26 papers and 1 clinical trial exploring mdma as a treatment for adolescents.
MDMA is a synthetic empathogen that enhances monoamine release, producing prosocial and anxiolytic effects without frank hallucinosis. Two Phase III trials demonstrated significant PTSD symptom reductions, though FDA review raised concerns about blinding, durability, and safety characterisation.
Full MDMA profileAdolescents are a developing-brain, vulnerable population that the modern psychedelic field has mostly studied from the outside: almost all psychedelic trials enrol adults, not minors. The one mature clinical thread in under-18s is ketamine and esketamine for depression and acute suicidality, where benefits are real but modest and often matched by active-placebo arms. For classic psychedelics like psilocybin, LSD and MDMA there is essentially no controlled evidence in adolescents, and the developing brain raises safety questions that adult data cannot answer.
Full Adolescents profile