Research with classic psychedelics such as LSD and psilocybin has demonstrated a link between the depth of the mystical experience and therapeutic outcomes for addiction, OCD, and life-threatening illnesses. Phase three studies with MDMA have also shown therapeutic benefits, but inactive placebos may be even more effective than low doses of MDMA.
The process of developing a new drug typically involves several phases, including preclinical studies to establish safety in animals, phase one/two studies with patients to determine dosing and safety, and phase three studies to prove safety and efficacy to get permission to market the drug.
Research with classic psychedelics has shown a connection between the depth of a mystical experience and therapeutic outcomes for addiction, life-threatening illnesses, and OCD. While participants in low-dose MDMA therapy did still experience improvements, those who received an inactive placebo did even better.
Researchers conduct monthly inter-rater reliability tests to ensure that multiple raters accurately evaluate PTSD patients, without being biased or tracking them throughout the study.