DENVER — When Boulder psychiatrist Will Van Derveer first heard about people treating severe mental health issues with MDMA — popularly known as the party drug ecstasy, or molly — he was extremely skeptical.
He recalled learning it was a drug of abuse and could even burn holes in users’ brains. Then he started seeing the results as it helped trauma survivors and others open themselves up to treatment and become mentally healthier. A paper published in 2011 particularly opened his eyes, he said. It showed 83% of participants with chronic post traumatic stress disorder no longer met the criteria for the disorder, he said.
“My conventional training in psychiatry didn’t give me anything close to 83%,” Van Derveer said. “I’d be lucky if I got the opposite of that, 17%, with that population.”
