MDMA could be a safe and effective treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD), according to a new study, with participants showing “significantly reduced” depression symptoms eight weeks after receiving two doses of the drug a month apart.

No serious adverse effects were reported among the 12 subjects in the study, says the report, published last month in the British Journal of Psychiatry.

The new research looked at patients with a diagnosis of “single or recurrent episodes of MDD.” Subjects were excluded if they were pregnant or had psychotic disorders, mania, personality disorders, eating disorders with purging, substance use disorders or a host of other conditions.

Treatment involved two administrations of MDMA about four weeks apart, as well as follow-up phone calls and three 90-minute integration sessions. Dosage ranged from an 80-milligram dose at the first session to an offered 120-mg dose at the second session, with supplemental doses offered an hour to an hour and a half after the first dose.

Outcomes were measured through a standardized measure of depression symptoms, the Montgomery–Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), as well as the Sheehan Disability Scale (SDS), which measures functional impairment.

The study notes that scores of depression “were significantly reduced post treatment compared with baseline,” while functional impairment scores also “significantly decreased.”

“Consistent with previous studies of MDMA-AT for PTSD, we demonstrated both statistically and clinically significant reductions in the primary and secondary outcome measures of depression and functional impairment,” it says.

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