive that is extremely useful for healing even deep trauma.

Lifetime use of LSD, MDMA, and Psilocybin mushrooms is associated with significantly lower rates of major depressive episodes (MDEs). Jones et al. finds that Psilocybin is associated with reduced past-year MDEs whereas LSD/MDMA are associated with a global reduction in MDEs. [1]

MDMA is a "breakthrough" therapy for PTSD.[2]

MDMA has a "strong bias toward the positive end of the affective spectrum, deeply heart-full, centered psychological insight and self-aceptance, and tends to produce less visual imagery or 'cosmic'breakthroughs or metaphysical disorientation."[3]

Social Connection: Lyyubomirsky provides an excellent overview of the effects of MDMA as well as a conceptual model for using MDMA to study social-psychological processes such as connectedness, prejudice, etc., as well as to develop interventions. "I propose using MDMA as both an innovative basic science tool and a biointervention that can assist in addressing the fundamental psychosocial need to connect with others."[4] Lyubomirsky notes emotional mechanisms that contribute to the ability of MDMA to enhance social connection. It increases trust, empathy, self-compassion, openness, self-disclosure, self-confidence, and a desire to interact.

Action and Measurement

MDMA significantly improves sleep quality in those with post-traumatic-stress-disorder as far as twelve months out from initial treatment. [5]

The negative experience of "comedowns", colloquially known as "Blue Mondays," are often anecdotally reported by people who take MDMA. Research by Sessa et al. suggests that MDMA comedowns do not exist in a clinical environment and should instead be attributed to improper dosing and illicit sourcing. [6]

As Rigg et al. notes, MDMA related deaths (MRDs) are not due to inherent dangers with the substance nor attributed to overdose. Instead, they are caused by relating factors such as "hyperthermia, dehydration, drug interactions, or hyponaetremia". Similarly to Sessa et al. this stems from incorrect testing, sourcing, and ingestion. [7]

Effects

Footnotes

  1. Grant M. Jones and Matthew K. Nock, “Lifetime Use of MDMA/Ecstasy and Psilocybin Is Associated with Reduced Odds of Major Depressive Episodes,” Journal of Psychopharmacology 36, no. 1 (January 2022): 57–65, https://doi.org/10.1177/02698811211066714.
  2. Mitchell, Jennifer M., Michael Bogenschutz, Alia Lilienstein, Charlotte Harrison, Sarah Kleiman, Kelly Parker-Guilbert, Marcela Ot’alora G., et al. “MDMA-Assisted Therapy for Severe PTSD: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Phase 3 Study.” Nature Medicine 27, no. 6 (June 1, 2021): 1025–33. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-021-01336-3.
  3. Olivetti, Katherine. “Dimensions of the Psyche.” Jung Journal 9, no. 4 (October 2, 2015): 98–124. https://doi.org/10.1080/19342039.2015.108693 p. 103
  4. Lyubomirsky, Sonja. “Toward a New Science of Psychedelic Social Psychology: The Effects of MDMA (Ecstasy) on Social Connection.” Perspectives on Psychological Science 15, no. 5 (2022): 1–24. p. 2. https://doi.org/10.1177/17456916211055 Also see https://sonjalyubomirsky.com/files/2022/06/Lyubomirsky-2022.pdf
  5. Linnae Ponte et al., “Sleep Quality Improvements After MDMA‐Assisted Psychotherapy for the Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.,” Journal of Traumatic Stress 34, no. 4 (August 2021): 851–63.
  6. Ben Sessa et al., “Debunking the Myth of ‘Blue Mondays’: No Evidence of Affect Drop after Taking Clinical MDMA,” Journal of Psychopharmacology 36, no. 3 (March 2022): 360–67, https://doi.org/10.1177/02698811211055809.
  7. Khary K. Rigg and Amanda Sharp, “Deaths Related to MDMA (Ecstasy/Molly): Prevalence, Root Causes, and Harm Reduction Interventions.,” Journal of Substance Use 23, no. 4 (July 2018): 345–52, https://doi.org/10.1080/14659891.2018.1436607. p. 345.