Recent MDMA trial to treat Social Anxiety in autistics

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Its a MAPS trial, and maps is either corrupt or braindead or some combination thereof,* so if anyone can spot shenanigans I would appreciate the help. This rabbit hole is huge and I feel spread thin.

A Placebo-controlled, Randomized, Blinded, Dose Finding Phase 2 Pilot Safety Study of MDMA-assisted Therapy for Social Anxiety in Autistic Adults(MAA-1)


this link is like an abstract, there are more links at the bottom with results ect.

https://maps.org/mdma/anxiety/autism/

*re brain dead or corrupt ,, This is from another MAPS MDMA trial, for PTSD -

TRIGGER WARNING, this is really bad, https://www.thecut.com/2022/03/you-wont ... video.html

I think this is good news.

I could do with this, because my social challenges are more social anxiety-like than typical autism cluenessness.

Ive used it many times as a stopgap to burning out.

I think you will find most autistic people handle drugs in a very different way. Part of the issue is the rigid way of thinking which makes it hard to go along with what the drug is trying to do. This causes mental stress or anxiety.

I suspect the problem with anxiety is that there are many sources and the actual drug can create a physical anxiety that starts generating negative thoughts which leads the typical autistic person to fight the drug and in the end a panic attack. Its happened me several times.

That anxiety needs to be addressed prior to addreessing the anxiety of being social although again , I think anxiety is not what it allows.

The thing it does better than any substance is break down those inner self made walls that support a large system of rigid thoughts.

So ya ,

The problem is that any sort of drug like this is up to the actual person to get the most from it. Doing a drug to address something you don't even know you want to address is a waste of time.

MDMA is very useful medicine in the right hands.

The recent publication of the video footage is very disturbing.
That said, MAPS seems to have behaved responsibly in relation to the issue, which happened years ago. Some of the reporting recently has been not that accurate.

It's a pity such valuable medicine might get ruined by one or two idiot therapists.

The sexual assaults were recorded on MAPS own security cameras and not viewed till after the victim came forward, and possibly 2 4! years after. edit- seems they finally [s]viewed[/s] admitted to them after the story got MSM coverage...


more disturbing, they were not hidden cameras, you can see the therarapist adjusting the camera on one of the vids, almost like he knew they werent really watching.

That said, i have noticed some shoddy work coming out of the psymposia site, but I dont see how this trumps the non viewing denial and occulting of security footage - you could have run them at 10 times speed and noticed someting was very wrong.

What inaccuracy trumps this?

So far you dont seem much of an authority on the topic..

edit -

here is story from MAPS own website,



they updated the page to admit 'ethical violation' AFTER the story got media attention 3 months ago...
https://maps.org/2019/05/24/statement-p ... stigators/

Im really curious, what inaccuracy did you spot to make you think MAPS acted 'responsibly'?

Last edited by The_Znof on 20 Jun 2022, 9:09 pm, edited 3 times in total.

only if you have a black market source~! MAPS is sabotaging the whole decriminalization thing!

Hey, I should make an MDMA vid with the beasties!

Last edited by The_Znof on 20 Jun 2022, 9:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.

If I can still find it Im trying some in a day or two, never tried it cuz I could never find it.

Found a source a year ago but was on an SSRI, [cant take it with SSRI] quit that 3 or 4 months ago and now im ready to roll!

Several things:
This event was reported by the participant several years after it had happened.
The cameras are not for security they are to record sessions so they can be reviewed afterward. Particularly during the initial sessions of newly on board therapists. The initial observations of sessions conducted by these therapists did not cause any alarm with the observers, whose main function is to provide feedback to therapists. There are many many of these phase 3 trials happening and the quantity of footage is huge. When the participant initially requested the footage herself, MAPS sent it to her without question, not having viewed it and believing she wanted it for her own healing process.
Once she reported the incidents and the relationship that developed, MAPS reported everything to all of the relevant authorities (FDA etc) who are monitoring these trials. To do otherwise would have been very stupid of them. They provided financial support for her further therapy while she was waiting for settlement of a civil case against the therapist. Rick Doblin refused the advise of his attorneys to put a non-disclosure agreement into the settlement agreement believing she had the right to say whatever she wanted. The footage in the clip show is a collection of a series of clips curated to show the abuse and not the whole sessions.

That said, it is pretty damning stuff. The bit where he throws up his hands at her indicates his ego being involved in unhealthy ways with what's happening. Touch is an important aspect of this kind of work, when used appropriately. The level of touch here is obviously way beyond problematic. Part of the issue is this therapist had trained many years ago with a therapist in Mexico who used very confrontational methods, that are generally regarded as not that useful these days.

I happen to personally know some of the therapists who are doing these trials. I have worked with them in difficult and challenging circumstances. They are amazing people who I would trust my life to.
This kind of work is inherently very challenging in terms of boundaries. Traditional therapy boundaries are too restrictive but there is a line. The many measures which MAPS put in place to prevent abuse were not enough in this case. And it has caused huge damage to the very important work they do. They have changed their protocols accordingly.

MDMA is an exceptional medicine. There is nothing quite like it out there. Any improvement on the current situation where it is illegal and deemed to have no medical benefit, is a huge step forward. Let's hope we can get beyond this and learn the lessons from it to make things safer for everyone.

cool story

Im sure there are a lot of fine people at MAPS, but the folks at the top..

watch the founder of MAPS openly lie about a DEA snitch / researcher who gets called out. while its understandable he would lie when ambushed like this, he comes across as a weasel and a putz, as does his researcher

btw the canadian wing of the ptsd trail is half suspened for non compliance as we speak, but it is not the fully MAPS half, which did get some corrective measures ordered itself.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british- ... -1.6520960

On this case Im not sure it is as bad as they make it sound, as I think the bar is pretty low all around on this 'peer' review / gatekeeping swindle passed off as science these days.

example https://www.science.org/content/article ... etractions