Acid Test author Tom Shroder and retired Marine Nicholas Blackston speak about research into the benefits of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy to treat PTSD during their panel discussion at Horizons: Perspectives on Psychedelics 2014 in New York City on October 12, 2014. Shroder details his experience of investigating the history of psychedelics for the book Acid Test, and passionately describes why he believes MDMA-assisted psychotherapy should be made into a prescription treatment for PTSD. "The FDA has the ability to fast-track an urgently needed drug," explains Shroder. "I can't think of a treatment that is more urgently needed.” Blackston speaks openly about how traumatic events from his military experience contributed to his PTSD, discusses how the ineffectiveness of traditional PTSD treatments caused him to search for an alternative treatment method, and reveals how his life changed in a positive way after he received MDMA-assisted psychotherapy in a clinical study. "The therapy— it saved my life. I regained the hope and purpose that I needed," explains Blackston.
Originally appearing here.
Can once-feared drugs heal our wounded warriors and liberate our souls? The astounding saga behind the renaissance in psychedelic healing.
Horizons: Perspectives on Psychedelics is an annual forum that examines the role of psychedelics in science, healing, culture and spirituality. Learn more at horizonsnyc.org.
Tom Shroder, Author and former Editor of The Washington Post Magazine. Tom Shroder is an award-winning journalist, editor, and author. His most recent book, Acid Test: LSD, Ecstasy, and the Power to Heal, was published in September. His earlier book, Old Souls, is a classic study of the intersection between mysticism and science.
Nicholas Blackston, Former Marine, participant in the MAPS clinical trial of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD. Nicholas Blackston joined the Marines out of high school, saw combat in the Iraqi cities of Faluja and Ramadi, suffered severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder until participation in experimental trials using MDMA-assisted therapy allowed him to face the roots of his disorder and heal himself.
