[ad_1]
To start the treatment, I gave Sophie two MDMA capsules and then helped her slip on the eyeshadow and earphones to encourage her to face any images, associations or emotions brought about by the drug. Since the effects of this drug can be confusing or strong, I have stayed nearby all the time. About an hour later, Sophie announced that she was in the hut, where her father first started beating her. She said that when her alcoholic father suddenly blinded her, she kept smiling on the bed. The blow caused her to fall to the ground so shocked that she lost control of her bladder and fainted briefly. She has replayed the scene hundreds of times, but on the images that once made people feel overwhelmed and confusing, on drugs, they are now safe enough to explore. She described a strange sense of relief. She who once caused primitive terror to swallow her, can now discuss this incident clearly and in-depth.
Not only was she able to re-examine and process the traumatic memory in the end, but she was also able to express grief for the 7-year-old girl among them, because this was the torture she suffered throughout her life. Sophie’s description of memory is usually judgmental and desperate, surprising, full of sympathy for herself and her father. She talked about a fishing trip they took together when they were young and how her father himself was abused, something she had never talked about before. After taking drugs for nearly seven hours, the discussion shifted from abuse to more clear thinking about the journey of one’s life. This is not a typical medical examination. This is undisputed progress. While reflecting on the meeting, Sophie said that she was finally able to face-to-face and relive her abuse without fear, to be able to digest it, and to have a deeper understanding of how it changed her. she cried. She forgave her father. Then, most importantly, she forgave herself.
Deep experience seems to have a lasting effect. After the third and final treatment, Sophie’s PTSD score has dropped from severe to non-existent. She recently said to me: “That incident in the cabin never made me cry again.” “For many years, the love that happened to me made me cry.”
Of course, not every experience using MDMA is exactly the same as Sophie’s experience. Some patients have suffered so much trauma, whether it is because of fighting, their parents, or their spouse, they have to endure several courses of treatment. Whether during medication or more conventional psychotherapy, we must continue to reduce memory and slowly build up the self-compassion and acceptance necessary for digestive damage. Some patients scream when the image is triggered to return. When others embrace their lives with a more positive attitude, they will dance or sing. No meeting is the same, and what happens inside or outside the office will rarely persist like your regular psychiatric practice.On the one hand, the meeting itself is a lot of For MDMA, it takes longer (eight hours or more). The biggest challenge of the study itself may be the placebo-controlled nature of the study (half of the people took sugar pills) and the need to reduce the need for almost all psychiatric drugs for critically ill patients who may have been using it for ten or twenty years. two. Other peculiar effects of this new paradigm have also emerged: I once called from a psychiatrist and asked about drug dosages and side effects, and now I asked about the best playlists, or how to interact with someone when deep in traumatic memories. Of contacts.
Regarding MDMA, the only thing I can say with certainty is that for many years, my waiting room is no longer a revolving door with a solemn face. This is the first time in many years. Recovery is still alive. As a young medical student, one of the reasons I was first attracted to psychiatry is that I believe that psychiatrists and patients can explore the deepest level of psychology together and help it heal. I worked with patients to decode their subconscious memories, dreams and reflections, and I appreciated the transformational ability of talk therapy. Then, it seemed that psychopharmacology changed a lot overnight. Responsible for the task of repairing the “chemical imbalance”, psychiatrists were forced to abandon their therapeutic partnerships and instead have independent experts repair biochemistry. Sometimes, I feel that I have been struggling for fraud, prescribing drugs that often fail to work, in order to make it difficult for me to improve the disease.
[ad_2]
Source link
