One of the first patients in New South Wales to receive MDMA treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder is a parent whose son died in the Hunter Valley wedding bus accident.
On Wednesday, June 5, the Sydney-based Evolution Medicine Enhanced Therapy team will start a phase four experiment.
The experiment is the only one in NSW that has been approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration and covers individuals with treatment-resistant depression (TRD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
The procedure will be supervised by Evolution’s director, Associate Professor Ranil Gunewardene.
“Both PTSD and TRD can have a severe and debilitating impact on a person’s life; making it difficult to complete everyday tasks, enjoy healthy intimate relationships and to be productive at work, due to feelings of disconnection, depression, anxiety hypervigilance and avoidance,” Gunewardene stated. ”
The first patients to be treated include an Indigenous woman suffering trans-generational, family of origin, and relational trauma, a former elite private school boy who was the victim of savage bullying, and a father who lost his son in the Hunter Valley bus tragedy.”
The father, Adam Bray, 61, lost his son Zach in the bus accident in the Hunter Valley in June of last year. After the loss of his son, he claimed to have been living in a nightmare.
Previous research conducted in Australia and other countries has examined the efficacy of psychedelics in therapy globally. However, according to Gunewardene, this is the first time that researchers will examine the potential efficacy of the treatments for PTSD and TRD “in the general public setting”.
“We believe that combining MDMA with intensive psychotherapy, will help a patient enter an evolved and enlightened state of mind, while the fear centre of the brain, the amygdala, is switched down,” Gunewardene stated.
“This in turn allows the patient with expert therapeutic support, to more safely explore and reprocess events, feelings, beliefs and relational experiences, that were previously found to be far too distressing, or in some cases downright terrifying.”
In NSW, the clinical study and therapy services will continue to be provided. Patients will not have access to the medications outside of a medical facility or be allowed to use them without professional supervision.
According to the most recent National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing, over 10% of Australians were reported to have experienced PTSD; rates were much higher for women (14% compared to 8% for men).
“Whilst these treatments are not for everyone, and there are risks associated with treatment, this evolution of psychiatric treatment provides hope for patients, where conventional treatments have had limited or no benefits, or caused significant side effects,” Gunewardene stated.
