--- title: MDMA: Autistic Adults Could Take Ecstasy To Reduce Anxiety description: Researchers are interested in seeing whether taking ecstasy could reduce social anxiety in autistic adults canonical: https://time.com/3899635/austism-adult-ecstasy-anxiety/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-05-28T13:27:19.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-01T09:08:10.846Z article:section: Health og:title: Autistic Adults Could Take Ecstasy To Reduce Anxiety og:description: Researchers are interested in seeing whether taking ecstasy could reduce social anxiety in autistic adults og:url: https://time.com/3899635/austism-adult-ecstasy-anxiety/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt41c472dd631b55cc/6988520206f2c11fd633a620/pills.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5616 og:image:height: 3159 og:image:alt: pills og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Autistic Adults Could Take Ecstasy To Reduce Anxiety twitter:description: Researchers are interested in seeing whether taking ecstasy could reduce social anxiety in autistic adults twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt41c472dd631b55cc/6988520206f2c11fd633a620/pills.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Autistic Adults Could Take Ecstasy to Reduce Anxiety > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=b4082a5c-5a72-41ff-b323-1eef7e05e7d2&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Science Cop: How Anti-Vaxxers Put Everyone at Risk [Watch (HLS stream): Science Cop: How Anti-Vaxxers Put Everyone at Risk](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ai82XWJ8.m3u8) (2:06)  _Published 2014-09-24. TIME's Science Cop Jeffrey Kulger takes on the misinformation coming from opponents of childhood vaccinations_  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson May 28, 2015 1:27 PM UTC  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson May 28, 2015 1:27 PM UTC Researchers are interested in seeing whether taking ecstasy could reduce social anxiety in autistic adults. A team laid out their [proposed study](http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278584615000603) in _Science Direct_, saying that MDMA, the medical name for Ecstasy, could increase social adaptability in autistic adults and that clinical use of the drug would be far safer than street use of Ecstasy or Molly. The abstract talks about “MDMA’s capacity to help people talk openly and honestly about themselves and their relationships, without defensive conditioning intervening,” as well as its ability to decrease fear and anxiety in people on the drug. It is a popular party or rave drug because it is known to increase energy and euphoria in the user. The study would examine whether MDMA could be used to reduce anxiety in autistic adults, not used as a treatment for autism itself. The drug is also studied as a treatment for other anxiety disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder. MDMA has been illegal in the United States since the 1980s. ## Transcript So, our recent report claimed that a 2004 study withheld a link between vaccines and autism in African American boys. No surprise, the anti- vaccine crowd considered this a big win. But again and always, they're wrong. Here's why. [ MUSIC ] First, the subjects excluded from the study had no birth certificates available. Meaning data on their mother's age, race and more could not be confirmed. And that information was vital for the work the investigators were doing, More important, the people criticizing the research make the familiar mistake of confusing associated with causation. While it's true that the study did find a slightly higher rate of autism among some kids vaccinated between 24 and 36 months of age, it's almost certain that those children were already autistic and were vaccinated later as part of a basic health requirement for attending special education program [ MUSIC ] programs. If you join the Army and get a mandatory crewcut before basic training, you don't then conclude that military service causes baldness. Finally, the narrator of a disgraceful web video spreading the rumors about the study is Andrew Wakefield. The British researcher whose fraudulent 1998 paper falsely linking vaccines to autism got the entire got the entire anti- vaccine mess started. Wakefield has had his license to practice medicine revoked in the UK. And is hardly in a position to be offering opinions on anything at all. So for the billionth time, vaccines are safe, effective and vitally important. Rumor mongering, on the other hand, can kill. 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