The Food and Drug Administration designated the drug MDMA, known as Ecstasy, a "breakthrough therapy" for PTSD treatment earlier this month. The designation will expedite the agency's review of the drug, depending on the outcome of a clinical trial to test its effect versus that of standard psychotherapy. Ecstasy is in the DEA's category of Schedule 1 drugs, meaning that it is among substances with the highest potential for abuse, like heroin.

Why it matters: 11-20% of veterans who served in Afghanistan or Iraq suffer from PTSD, per the Department of Veterans' Affairs, and it is this group in particular that researchers hope ecstasy can help.