A New Study at Brown University May Help Alleviate Symptoms of PTSD
Researchers have launched a study testing MDMA, known as ecstasy or molly, and talk therapy as a treatment for PTSD and alcohol use disorder in military veterans.
Illustration via Getty Images/Sarayut and Naprienko Irina.
For those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, the drug MDMA might ease the pain. Last year, a team of Brown University researchers launched a new ongoing study testing MDMA, known as ecstasy or molly, and talk therapy as a treatment for PTSD and alcohol use disorder in military veterans. It was the first study of its kind at Brown to research MDMA-assisted therapy as well as its effectiveness for dual disorders.
The study is led by three Brown faculty members: Carolina Haass-Koffler, associate professor of behavioral and social sciences and of psychiatry and human behavior; Erica Eaton, assistant professor of psychiatry and human behavior and of behavioral and social sciences; and Christy Capone, assistant professor of behavioral and social sciences and of psychiatry and human behavior.
In a 2020 MDMA-assisted-therapy controlled trial for PTSD, 88 percent of participants reported a significant reduction in symptoms and 67 percent no longer met the diagnostic criteria for PTSD two months out. The study was recently awarded a VA grant to conduct a larger randomized trial of MDMA-assisted therapy at the Providence VA in October 2025.
“The potential for MDMA-assisted therapy is very exciting,” says Capone, the lead researcher. “In previous studies, many people no longer met the criteria for PTSD at the end of treatment and some still didn’t have PTSD years later. That’s just mind-blowing. It’s not something we ever see with traditional PTSD treatments.”
Three volunteer participants were provided with two eight-hour-long administrations of MDMA in comfortable spaces with access to eyeshades and music. Each MDMA session was followed by a series of talk therapy sessions to help process the experience. Researchers also used MRI brain imaging to learn how MDMA-assisted therapy affects the brain.
“What’s fascinating to me is that in these sessions, therapists don’t need to lead participants to the trauma,” Capone says. “It comes up on its own. Patients develop a capacity to trust that their own brain will let them know what needs to be healed.”
