The students were supposed to read “Ecstasy as a remedy for PTSD? You probably have some questions” (Dave Philipps, New York Times, 2018; https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/01/us/ecstasy-molly-ptsd-mdma.html), and they had to find scientific evidence for whether treatment with ecstasy/MDMA actually works in reducing symptoms of PTSD. Also, students had to come up with a hypothesis for how it may work.

Literature for whether treatment with ecstasy/MDMA would work:

• Thal & Lommen (2018) have conducted an experiment using ecstasy/MDMA to reduce the symptoms of PTSD and have found an overall remission rate of 66.2%. There were low rates of adverse effects.
• Mithoefer et al. (2019) performed MDMA-assisted psychotherapy and found that it was efficacious and well tolerated.

A potential hypothesis is that MDMA can theoretically manipulate modulators of emotional learning and memory during psychotherapy in key brain regions.

Treatment types

• CBT: to help you manage your problems by changing how you think and act and your cognitions
• EMDR: eye movements while recalling the traumatic event. While you’re following the object with your eyes you think about the traumatic event. Your working memory has less space to think about the event for the fully 100%.
• Group therapy
• Antidepressants

Workgroup 7 and 8 (semester 2, 2019/2020) have been cancelled and will be done using Skype due to COVID 19. For this week the students were first required to submit potential exam questions and their answers. This task was later cancelled. Here are some examples of potential exam questions. 

1. Describe the incentive-sensitisation theory of addiction using an example.

2. Describe which dissociative symptoms can be present in a personality disorder.

3. Which neurotransmitter plays a role in aggressive impulses?

4. Describe the difference between axis I and axis II disorders and give an example for each. 

5. Describe the difference between somatic symptom disorders and psychosomatic disorders.

Answers

1. 

1) Developing hyposensitisation when someone gets in touch with addicitve substances. Someone will be less likely to experience the effects of the substance when that person uses it more often. Example: using cocaine
2) The addictive substance the neurological system and influences one's behaviour. The person will feel more joy when using the substance. Example: feeling joy and other desirable sensations when using cocaine.
3) Incentive salience: the urge to use the substance. It goes beyond 'liking' the substance and its effects. Example: feeling like you really need the cocaine, instead of just using it for 'fun'.
4) Repetition of behaviour

2. 

- Amnesia: e.g. not remembering anything that happened prior to reaching a certain age (e.g. 10 years old)
- Depersonalisation: feeling like your body and your feelings don't belong to you
- Hallucinations: hearing voices, seeing things, feeling sensations which aren't there. 43% of those with a personality disorder experience hallucinations

3. Serotononin

4. Axis I provided information about clinical disorders. Any mental health condition other than personality disorders or mental retardation would have been included in axis I. Examples of Axis I disorders are eating disorders, schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, anxiety disorders, mood disorders and more. Axis II provided information about personality disorders and mental retardation. These included e.g. the personality disorders (see lecture 3) and intellectual disabilities. 

Important note: the axis system was used in the DSM IV! 

5. People with psychosomatic disorders have a physical illness, which is exacerbated by their psychological state. People with somatic symptom disorders do not have diseases with a physical cause.