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Health Report

MDMA therapy's side effects

3/13/202642 min

MDMA psychotherapy was approved in Australia three years ago. Who's using it and what do we know about treatment side effects?

Vaccine reminders can help nudge people back on track, but how the message is framed matters.

A new review of screen use and sleep in young people finds no link between the amount of use and sleep quality or duration.

And a different way of looking at mental health outcomes - whether digital tools can help us forecast someone's future needs and provide better, more personalised care.

References:

Within-Person...

Clips

Evidence Called "Pretty Crap"
Post-Treatment Difficulties Surface
Too Early, Rare Risks Loom
Patchy Oversight And Access
Hype Versus Reality Check
Not First-Line, Not Cure-All
Tracking Suicidality Over Time
Data Beats The "Vibe"

Transcript preview

First 90 seconds

  1. Tom Snelling· Guest0:00

    [upbeat jingle] ABC Listen. Podcasts, radio, news, music, and more.

  2. Dominique Baynes0:05

    [gentle music] At 17, Chantelle McDougall was nannying for a 36-year-old man. At 20, she was pregnant with his child and swept up in his bizarre spiritual beliefs. At 27, they all disappeared.

  3. Priya Alexander· Host0:21

    I just wished I'd asked a lot more questions, no matter what.

  4. Dominique Baynes0:24

    I'm Dominique Baynes, host of Expanse: The Nan Up Four, a story of control, manipulation, and isolation. Search Expanse on ABC Listen or wherever you get your podcasts.

  5. Priya Alexander· Host0:37

    Norman, it's a slightly personal question- Yeah ... on national radio. It's about MDMA, what people might know as ecstasy.

  6. Norman Swan· Host0:43

    Is that what they call pingers?

  7. Priya Alexander· Host0:44

    Yes, that is a term that people would use.

  8. Norman Swan· Host0:47

    Right.

  9. Priya Alexander· Host0:47

    It can come in various- Party drug ... forms. And yes, I think people might be aware of it in the recreational sense, but there is actually medical MDMA, very carefully dosed, that is being used for some people with PTSD.

  10. Norman Swan· Host1:00

    Yeah.

  11. Priya Alexander· Host1:00

    It's MDMA-assisted psychotherapy.

  12. Norman Swan· Host1:02

    Yeah, it started with US veterans, and they were going down to Mexico, I think it was, to have their MDMA on the claimed benefit, and it's grown from there.

  13. Priya Alexander· Host1:08

    Mm. And there's a lot of attention in the media. The question is, is there evidence? What are the potential harms? Do we know enough yet? And there are people receiving it in Australia as we speak.

  14. Norman Swan· Host1:18

    And Australia was the first country in the world to approve the use of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy.

  15. Priya Alexander· Host1:22

    There's a lot of work going on in the background, and a lot more research happening in the space, and that is something we are covering on today's Health

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