Erowid References Database
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Yensen R.
“The Use of 3, 4 Methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA) as an Adjunct to Brief Intensive Psychotherapy with Neurotic Outpatients”.
Dissertation UC Irvine. 1975.
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Abstract
A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology.
Ten neurotic outpatients were treated with brief intensive psychotherapy assisted with MDA (3,4- Methylenedioxyamphetamine). The drug was used as psychoadjuvant in the context of a pre-established therapeutic relationship. MDA was given in a specially designed setting in doses ranging from 7 5 to 200 mg. Th-». therapist and a trained nurse were present in each drug session and remained with the patient for the duration of major drug effects (8 to 15 hours). MDA was administered from two to four times during the therapy, which lasted from three to six months.
Psychological evaluations were made using a multiple criteria approach to the measurement of personality. The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16-PF), Raven Progressive Matrices, Wittenborn Psychiatric Rating Scales xvi (WPRS), and Brief Psychiatric Rating Scales (BPRS) were administered before and after the psychotherapy. The Social History Questionnaire (SHQ) was administered by a social worker before psychotherapy. The SHQ (in a followup form), BPRS, and WPRS ratings, as well as the MMPI and 16-PF tests were performed at six months after the termination of therapy to assess the longevity of results. In low doses (75 mg) MDA produced a state of enhanced introspectiveness and lessened defensiveness without impairing the verbal communication between patient and therapist. In medium doses (125 to 150 mg) MDA produced a notable increase in emotionality and a decrease in the ability and desire to verbalize the ongoing experience. Some mention of visual imagery was made by patients. High doses (2 00 mg) produced an even greater preoccupation with unfolding inner experience and intense emotionality was observed more frequently than at lower dose levels. Visual imagery was reported and verbalizations became infrequent. Thus, MDA was found to produce a range of effects, in this setting, from enhanced introspection with moderately increased emotionality to visual imagery and intense emotional expression.
A significant reduction in test scores measuring depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive traits, and hysterical tendencies was observed immediately after therapy. Significant increases in measures of wellbeing and selfxvii actualization were found. The beneficial results were, on the whole, stable during the six month followup period. A modest study of the intercorrelations between specific experiences within the drug sessions (as described by patients and therapists) and the measures of psychotherapy outcome is presented. Tentative suggestions emerging from the intercorrelations were that the number of drug sessions, intensity of catharsis, degree of alteration .in thinking, and maximum intensity of mystical experience were related to the degree of patient improvement after therapy.
Brief intensive psychotherapy with MDA was observed to produce significant improvement in this neurotic outpatient sample. MDA was found to be a safe and useful compound when administered to neurotics on an outpatient basis, in a specially designed setting, by psychotherapists trained in its use as an adjunct.
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