Posted by BarbaraCat on September 7, 2002, at 12:43:04
In reply to ecstasy to treat depression, posted by beardedlady on September 7, 2002, at 10:07:38
Yes, in fact a psychologist I was seeing had used it in treatment as well as did a number of her colleagues. I did not personally undergo therapy using ecstacy with her because by the time I began seeing her it had just become illegal. This was in Berkeley, CA in the 70's and quite a few psychs and psychiatrists were using it with alot of excitement. It has tremendous potential for cutting through layers and layers of ego stuff and self denial and arriving at a new and healthy perspective. My husband, in fact, was amongst the test group of volunteers for 'upper limit' testing performed by a San Francisco psychiatrist in the early '70s. This means they were given very high doses on numerous occasions - many times higher than the standard street dose. My husband is one of the most stable and unflappable individuals you could ever meet and is living proof that not everyone gets their brain turned to mush.
It's interesting that 'new' research is bringing into question former allegations of ecstacy being this satanic dangerous drug that fries your brain. The fact is, no one should take it lightly at all. It strips everything down to bare bones honesty. You can't hide while on ecstacy. This seeing through your own bullshit can be either horribly threatening or incredibly liberating. Yes, it's a beautifully sensual experience, but a strong emotional one as well. The heart simply breaks open, and some folks cannot stand such intimate intensity. Taking it as a party drug will work only so many times, then intense self reflection is inevitable - that's just the nature of the ecstacy diva, that's just her way. This is a very potent tool, weapon, magic wand, whatever. It shouldn't be gobbled willy-nilly by everyone and using it as a therapeutic tool could be powerful - it's empathic reflective nature enables a speedier cutting to the chase of the issue. Branding it as a horribly disabling dangerous mind blowing drug? Bah! It's just a goverment ploy to keep us scared and ignorant - what better way to turn public consensus away from something so powerful than to appeal to our fear of 'brain damage'. Remember the chromosome damage scare of LSD? Pure horsepucky - but it sure worked to scare us silly from using it. Be wary of the fact that dulling stupid-type substances are legal and expansive ones are not. Again, take note of the 'new' current research suggesting that, hmmmmm, maybe we were a little hasty with our conclusions of brain damage and should rethink this substance. And those of you who have never taken MDMA, can you really discuss this with any knowledge? Aren't your arguments perhaps clouded by judgements based in misinformation and fear?
> I saw this thread, and it sparked some bit of memory about something I must have read or heard on NPR.
>
> Anyway, the piece was talking about how psychiatrists had been studying the use of ecstasy in severely depressed patients and how it was a very successful drug with lots of promise--I think for patients who were usually treatment resistant or bipolar (it's foggy, but it's a memory nonetheless!). A psychiatrist (a prominent one, as I recall) was saying she was very disappointed because they were unable to get grant money to continue the studies due to all the prejudice about the drug and since it had been made illegal. I think they had even found similar things with LSD.
>
> Does any of this ring a bell with anyone? Now that I think further about it, I realize that I'd read the article aloud to my husband while we were driving somewhere, so it must've been in a magazine--like Health or Fitness.
>
> beardy
poster:BarbaraCat
thread:118307
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020906/msgs/119194.html