17:I[87134,["/_next/static/chunks/abf43a076ddbd945.js?dpl=dpl_F6KiLDDFSAiMcLzw3V2cQMgAbhkA","/_next/static/chunks/5ac73fe2b25fc6c9.js?dpl=dpl_F6KiLDDFSAiMcLzw3V2cQMgAbhkA","/_next/static/chunks/92bdbfeca3f655f7.js?dpl=dpl_F6KiLDDFSAiMcLzw3V2cQMgAbhkA","/_next/static/chunks/733be0453bf96ece.js?dpl=dpl_F6KiLDDFSAiMcLzw3V2cQMgAbhkA","/_next/static/chunks/27718c319dd13e9b.js?dpl=dpl_F6KiLDDFSAiMcLzw3V2cQMgAbhkA","/_next/static/chunks/34c922b381f458e9.js?dpl=dpl_F6KiLDDFSAiMcLzw3V2cQMgAbhkA","/_next/static/chunks/c85eefbddd563073.js?dpl=dpl_F6KiLDDFSAiMcLzw3V2cQMgAbhkA"],"default"] 18:T529,

When Dr. Anna Harwood-Gross and Dalia Amit Zivan cleared years of ethics approvals and waited for their first MDMA shipment in October 2023, war broke out instead.

Testing psychedelics on traumatized soldiers amid falling rockets seemed unethical, so the team paused the work.

Rising PTSD numbers changed that view. Harwood-Gross saw the research as urgent rather than reckless, especially for regions facing continuous traumatic stress such as Ukraine, Sudan, and Nigeria. The METIV Israel Psychotrauma Center study resumed.

The protocol features eight-hour sessions with two therapists, a lit candle, and music. One arm uses MDMA while the other applies the structured talk therapy SEA-IT for those unable or unwilling to take the drug.

Harwood-Gross described MDMA as nearly a third therapist yet noted that oxytocin levels do not always match dose expectations and some drug-free participants show comparable gains. With conventional military-trauma care succeeding in only about 40 percent of cases, the trial targets the remaining 60 percent.

The project offers a candid view of research conducted amid conflict, including limits on FDA approval, high costs that hinder scaling, veterans untreated since earlier Lebanon conflicts, and academic boycotts that block collaboration.