---
title: "Study: MDMA Appears to Be an Effective Treatment for Alcoholism"
description: "According to researchers from Imperial College London, the party drug MDMA could be an effective treatment for alcohol addiction."
date: "2019-08-19"
modified: "2019-08-19"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/mdma-alcohol-addiction-treatment"
categories:
  - "Brain"
  - "Health & Medicine"
  - "Neuroscience and Brain"
tags:
  - "addiction"
  - "alcohol"
  - "alcoholism"
  - "ecstasy"
  - "mdma"
---

# Study: MDMA Appears to Be an Effective Treatment for Alcoholism

![According to researchers from Imperial College London, the party drug MDMA could be an effective treatment for alcohol addiction.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/mdma-treatment-alcohol-addiction.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Chris F via Pexels/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## Ecstatic Results

According to researchers from Imperial College London, the party drug MDMA — commonly known as "ecstasy" or "molly" — could be an effective treatment for alcohol addiction, [*The Guardian* reports](<https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/aug/19/mdma-treatment-alcoholism-relapse-study>).

The researchers concluded that the therapy is not only safe, but appears to be quite effective as well — a bold new potential treatment for problem drinkers who want to change.

## Promising Results

They found that of the eleven people that joined the initial stage of the human trial, only one person relapsed, five stopped drinking altogether, and five "had one or two drinks but wouldn’t reach the diagnosis of alcohol use disorder," Ben Sessa, an addiction psychiatrist, senior research fellow at Imperial College London, and lead researcher of the trial, told *The Guardian*.

That's in contrast to standard treatment, in which up to 80 percent of patients tend to relapse, according to the paper.

## Treating Trauma

MDMA may be effective because addiction — alcoholism included — tends to be based on underlying trauma.

"MDMA selectively impairs the fear response, MDMA psychotherapy gives you the opportunity to tackle rigidly held personal narratives that are based on early trauma," Sessa said. "It’s the perfect drug for trauma-focused psychotherapy."

Important caveat: the trial has yet to be compared to a randomized control group that receive placebos, something that future stages of the trial will test. But the trial has the researchers hopeful.

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)