Ecstasy Addiction and Abuse

Ecstasy Info

• Ecstasy Addiction and Abuse
• Ecstasy Symptoms and Warning Signs
• Ecstasy Treatment and Rehab
• Ecstasy Withdrawal and Detox

What is Ecstasy?

Ecstasy is an illegal substance that is commonly used as a recreational drug. An ecstasy tablet is expected to contain MDMAcompound (3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine), but adulterated versions of ecstasy rarely do. Because MDMA is an active ingredient of ecstasy, many people also refer to ecstasy simply as MDMA.

Ecstasy acts as both a psychoactive drug and a stimulant. Its effects on the nervous system and brain closely resemble the reaction you can get from using the hallucinogen mescaline and the stimulant amphetamine. This means that using ecstasy can leave you feeling energetic as well as distort your perception of time and sensation, thus enhancing your enjoyment of tactile experiences.

Different variations of ecstasy are currently illegally sold in the UK as designer drugs or club drugs, especially for raves. Designer drugs can contain anything from dextromethorphan to caffeine, PCP, LSD, methamphetamine, amphetamines, and cocaine. In worst cases, ecstasy might contain little or no MDMA, but instead contain heroin, rat poison or dog de-worming substances.

Dealers often place attractive logos on ecstasy pills to make them appear more innocent, but the truth is that a variety of dangers lay within each tablet of ecstasy. This makes using ecstasy bought on the street a big gamble, as you usually don’t know exactly what you’re putting in your body and how your physiology might react to it. Also, there is a danger of overdosing, as you don’t know if the MDMA tablet bought today from a different dealer is more powerful or toxic than the last one you experimented with.

Initially, ecstasy was created and patented to be an appetite suppressant. In the early 1980s, MDMA was advertised as “the hottest thing in the continuing search for happiness through chemistry” and as a drug for weekend parties. By 1984, MDMA was being marketed with the brand name ‘Ecstasy’. In the U.S, ecstasy was used in clinical medicine to treat psychotherapy. It’s noteworthy that this line of treatment was not FDA approved or supported by any clinical trial research.

It was not until 1985 that MDMA was categorised by the Drug Enforcement Administration in the US as a drug with no recognised medical use and a high abuse potential. Currently, clinical trials are still ongoing to explore possible pharmacotherapy uses of MDMA to treat PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and anxiety.

Ecstasy can be consumed either as a pill or injected. Liquid versions of ecstasy are also available, but these are actually GHB, which is a nervous system depressant and an active component in the manufacturing of solutions such as floor stripper and drain cleaners.

Ecstasy Abuse and Addiction

Ecstasy/MDMA is also often popularly referred to as ‘Molly’. The drug can easily be abused and it doesn’t take long for substance dependence to set in after frequent abuse. Using ecstasy can lead to you experiencing feelings of euphoria, warmth and happiness, bursts of energy, and sensory perception distortions. The enjoyment that comes from using ecstasy can be the beginning of abusing the drug and eventually lead to your addiction.

The use of ecstasy is known to be popular within the gay nightclub scene and at raves. Users of ecstasy are often poly-drug abusers that combine the use of ecstasy with ketamine, cannabis, cocaine, or methamphetamines. Some – including gay and bisexual males -have even been reported to combine the use of MDMA with Viagra (an erectile dysfunction drug).

Recently, the use of ecstasy has begun gaining some popularity among non-Caucasian demographics, such as among African American adults. A typical club or party scene where ecstasy is freely used might feature dance music, brightly colouredlights and clothing, as well as glow sticks.

The attraction of ecstasy – especially to those of a younger demographic – lies inits unique ability to heighten feelings of love, empathy, and sexual arousal. Using ecstasy can make you experience feelings of intense joy and love, but once the effects wear off, negative emotions can set in. This is what leads to people chasing the high of MDMA and becoming substance dependent.

Consuming Ecstasy can cause your brain to flood with neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine, which are all known to trigger feelings of pleasure and happiness, whilst reducing tension and depression. This clearly shows why the sensations triggered by the use of MDMA can be addictive.

Keep in mind that the heavier your abuse of ecstasy, the longer and more powerful its after-effects will be. The aftereffects are often dependent on what other substances were combined with the use of ecstasy or the other active ingredients within the consumed pill.

Ecstasy use and abuse has been on the rise over recent decades. Each year sees more and more young adults being introduced to the drug for the first time and a significant number of these eventually become abusers.

The pleasurable effects of ecstasy abuse are short-term, while its negative effects can be far-reaching and long-term. When coming down from a ‘high’ induced by the use of ecstasy, it can be difficult to attain the same level of happiness the drug caused, due to the depletion of serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine in your brain. This depletion can lead to effects such as:

Most of these symptoms will eventually wear off given enough time and if you stay clear of stimulating substances. However, the quality and dose of drug used, as well as your physiology, often play a big role in determining how long these effects last.

Ecstasy Addiction Mortality Statistics in the UK

One of the most popular ecstasy related deaths in the UK is the story of Leah Betts. Leah Sarah Betts was a schoolgirl living in Essex. She died in 1995 after a brief coma, which was brought on by the use of MDMA while partying on her 18^th birthday.

Death caused by MDMA isn’t limited to overdose and accidental poisoning, as people have also died from mental and behavioural disorders brought on by abusing ecstasy.

According to statistics released by the ONS(Office of National Statistics), 2,248 people in the UK died from abusing illegal drugs in 2014, which is an all-time high since the collation of comparable records in 1993. It is also noteworthy that within these statistics, there is a sharp increase in the number deaths related to the use of MDMA, cocaine, and heroin. The statistics show that MDMA-related deaths have increased from just eight in 2010 to fifty-seven in 2015.

The cause for this sudden rise is believed to be due to an increase in more potent variations of ecstasy currently available on the street. According to The Guardian, the average MDMA pill which was sold in2009 contained a mere 20-30mg while those sold in 2014 contained up to a 100mg.

The Short-Term Risks of Ecstasy

A major short-term effect of using ecstasy is the suppression of some of your most basic physical needs. Examples include drinking, eating, and sleeping. This is caused by the stimulant effect of the drug.

Shortly after taking ecstasy, you may begin to feel a range of sensations, due to the hallucinogenic and stimulant properties of the drug. These effects can begin to manifest in as little as 30 minutes after taking the drug and in some individuals can last for as long as six hours. Some of these effects include:

Aside from the above enjoyable effects, using ecstasy can in the short-term also lead to the following side effects:

The long-term effects of Ecstasy use

Research is still ongoing into the long-term effects of abusing ecstasy, but a 1998 study did point out that abusing the drug can lead to irreversible damage to serotonin neurotransmitters in the brain. This is caused by the overproduction of serotonin that is triggered by the use of MDMA. If your serotonin neurotransmitters become damaged, this can leave you severely impaired and unable to properly learn, sleep, or appropriately process emotions.

If your neurotransmitters become damaged due to abuse of ecstasy, you could end up suffering from conditions ranging from insomnia to depression, anxiety, and memory loss. Such conditions can endure for a long time, even after you’ve stopped using MDMA.

Another long-term effect of abusing ecstasy is developing a dependency. This occurs as you use more of the drug in order to attain the state of ‘high’ it triggers. As you use more of the drugover time, your tolerance of it will also grow stronger, which will lead to you increasing doses or combining MDMA with other drugs (known as poly-drug usage).

The quest to source more ecstasy and stay ‘high’ can lead to the drug dominating your life and thus lead to substance dependence. Such a change in your lifestyle will signify the beginning of addiction. In the event you run out of MDMA and can’t immediately get your hands on any more, symptoms of withdrawal can set in.

The withdrawal symptoms of MDMA are similar to those of other stimulant drugs and mostly psychological in nature. These include panic attacks, increased cravings, out-of-body perceptions, paranoia, depression, and hallucinations.

Signs and Symptoms of Ecstasy (MDMA) Use

Unlike cocaine, crack or heroine, the signs of ecstasy usage are a little harder to spot, especially if you aren’t looking out for it. Another reason why they might be difficult to spot is that it’s often used with other substances, such as alcohol, which can alter symptoms.

There are certain unique influences of ecstasy usage that you can keep an eye out for when trying to spot if a person is using. They include:

It is worth mentioning that using ecstasy once or a few times isn’t an indication of addiction to the substance.For a condition to be labelled as psychological dependence, the person in question must have frequent cravings for doses of ecstasy and usually experiences unease when there is an unavailability of the drug.

The following can be indicators of addiction to MDMA:

MDMA is categorised as a stimulant that possesses hallucinogenic properties. Even though Molly is often advertised as a pure form of MDMA, the truth is that there’s no way to tell what’s actually in a batch of Molly, except in a laboratory. Dealers of Molly and ecstasy are known to cut them both by mixing with other ingredients such as LSD, cocaine, heroin, amphetamine, caffeine, and even rat poison. Some even sell drugs with no MDMA in them at all and instead substitute with PMA (paramethoxyamphetamine).

Using either Molly or ecstasy can lead to you feeling a sense of friendliness, well-being and happiness. The drug can also enhance your sense of sound, sight, touch and smell. This is why the use of this drug is common on the nightclub scene, as people use it to heighten sensations and stay energised. The drug can also lower your inhibitions.

Although the ‘high’ from using MDMA can last for up to six hours, its crash on the other hand can last for days.

Taking an overdose of ecstasy or Molly is becoming increasingly common, as users are uncertain about how much of a dose is in a batch. An overdose of the substance can lead to foaming at the mouth, seizures, issues with the heart, and a significant spike in body temperature, which can in turn lead to heatstroke.

Ecstasy and Molly are commonly abused as ‘party drugs’ by youths and a significant number of MDMA users are poly-drug abusers. Also, because many people who use ecstasy or Molly lack the proper knowledge, they don’t know what dosage is safe, or that staying hydrated and keeping cool whilst on the drug is very important. Internationally, visits to the emergency room due to complications caused by using ecstasy have increased by more than 1,200% since its introduction to the public in the 1980s.

If you or a loved one’s health or life is at risk due to an abuse of Molly or ecstasy, please contact us now for professional intervention and assistance.

Ecstasy Addiction and Abuse Treatment

Regardless of the substance involved, addiction is a sickness. Like every other sickness, if MDMA addiction is not treated quickly, it can lead to fatal results.

Treatment Options

The sort of treatment best suited to your medical and mental condition after ecstasy addiction is dependent on a number of factors. Examples of such factors include your age, the presence of any other health issues, and how bad your addiction was before seeking help.

The best treatment to deliver optimal results when treating ecstasy addiction can include participation in a 12-Step support group, outpatient therapy, partial hospitalisation or residential treatment. Following your treatment, you may be advised to complete one or more of the following programmes:

Detox and Withdrawal

If your addiction has reached a severe level before you seek help, your withdrawal symptoms when you choose to quit can prove to be quite inconvenient. Fortunately, the withdrawal symptoms associated with ecstasy abuse are not as severe as those associated with other stimulants and psychoactive drugs.

Before going for detox, it’s important to know what to expect. Below are some of the symptoms of ecstasy withdrawal that abusers experience during detox:

For safety reasons and in order to ensure positive results from detox, it’s best to have the entire process managed by a medical professional. This is because a competently monitored detox offers you greater protection against any complications.The expert will closely monitor essentials such as your hydration level, heart rate, temperature, reflexes, and changes in your pupil’s responsiveness.

It can take as little as three days for all toxins from ecstasy abuse to be flushed from your system during detoxification. How long and how trying the detoxification period will be is usually dependent on the severity of the addiction, how powerful the ecstasy being abused was, and what type and amount of other substances were being used alongside the ecstasy.

Currently, there is no approved medication for ecstasy detox. A majority of recovery specialists often prescribe antidepressants to help patients manage any feelings of depression that may arise.

Rehab Centres

As the abuse of ecstasy is usually accompanied by the use of other stimulant substances, a treatment plan will need to be tailored to match the unique circumstances of every individual. In doing so, treatment can be provided for every substance that was abused during the period of ecstasy addiction. It also provides an avenue to properly manage any underlying mental health conditions.

In the UK, there are many reputable rehab centres that possess the facilities and competence to help you effectively combat ecstasy addiction. By contacting us, you’ll have access to some of the most suitable and convenient rehab centres in the UK. Get in touch with us today for any enquiries.

Steps to Recovery

Treatment for ecstasy addiction usually involves the following steps:

• Assessment. A comprehensive assessment of you and your condition is required so that your healthcare provider can properly determine your level of addiction and what treatment will best suit your circumstances. The assessment will also reveal psychological or medical disorders that might have been brought on by your abuse of ecstasy. How the drug has affected the social aspects of your life will also be taken into consideration.
• Medical care. Medical management of anxiety and depression related issues brought on by the cessation of ecstasy usage is often required to help you cope with withdrawal symptoms. Medication is available to help with such complications.
• Therapy: There are a variety of substance use disorder therapy programmes that you can be enrolled into. The right therapy is essential to helping you successfully recover from addiction. The therapy programme can include stress management classes, psychoeducation concerning substance abuse, development of coping skills that will assist you with relapse prevention, and the formulation of a personalised long-term plan on how to stay sober. Most rehab centres often use Cognitive Behavioural Therapy to help those addicted to ecstasy.
• Social support from family and friends. Support groups are essential to helping an addict overcome addiction. Direct support from family and friends or a support group made up of people also battling addiction are both effective. Social support groups that consist of like-minded people can consist of a 12-Step group or something similar. Such groups are great for long-term aftercare treatment.

Depending on your unique circumstances, other steps to recovery might be prescribed.

Where to get Help?

If you are uncertain about what clinic will provide the type of care you need, contact an addiction helpline, who will provide you with free advice concerning government funded and private options, as well as recommend personalised treatment options for ecstasy addiction.

12-Step Rehabilitation

Recovery groups such as 12-step programmes like Narcotics Anonymous (NA) are effective in helping people stay sober and not fall off the wagon. They also provide an avenue for recovering addicts to bond with people who have been – or are going through – the same situation.

A 12-step rehabilitation programme often involves:

Meetings for Ecstasy Addiction

There are a variety of meetings and support groups which have been setup around the UK to help people achieve long-term recovery. Narcotic Anonymous (NA) groups are one of the most popular. Such groups usually act autonomously and the type of people found at such meetings can vary from group to group. Some NA meetings are closed and allow only those in recoveryto attend, but there are others that are more open and allow non-addicts to attend to support the efforts of a loved one.

Narcotic Anonymous meetings usually have general guidelines which they follow when conducting their affairs. Some rules include the following:

• Everyone in attendance should be treated with respect.
• No attendee is obligated to share. That is, personal sharing is completely voluntary.
• Specific meetings can be organised to have speakers share their own unique insights.
• At all Narcotics Anonymous meetings, only the use of first names isrequired. Also, the list of attendees is kept secret within the meeting.
• Payment is not required to join a meeting, but voluntary donations are welcomed.
• The location of a meeting doesn’t indicate any affiliation. That is, a meeting held in a church or other religious building doesn’t imply that the meeting or group is affiliated with that body.

A significant number of individuals who are a part of NA meetings have succeeded in remaining abstinent from ecstasy abuse for years after. Such meetings motivate attendees to stay clean and support all involved to live a substance-free life.

Self-Management and Recovery Training (SMART) meetings are also beneficial. The SMART recovery process makes use of an in-person meeting format, as well as online groups to assist in recovery. The system places an emphasis on educating people about developing a sense of empowerment and practical skills for dealing with addiction.

Help for Families of MDMA Addicts

During ecstasy addiction, you’ll likely experience a decreased ability to make rational decisions. This inability to think things through in a clear-headed fashion can lead to thoughtlessly lashing out at your loved ones. The reason for such behaviour is that substance dependence makes you unable to fully appreciate that you have placed the use of ecstasy over the needs and feelings of your loved ones.

One of the risks of the unstable behaviour brought on by addiction to MDMA is that your actions might negatively influence any children or younger siblings. Youngsters are usually impressionable, and observing your behaviour during an ecstasy ‘high’ or at moments of withdrawal might influence young people to emulate in some way.

Children that are raised in a home where one or more of the adults suffers from substance abuse are likely to grow up with behavioural problems. Examples of such problems include anxiety, increased levels of aggression, delinquency, and even emulating the abuse of the substance. Also, if you are a caregiver who suffers from ecstasy addiction, your family situation can be worsened if you begin diverting money meant for the upkeep of the family to funding your drug habit.

It is crucial that an addiction problem is dealt with as soon as possible. If ignored, the addiction will likely only worsen and thus cause even greater harm to the family in question. Instead of waiting for ecstasy addiction to cause irreparable harm to your family, contact us now for professional assistance.

Ecstasy Addiction Recovery Plan

There are various options available to assist in recovering from Ecstasy addiction. This is why it is important to focus on your personal needs and what’s best for you when selecting an Ecstasy recovery centre to care for your needs. Another factor that will determine what recovery plan will work best is the severity of your addiction.

The following are some of the MDMA addiction treatment options available:

Inpatient facilities:

Sober living houses are a good example of such facilities. With this arrangement, you can live at the inpatient facility and focus on your recovery, whilst also avoiding stressors and craving triggers. That is, this recovery option involves you living temporarily within the inpatient treatment centre, which is a controlled environment, free of anything that might influence you to take ecstasy. This sort of recovery plan is often recommended to people suffering from severe ecstasy addiction.

Outpatient programmes

This type of programme allows you to come for treatment from home. This recovery option is best suited to people with a less severe ecstasy addiction. Various types of outpatient treatment programmes include:

• Narcotics Anonymous, which is a 12-step recovery programme that’s similar to Alcoholics Anonymous.
• Individual Therapy, which is available to help you identify causes of your addiction and triggers. It also helps you build a healthy and positive coping mechanism.
• Group Counselling, which involves a professional therapist hosting sessions with others and focusing on interaction and insight. This recovery plan actually includes some elements of individual therapy.
• Smart Recovery is a four-point programme that focuses on empowerment and applying cutting edge scientific knowledge, concerning addiction and recovery.
• Matrix Model is an outpatient recovery programme with a duration of 16 weeks. It includes relapse-prevention groups, urine and breath-testing, social-support groups, education for the client and family, as well as individual counselling. The programme isn’t necessarily limited to just the aforementioned components.

Dual diagnosis programmes:

These programmes are available to help if you are suffering from ecstasy addiction, as well as any mental or behavioural health issues. Getting the most out of an addiction recovery programme usually involves receiving medical diagnosis from an expert to determine if there are any co-occurring disorders. This will help your healthcare provider best determine the most effective course of treatment to offer.

You have a greater chance of relapsing after completing a recovery programme if you do not receive aftercare/after treatment. Aftercare can help you stay clean and remember to apply the positive coping skills you developed during recovery.

This is especially important if you are recovering from ecstasy addiction, as it is a drug often used in social settings. In order to avoid the influences of peer pressure to indulge in ecstasy, you can take advantage of aftercare options such as 12-step programmes, non-12-step support groups, or post-treatment screening or monitoring.

Contact us today to discover which recovery option will work best for you and offer the most benefits.

Ecstasy Addiction Rehabilitation

Rehabilitation can be described as the systematic and therapeutic process of treating the psychological aspects of ecstasy addiction. In the absence of rehabilitation, your chances of staying abstinent post-detox are slim.

The following can be achieved by getting effective rehab to further your recovery from addiction:

The process of your rehabilitation will be determined by your unique needs and will likely vary from that of others with ecstasy addictions. The entire process will be constantly reviewed as time passes in order to ensure you get the best long-term results.

Watching for signs of Ecstasy Use

If you are alert, there are signs of ecstasy use which you can spot to identify if a loved one is using the drug. For instance, keep an eye out for small coloured pills hidden in pockets, bags, or other hiding places. Other tell-tale signs of ecstasy use include a lack of awareness of pain and irregular sleeping habits. For instance, spending all night out or getting hurt and not realising or acknowledging the injury.

Simply keep an eye out for the following activities or reaction changes:

There can also be physical changes such as:

Once you notice these symptoms or for any other reason suspect a loved one is abusing ecstasy, contact us immediately to get the necessary help. Remember that the longer you wait, the greater the chance of the condition worsening.

Ecstasy Addiction Rehab

Rehab and detox are often interchangeable, but in actuality, both processes are entirely different.

Ecstasy addiction rehabilitation refers to the process that follows detox. It begins after the substance abuser has stopped partaking in ecstasy or any other chemical that they have been addicted to and reliant on. It is very important that the cycle of addiction is broken before rehabilitation can begin.

Ecstasy Detox

Ecstasy detox refers to the gradual process of removing all traces of the ecstasy chemical from the body of an abuser. It is vital to carry this out in order to break the physical dependence that a substance abuser has developed.

The beginning of detox often leads to withdrawal symptoms, but fortunately, withdrawing from ecstasy isn’t usually as painful as one might experience with other drugs. Symptoms of ecstasy withdrawal may include:

A few days are often needed to completely rid the human body of toxins left behind from using ecstasy. How many days are actually needed depends on how severe the addiction was, the physiology of the abuser, and what other types of substances were being abused alongside ecstasy.

Keep in mind that detox is merely the first step in breaking ecstasy addiction. After you have detoxed and proceeded to ecstasy rehab, the treatment team assigned to you will help create a personalised recovery plan that’s best capable of helping you make a full recovery.

Ecstasy and Club Drugs Health Risks:

While the short-term effects of using ecstasy and club drugs can be enjoyable, you must keep in mind that using these substances can endanger your health. Below are some health risks associated with using club/party drugs:

Signs of Ecstasy Use

People who use ecstasy often exhibit the following signs:

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