Ecstasy Addiction Treatment

Ecstasy and Molly are the street names for Methylenedioxymethamphetamine or the more suitably acronym MDMA. This highly dangerous drug is consumed by young adults and teenagers in an ever growing club scene. MDMA has been coined as a designer drug and is mistakenly considered by the mass as safe. Young party goers consume MDMA because it not only overcomes the user with euphoria but it also produces psychedelic effects that make them believe that they are having the greatest time of their life. Every pill taken increases the likelihood of an addiction forming.

In the U.S. alone, it has been recorded by NIDA in that there are over eleven million people over the age of twelve that had ever consumer MDMA in their entire lifetime. In 2004, there had been over two thousand two hundred E.R. visits due to the effects of MDMA. The majority of those emergency room visits were young adults aged eighteen to twenty.

MDMA is taken orally and absorbed into the blood stream. Once absorbed, the high can last anywhere between three and six hours. The length of the high does depend on several underlying factors. Due to the huge fluctuation in the length of a high, it is not unusual to see abusers popping more than three pills over the course of one evening in hopes to maintain their high. MDMA, being a designer drug, is not entirely just MDMA. It also contains a wide range of methamphetamines, cocaine, caffeine, ephedrine, and dextromethorphan. There is research proving that there is an unbalanced proportion of the various drugs in each MDMA tablet. The unbalanced array leads to a very dangerous inconsistent high. Young adults who consume the drug are unaware of its dangers and often mix it with alcohol and marijuana.

When observing an MDMA toxicology report, it is not unusual for the results to be all over the board. The designer drug will report any combination of drugs from cocaine to meth during the toxicology screening. The impact of this is catastrophic. Mixing stimulants like cocaine, caffeine, and ephedrine with depressants like marijuana and alcohol will lead to a plethora of complications.

Ecstasy consumed unaccompanied by any other drug has been repeatedly proven medically to destroy the nerve cells that are sensitive to serotonin. This is important to understand because the purpose of serotonin is to stabilize an individual’s mood. The devastation of all the serotonin transmitters can completely damage the behavioral portion of the brain. It is often overlooked that one of the greatest side effects of Ecstasy is a substantial increase of the user’s body temperature. A high body temperature can severely damage the metabolic system. A compromised metabolic system will eventually lead to death due to complications caused by the damaged system.

MDMA releases neurotransmitters like norepinephrine that are primarily used by the brain to regulate how a person responds to stressful situations. MDMA damages the natural process of these neurotransmitters and ultimately the result will narrow the blood vessels in the body, increase the blood pressure, and over stimulate the heart. These symptoms will significantly remove the amount of oxygen in the blood stream and in the body’s tissues. Also, the carbon dioxide will be then be removed from the cells at a much lower rate causing the body to become toxic from the inside out. This is because the large amounts of carbon dioxide in the blood stream will completely destroy the natural acid-base balance in the body. This condition is known as respiratory acidosis.

Some of the most common indicators of a person who has become reliant on ecstasy include the inability to rest, agitation, becoming seemingly more aggressive, becoming seemingly more impulsive, and insomnia. Amongst these symptoms there is also a diminished appetite, no sex drive, and a diminished interest in anything else. The abuser can also suffer from severe thirst due to the damage caused to the circulatory system as well as brain damage cause by lack of oxygen in the blood. The most life-threatening symptoms of Ecstasy include dehydration, shivering and mental confusion caused by hypothermia, failure of the kidneys, high blood pressure, muscles spasms, and heart failure.

The treatment for ecstasy is psychotherapy. Sprout Health California believes firmly in psychotherapy and actively uses cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to help rehabilitate their patients. CBT is useful in allowing the patient to modify their behaviors and thought process in a healthy productive manner. The gradual decrease of MDMA in an addict is essential when detoxing from the drug because an abrupt removal of the chemical could cause the body to convulse into unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. Before slowly removing the MDMA from the abuser’s system it is imperative to run a diagnostic on the toxicology report of the individual. It is important to understand what other drugs and chemicals had been stirred into the abusers ecstasy tablets in order to safely draw them off it. Some of the drugs mixed with the ecstasy may be so powerful that they will need to be handled individually. For example, if the ecstasy tablets contained heroin then the medical provider would administer buprenorphine in order to counter act the effects of the powerful drug. For the actual MDMA itself, there is no antagonist that can counter the side effects of its withdrawal.

Sprouts Health Group believes firmly in psychotherapy and actively uses cognitive behavioral therapy to help rehabilitate their patients. We have highly certified therapists and counselors to help guide patients through the CBT process. We believe by educating individuals on the true dangers of ecstasy they will never pick up the mixing pot of chemicals. It is possible to enjoy a social gathering without getting high to do so. Patients will learn different techniques on how to manage their life in a healthy positive manner. Sprout staff guides their patients into finding constructive ways to handle their anxiety.