This new study is looking at a very surprising treatment for PTSD

The Food and Drug Administration approved phase-3 clinical trials to treat Post Traumatic Stress Disorder using a surprising drug: Ecstasy.

The 230-patient trial is the third step toward making the recreational drug, also known as MDMA, a prescription treatment for PTSD as early as 2021.

During the first two trials, doctors gave patients three doses of the drug over 8-hour periods. The patients relaxed on futons in rooms full of candles and soft music. At the completion of the trial, two-thirds of patients “no longer met the criteria for PTSD,” the study claims.

Many doctors, like psychologist Andrew Parrot, are skeptical about using Ecstacy for clinical use.

“It sends the message that this drug will help you solve your problems, when often it just creates problems, Parrot said.

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Others say it’s working, and the effects on people with PTSD could be life-changing and life-saving.

“I just felt hopeless and in the dark, Iraq and Afghanistan veteran C.J. Hardin, who began the trial in 2013, said. “The MDMA sessions showed me a light I could move toward. Now I’m out of the darkness and the world is all around me.

Hopefully, this new research will lead to better lives for many people.