What is Ecstasy?

Ecstasy is the street name for the "designer" drug (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) MDMA. Users of MDMA (Ecstasy) may encounter problems similar to those experienced by amphetamine and cocaine users, including addiction. Deaths from use of Ecstasy at raves (all-night dance/drug parties) have been reported. The stimulant effects of Ecstasy, which enable the user to dance for extended periods, combined with the hot, crowded conditions usually found at raves can lead to dehydration, hyperthermia, and heart or kidney failure.

Short Term Effects from Ecstasy

Ecstasy's psychological effects can include confusion, depression, sleep problems, anxiety, and paranoia during, and sometimes weeks after, taking the drug. Physical effects can include muscle tension, involuntary teeth clenching, nausea, blurred vision, faintness, and chills or sweating. Increases in heart rate and blood pressure are a special risk for people with circulatory or heart disease.

These effects start after about twenty minutes and can last from one to several hours. Some people actually feel sick and experience a stiffening up of arms, legs and particularly the jaw along with sensations of thirst, sleeplessness, depression and paranoia. Gives a feeling of energy. Some mild hallucinogenic effects.These reconnections may be permanent, resulting in cognitive impairments, changes in emotion, learning, memory, or hormone-like chemical abnormalities.

Long Term consequences of Ecstasy

MDMA (Ecstasy) causes long-lasting damage to brain areas that are critical for thought and memory, according to new research findings in The Journal of Neuroscience. Findings from a Johns Hopkins/NIMH study now suggest that Ecstasy / MDMA use may lead to impairments in other cognitive functions besides memory, such as the ability to reason verbally or sustain attention.

The side effects of long-term ecstasy use are just beginning to undergo scientific analysis. In 1998, the National Institute of Mental Health conducted a study of a small group of habitual ecstasy users who were abstaining from use. The study revealed that the abstinent users suffered damage to the neurons in the brain that transmit serotonin, an important biochemical involved in a variety of critical functions including learning, sleep, and integration of emotion. The results of the study indicate that recreational ecstasy users may be at risk of developing permanent brain damage that may manifest itself in depression, anxiety, memory loss, and other neuropsychotic disorders.

Some information on this page courtesy of National Institute on Drug Abuse.

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