Preview

MDMA: The Leading Cause Of Human Dichotomy

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
865 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
MDMA: The Leading Cause Of Human Dichotomy
Perhaps part of the dichotomy in the World exists because of the ever-lasting, insidious mind-body problem that has become engraved deep within the human psyche. From a phenomenological standpoint, the study of consciousness is capable of being grasped through the careful and seemingly empathetic understanding of a person’s lived experiences. It appears that 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine, otherwise known as MDMA, provokes an epistemological phenomenology within the psychology community. There is a dramatic differentiation between psychedelic medicine and psychiatric medications and dissociative drugs such as alcohol, largely because of the entactogenic experience witnessed by the observer (Razvi, 2016). In other words, empathogens or entactogens …show more content…
8). This apparent revolution within the pharmaceutical industry has been associated with the rise in prescription drug overdoses as the leading cause of accidental death in America, ahead of car accidents for the first time ever. Despite pharmaceuticals being heavily administered to manage a plethora of symptoms, according to the World Happiness Report in 2016, the United States ranks at only number 13 in overall happiness (Hrala, 2016). This on-going prescription drug epidemic presents potential complications for researchers. There is a responsibility to show the therapeutic effectiveness and safety of MDMA when compared to for-profit pharmaceutical drugs that have created devastating circumstances within American society. According to Saj Razvi (2016), the Executive Director of Trauma Dynamics and a sub-investigator for the Boulder, Colorado Phase 2 MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) trial, the MDMA assisted-psychotherapy for treatment of PTSD is a “catalyzer of psychotherapeutic processes and an innate healing mechanism” (Razvi, 2016. PTSD was once classified as a “treatment-resistant” disorder, however, numerous studies and empirical research have shown that disorders such as PTSD are finally within the realm of healing and …show more content…
What if the perpetuation of quantified, behavior-based, analytical agendas has contributed to nearly 15% of the American population being affected by PTSD at some point; with 60.7% of men and 51.2% of women reporting at least one traumatic event in their lifetime (Nebraska, 2007). Furthermore, based on the prevalence estimates for PTSD (5 to 15 percent among service members) it is safe to assume that approximately 75,000 to 225,000 service members that return home will have PTSD (Tanielian, 2008). These sobering statistics have prompted the emergence of existential phenomenological epistemology which are represented through alternative foundations such as transpersonal psychology, Gestalt therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and now MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for treatment-resistant disorders, thus helping to bridge the gap between the mind and

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    MDMA’s Journey from Molly to Medicine, written by Alfonso Serrano and published by Scientific American, analyzes a MDMA-assisted psychotherapy created by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, MAPS, that is ready for phase III trials. This is the last step before the treatment would be approved by the federal government. Phase III will test the treatment on a larger sample size, one that would be more effective of providing a significant and representative sample.…

    • 537 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Ecstasy, also referred to as MDMA on the street is a synthetic stimulant and a mild hallucinogen. When the ecstasy enters the body it triggers the release of dopamine, but the major effect is that it blocks the reuptake of serotonin and releases the stored serotine. SpongeBob in this picture is extremely relaxed and full of excitement, and he is a bundle of energy after just partying all night without a sense of exhaustion. The physical effects of MDMA include severe overheating, increase blood pressure, dehydration, and death. Ecstasy works a an agonist, and this picture relates to this drug because he is on a high at this moment, he is relaxed, yet shows no signs of exhaustion, he is going nonstop.…

    • 122 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Dr Frank Ochberg Summary

    • 446 Words
    • 2 Pages

    PTSD and Veterans: A Conversation with Dr. Frank Ochberg documents an interview of Dr. Frank Ochberg, M.D. by broadcast journalist, Mike Walter. Dr. Ochberg is a leading psychiatrist in the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with over 30 years of field experience. He is credited with editing the foremost text for the treatment of PTSD as well as participating in the team that created the medical definition for the diagnosis. Throughout the interview, Dr. Ochberg discussed many facets of PTSD as it relates to working with military veterans as well as working with civilians. In fact, he highlighted that there is no specific differentiation between civilian PTSD and that experienced by veterans. Dr. Ochberg discussed characteristics of an effective counselor for working with those that have experienced trauma, common problems encountered, approaches to utilize, as well as the treatment of co-occurring disorders such as depression (Gift from Within, 2008).…

    • 446 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Facts about PTSD was revealed and explained in the argument. For example, “The burden of post-traumatic stress on low-income communities of color gets very little attention.” Or even, “Trauma surgeons said they were aware of the burden of post-traumatic stress on their patients, but it was hard to get hospitals to spend money on new programs or staff to deal with PTSD.” The examples shown was said by people with very high credibility which will be in more detail next paragraph which focuses on ethos. Another way logic was shown is the field studies that was performed in the form of surveys.…

    • 947 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Most nights when a restless Theo Galavant , a former marine, finally became somnolent he found himself back on the battlefields of Iraq. He would awake in a cold sweat, then struggle fruitless to return to sleep. Days were rarely better. Loud noises such as Car alarms shattered his nerves. Flashbacks came unexpectedly at the smallest triggers like a whiff of certain cleaning chemicals. Bar fights seemed unavoidable; he nearly attacked a man for not washing his hands in the bathroom. Desperate for sleep and relief, Mr.Galavant turned to bottles of alcohol to comfort him and to drown his woes in. One morning, his parents found him in the driveway slumped over the wheel of his car, the door wide open, wipers scraping back and forth. Another time, they found him curled in a fetal position in his closet. In denial of the obvious problem he had, it took his drunken driving causing the death of a 16-year-old cheerleader for Mr.Galavant to acknowledge the depth of his problem: His eight months at war had profoundly damaged his psyche.“I was trying to be the tough marine I was trained to be — not to talk about problems, not to cry,” said Mr. Galavant, who has since been diagnosed with severe post-traumatic stress disorder. “I imprisoned myself in my own mind.(Alvarez par 1). Mr. Galavant is not the only one struggling with with problems like this, PTSD affects about 7.7 million adults in just america…

    • 1828 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    PTSD And Iraq Summary

    • 777 Words
    • 4 Pages

    This book defines PTSD as a chronic, debilitating psychological condition that occurs in a subset of persons who experience or witness, life-threatening traumatic events. PTSD is characterized by re-experiencing, avoidance, and hyperarousal symptoms that occur over time and lead to significant disruption of one’s life. during a course of treatment using prolonged exposure, typically four treatment components are administered over 9-12 sessions lasting 90 to 120 minutes each: (1) psychoeducation about the symptoms of PTSD and…

    • 777 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    (2011). Retrieved from http://www.psychologytoday.com The author illustrates how finding a safe common ground between combat veterans suffering from PTSD and the therapist is a successful approach as it enables the veteran to find their own solutions for their problems…

    • 532 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    No More Heroes Analysis

    • 671 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The unusually elevated rates of PTSD in Vietnam War only speak of the sanity of the people who fought there, if we choose to go with Gabriel’s hypothesis. The trauma, the killing, the disturbance—it all falls in the same circle. Here’s a paradoxical thought: Why would so many sane people fight a war? Are they insane?…

    • 671 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) causes a painful recollection of a past harrowing event that haunts victims for the rest of their lives and often causes extreme anxiety, depression, and in some cases, drug abuse and suicide. The suicide rates have increased effectually among soldiers, with about twenty-eight veterans killing themselves each day (Rosenshield). Many veterans are diagnosed with PTSD, and are forced to live with it for the rest of their lives. It is hard to understand the shift in a person before and after serving in war because the change is not physical, but mental. Though a person may seem perfectly normal, their mental make-up is morphed in a way that changes them forever. As time progresses, medical advances increase. Less and less soldiers are being injured and killed on the battlefield, however the damage being done to soldiers is not controlled due to PTSD. Until the 1980’s, medical professionals did not recognize PTSD as an illness. This being said, many veterans traumatized in the Vietnam war did not get the recognition they needed from psychiatric doctors and suffered alone. This rings true for both World Wars as well,…

    • 938 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    By definition, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is “a disorder that develops in some people who have experienced a shocking, scary, or dangerous event.” Recurring symptoms often include vivid flashbacks, nightmares, and frightening thoughts. Fortunately, some PTSD cases can be settled through therapy sessions; In fact, Tim O’Brien is praised as the war stories he writes acts as a therapy for veterans who suffer from the traumatic syndrome. In an article, a veteran claims “[he] [tries] to put everything out of [his] mind” and “want[s] to forget it,” however, the stories “[O’Brien] writes, triggers memories for me” (Hacht 517). One method of therapy for suffering veterans include the act of intentionally triggering the soldiers’ memories from the war in order to prevent them from repeatedly flashing back in their minds.…

    • 1709 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In the face of abrupt danger, it is common to want to escape from the surroundings. Today, the results of Vietnam have scared many loyal soldiers who now suffer from PTSD. The events of the Vietnam war are rarely spoken of by vets and still affect many individual’s views of America today. The way the soldiers were treated after the war has gone down in history as one of the most dishonorable acts against our troops who proudly fought for America despite the conflicted views of the public. Our troops are deeply wounded from the war and from the way they were treated when they returned from the war. After the Vietnam war, many expressed their opinions and fictional experiences of it and addressed that PTSD had indeed effected many and was an issue that needed to be…

    • 1303 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Throughout the course of history, soldiers exposed to the horrors of war have been emotionally traumatized by what they saw or did. The emotional damage could be extensive and often life altering to these warriors who saw first-hand what mankind was capable of during an armed conflict. It is only in the past few decades that healthcare professionals began to assist these men and women and focused on the issues surrounding what is now referred to as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).…

    • 2188 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    “Not all scars show not all wounds heal, sometimes you can 't always see the pain someone feels” (Lisa French; Scars, secrets someone else knows). More often than none, we take for granted how healthy and strong we are. But everyone has their limits. Whether or not we want to admit it, when something traumatic happens to us, we will react to it; and people can have problems that they did not have before the event if the situation was traumatic enough (Carlson and Ruzek, Ph.D’s, A National Center for PTSD Fact Sheet, Effects of Traumatic Experiences). Dr. Rachel Yehuda, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Director of the Traumatic Stress Studies Division at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and the Mental Health Patient Care Center Director at the James J. Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center states that during a trauma, an individual’s brain: main function is to get through the event, the brain helps us survive by activating biologic reactions involved in helping us mount the fight/flight…

    • 1938 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Psychopharmacology refers to the study of mood changes, sensation, thinking and behavior which was induced by pharmaceuticals or drugs. There is both a professional and commercial side to the field of psychopharmacology and contrary to some beliefs their primary study is not just recreational drug, but more so of drugs that can help to alleviate symptoms of behavioral and mental disorders (Coghill, Dave, 2003). Basically psychopharmacology’s main focus is the chemical and psychoactive interaction of the brain.…

    • 1209 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Military Needs Assessment

    • 715 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Two quantitative surveys are given to military personnel before, after, and following the treatment process, which are the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS) and the PTSD Checklist (PCL). The CAPS is given to guide researchers in making a current diagnosis of PTSD, examine a lifetime diagnosis for PTSD, and assessing PTSD symptoms over the past week (Weathers, 2013). The PCL is given to monitor military personnel symptom change before and after treatment and an overall screening for PTSD (Weathers, 2013). The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID) is given through a set of semi-structured questions designed to confirm the PTSD diagnosis and assess mental health (First, Spitzer, Gibbon, & Williams, 1996). A focus group is conducted, where military personnel become educated on PTSD, create goals for treatment, acquire breathing and relaxation techniques, and manage future planning (Astramovich,…

    • 715 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays