cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/241900
A leader in the US white nationalist movement realized he wanted to change his extreme beliefs after he took the psychoactive drug MDMA as part of a scientific study.
The man, who is referred to by his first name, Brendan, was enrolled in an MDMA study in February 2020, which investigated whether the drug could increase the pleasantness of human touch, according to an adaptation of the book “I Feel Love: MDMA and the Quest for Connection in a Fractured World” by Rachel Nuwer, published by the BBC.
After the experience, Brendan returned a form to the researchers and wrote: “This experience has helped me sort out a debilitating personal issue. Google my name. I now know what I need to do.”
The researchers looked up Brendan and discovered he was a white supremacist, who had lost his job after being revealed as the leader of a white nationalist group. Brendan had attended the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville in 2017.
Immediately they were concerned as to what “sorting out an issue” might refer to, but when they tracked him down, Brendan revealed that what he needed to do was simply love, as opposed to something more sinister.
I believe he took the MDMA, realized he had problems, and then started therapy.
It sounds like he realized he had a problem prior to the study, and perhaps the MDMA helped him take the leap into recovery. It would seem there was at least a feeling of regret and uncertainty stemming from being exposed and losing his job.
I wonder if it’s a similar mechanism that we’ve seen with drugs like this and treating addiction and PTSD. The drugs make the brain more pliable, but the desire has to be there to actually see the change.