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Research on MDMA for anxiety is promising but still limited. The strongest and most consistent results come from studies of MDMA used with psychotherapy for post‑traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), an anxiety‑related illness. Some smaller studies have also tested MDMA and other psychedelics for other anxiety problems and reported reductions in symptoms, but the number of trials is small. Most studies give MDMA inside a carefully controlled therapy program, and safety looks acceptable in those settings. Still, trials are often small, participants are not very diverse, and scientists do not yet fully understand how MDMA produces its effects or what the long‑term risks are. More research is needed before MDMA could be considered a standard treatment for general anxiety disorders.
Researchers pooled results from 29 human studies that measured blood levels of a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor, or BDNF, after people received so-called psychoplastogen drugs such as ketamine or psychedelics. They found no clear change in blood BDNF after these drugs. The authors say this does not prove the…
