- Adderall
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- Ecstasy
- Gamma Hydroxybutyrate (GHB)
- Gender Specific Issues
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- Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD)
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- Prescription Drug Abuse
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- Ritalin and Concerta
- Sex and Love Addiction
- Steroids
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- Trauma
- Valium
- Video Game Addiction
- Xanax
Ecstasy
What is Ecstasy?
Ecstasy (MDMA) is a synthetic drug that has stimulant and psychoactive properties. It is taken orally as a capsule or tablet. These pills can be different colors, and sometimes have cartoon-like images on them. Some MDMA users take more than one pill at a time, called “bumping.” Ecstasy falls into the category of “club drug” because of the situations in which it is primarily used.
Effects of Ecstasy and Treatment Options
Short-term effects of MDMA include feelings of mental stimulation, emotional warmth, enhanced sensory perception, and increased physical energy. Negative health effects include nausea, chills, sweating, teeth clenching, muscle cramping, and blurred vision. MDMA can interfere with the body’s ability to regulate temperature, which on rare occasions can be lethal.
Almost five percent of all students in eighth through 12th grade have abused MDMA at least once.
The effects of MDMA last for three to six hours. Users might feel very alert, or “hyper,” at first. At clubs, they can keep on dancing for hours at a time. Some experience dissociative symptoms, losing their sense of time and experiencing other changes in perception, such as an enhanced sense of touch.
MDMA can cause muscle tension, nausea, blurred vision, and increase heart rate and blood pressure. These side effects of MDMA, along with feelings of sadness, anxiety, depression, and memory difficulties, can last for several days to a week (or longer in regular MDMA users).
Like other drugs, MDMA can be addictive for some people, as evidenced by their continuing to take the drug despite experiencing unpleasant physical side effects and other social, behavioral, and health consequences. However, little evidence exists as to whether or not MDMA causes long-term brain damage or whether there are irreversible effects once its use is discontinued.
If you feel that your loved one needs to be in a rehabilitation treatment center for MDMA abuse please feel free to fill out a patient placement form and The Way Out Recovery will aid in placement of your loved one.