The Battle of PTSD Medication Veterans may be losing the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder battle, but psychedelic reinforcements may be coming. MDMA may offer an alternative treatment for those with PTSD. By Kevin Sterne
Even though they are back home, many of the bravest men and women are still fighting an enemy as formidable as any terrorist or foreign army. Over twenty US military veterans commit suicide every day according to the Department of Veterans Affairs, and, in many instances, combatrelated Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is at the heart of the problem. “It [PTSD] takes over your life. The anxiety, the obsession, you’re not doing it on purpose — you just have this irrational fear that makes no sense,” said Don Place, a 64 year-old Vietnam Veteran from Durant Iowa, better
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takes over “ It [PTSD] your life ” who has suffered from PTSD since he was twenty. What’s most disturbing is the lack of medical breakthroughs available to the people coping with these demons. “I’m not aware of any new methods for treating individuals,” said Christine Daniels, a Clinical Nurse Specialist for Presence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Joliet, Illinois. She has worked with PTSD patients for 25 years yet admits she follows no protocol — a familiar story for veterans like Place. “They point-blank told me and my dad that there was nothing they