cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/241900
A leader in the US white nationalist movement realized he wanted to change his extreme beliefs after he took the psychoactive drug MDMA as part of a scientific study.
The man, who is referred to by his first name, Brendan, was enrolled in an MDMA study in February 2020, which investigated whether the drug could increase the pleasantness of human touch, according to an adaptation of the book “I Feel Love: MDMA and the Quest for Connection in a Fractured World” by Rachel Nuwer, published by the BBC.
After the experience, Brendan returned a form to the researchers and wrote: “This experience has helped me sort out a debilitating personal issue. Google my name. I now know what I need to do.”
The researchers looked up Brendan and discovered he was a white supremacist, who had lost his job after being revealed as the leader of a white nationalist group. Brendan had attended the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville in 2017.
Immediately they were concerned as to what “sorting out an issue” might refer to, but when they tracked him down, Brendan revealed that what he needed to do was simply love, as opposed to something more sinister.
It sounds like he realized he had a problem prior to the study, and perhaps the MDMA helped him take the leap into recovery. It would seem there was at least a feeling of regret and uncertainty stemming from being exposed and losing his job.
I wonder if it’s a similar mechanism that we’ve seen with drugs like this and treating addiction and PTSD. The drugs make the brain more pliable, but the desire has to be there to actually see the change.
It’s almost impossible to explain. It just works and for the time being that’s what matters. It’s true that the desire for lasting change is necessary or else the effects can be temporary, but something like MDMA taken in an intentional setting doesn’t really leave you with the chance to avoid thinking about what will help you to heal. You either accept it, deal with it and heal, or you spend 5 hours suffering and crying while you fight to think happy thoughts instead. It seems that people are skeptical, which I get, it’s a party drug. But a few parties that I’ve attended had lasting truly wonderfully healing effects due to the MDMA and love that you can feel with a room full of people, all moving to the same rhythm for hours at a time. But it simply works. If I had a loved-one suffering with combat-related ptsd I would recommend this without a second thought. When you have a severe condition rooted in not only what you saw or did, but the inability to admit on a deep level that what you’ve done is wrong, it is hard to accept that you are worthy of forgiveness. Therein lies the magic of MDMA. It allows you to love yourself, and from there healing can occur.
That’s a lot of words, but believe me when I say that this is not some fad treatment. It’s the closest thing to magic that we have for this use-case.