In today’s society, the drug Ecstasy has become increasingly popular among our youth who often participate in the nightclub scene. It is referred to as MDMA, which is the abbreviation for methylenedioxymethamphetamine, but more often called names such as, the club drug or the love drug. These names originated from the effects or euphoria that the drug causes such as increased energy, loss of perception, distortion in time, and the key feeling caused by the drug is emotional warmth.
Ecstasy applies it primary effects on the neurons of the brain that use the neurotransmitter, serotonin, to communicate with other neurons. The serotonin system is in charge of regulating mood, aggression, and sexual activity, sensitivity to pain, and sleep. While this is what the system is responsible for doing in a person whose body is completely clean of any type of brain-altering drugs, when combined with Ecstasy, a person can begin to have problems with confusion, depression, sleep, cravings for drugs, and severe anxiety. These issues may develop immediately or may take effect days or weeks later and chronic users can begin to perform poorly on certain cognitive and memory tasks.
Ecstasy usually comes in a pill form with little logos imbedded on them, creating brand names for the user to seek out for them. It is also distributed in capsule, liquid, or powder form but most commonly in tablet form. They are usually taken by “stacking” which is taking three or more at once or by “piggy-backing” which is taking a series of tablets over a short amount of time. The addictive potential of MDMA is just as any other addictive substance, the more often you use, the bigger the tolerance, the more you take to achieve that high. Also, with the increased amounts you are taking in your body, the quicker the amphetamine takes role causing a person to need the drug.
While the drug has a negative effect on the mind, it also has negative effects on the body. The drug is often compared to other drugs such as cocaine and amphetamine in similarities of the effects on the body. A person may experience increased motor activity, alertness, heart rate, and blood pressure but the negative downside to this drug could be fatal to a person’s health. Unwanted physical effects of the drug may include: tremors, muscle cramps, faintness, sweating, muscle tension, involuntary teeth clenching, nausea, chills, and blurred vision. Taken in higher doses can interfere with the body’s ability to regulate body temperature which may lead to failure of multiple organs.
At the Freedom Center, the growing popularity of the drug is realized and included in our treatment and recovery programs. The decision was made not only due to the increasing amount of use in today’s society but the similar effects of the drug to cocaine and amphetamine use. In the United States, we have the highest success rate where drug and alcohol addiction treatment is concerned. Ecstasy addiction is addressed at our facility through education programs while they are going through treatment and recovery from the addicting substance in our comforting homelike facility.
