After President Donald Trump signed an executive order on April 18 that will expedite medical research into the effectiveness of psychedelic treatments for use in mental health care, there are many questions across the country about what psychedelics are, and how they can be used to support veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI), depression, and substance dependency.
The Special Operations Association of America (SOAA) has been advocating for increased research into psychedelic-assisted therapies for nearly five years. To clear up misconceptions about these therapies and highlight their utility, we are releasing a series about how various psychedelics work, and their documented effects for veterans.
What is MDMA?
Widely included among the category of psychedelics because of its hallucinogenic properties, synthetic drug MDMA is a central nervous system stimulant. MDMA elicits the release of large amounts of dopamine, leading users to experience a euphoric high.
Though MDMA is largely known for its illicit use in the party scene, it has achieved Breakthrough Therapy designation because it can be used in conjunction with therapy to help patients with post-traumatic stress disorder.
MDMA is likely to fall under drugs to be researched in President Trump’s executive order, which states that “the Commissioner of Food and Drugs shall provide Commissioner’s National Priority Vouchers to appropriate psychedelic drugs that have received a Breakthrough Therapy designation and are in accordance with the criteria of the National Priority Voucher Program.”
Studying MDMA and PTSD
A 2019 Johns Hopkins University study found that MDMA increased adult mice’s sensitivity to “learning the reward value of social behaviors,” leading researchers to believe that it may prove useful in treating post-traumatic stress disorder. According to the study, MDMA’s positive social impact lasted about two weeks after the mice received a dose of the drug.
In 2024, a review of literature on MDMA-assisted therapies in NeuroRehabilitation found that these may have “a particular benefit for the military population with PTSD.”
The Department of Defense has funded research into MDMA through Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and the University of Texas.
The University of Texas study will utilize MDMA “in a synergistic way” alongside prolonged exposure therapy to determine whether it helps the study cadre of 100 active-duty, guard, and reserve personnel to process traumatic memories. An ongoing study at the Emory Healthcare Veterans Program found that a single MDMA dose “significantly reduces PTSD symptoms among military members and veterans when combined with massed prolonged exposure.”
MDMA’s Legality and Risks
MDMA is currently listed as a Schedule I drug with “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.”
MDMA can have serious adverse impacts, including the danger of overdose and death. Users have also reported hallucinations, increased blood pressure and heartbeat, nausea and vomiting, muscle pain, overheating, dehydration, psychosis, anxiety, paranoia, jaw-clenching, and tooth-grinding.
SOAA’s Psychedelics Expert’s Take
SOAA Director of Strategic Partnerships Dr. Ryan Ziegler has followed psychedelic research and treatment closely, and hopes to expand access to treatments for participants in SOAA’s new transition and healthcare initiative, Project Valkyrie.
Ziegler says that supporting the use of MDMA to achieve therapeutic growth for patients with PTSD is vastly different from advocating its use in uncontrolled environments where it can lead to incredibly dangerous health impacts. He explained that approving MDMA for pharmaceutical use has run into challenges because for it to have a positive impact on patients with PTSD, it must be used in conjunction with psychotherapy.
Ziegler explained that by inducing a euphoric state, MDMA lets users investigate trauma “and then talk through it without that emotional uproar,” allowing a therapist to “challenge your preconceived notions of your condition and the story you’ve told yourself over time.”
“Evidence tells us that the psychotherapy, or integration, portions of the treatment are critical for obtaining a durable result that lasts over time,” Ziegler said. “We see that in all of these psychedelics. If there is not a good integration, we don’t have durability.”
“This new EO, this gives us the opportunity to really investigate this in a clinical setting with a licensed therapist in a very controlled environment that is safe,” Ziegler explained.
