Petra Coveney in London
MARC is 18. He took his first Ecstasy tablet at a nightclub in Liverpool. A friend introduced him to the drug, a blue “speckled dove”. It made him feel elated, surrounded by his mates who were all on it, as though cocooned in a cloud of friendship.
Three days later Marc felt lethargic and flat, but regular users of Ecstasy said not to worry, it’s only the midweek blues. He’d feel fine by the weekend – especially after taking another E. He started to live for the weekends, for the high, the euphoric feeling that you are not alone and the grin that made his jaw ache. Soon Marc was taking two and then three Es, and before long six on a Saturday night, just to reach that same uplift.
It hit him about five months later. A deep depression. He had sudden panic attacks, felt paranoid and had occasional hallucinations. Having felt surrounded by friendship, he suddenly seemed alone. He worried that his friends didn’t want to be with him any more because he’d drag their mood down. At rock-bottom he was suicidal.
If Marc’s was an isolated experience it could be dismissed as an aberration. But it isn’t. Information is patchy and largely speculative to date, but a growing band of psychiatrists such as Sue Ruben, who treated Marc in Liverpool, are reporting that a rising number of teenagers are suffering Ecstasy-related mental health problems. It is estimated that one million people aged between 17 and 35 take E each weekend in Britain. If only a tiny proportion of them fall mentally ill, that’s still an alarming number.
Press coverage of Ecstasy has tended to focus on dramatic cases of comas and death. Yet more people die from swallowing aspirin or alcohol and the total of Ecstasy deaths (figures vary from eight to 20 a year) is almost insignificant compared with the 30 000 annual alcohol-related death toll.
But death is not the only way to be “sorted” by E. “There is clear evidence that Ecstasy can have a neurotoxic effect which causes clinical depression in some people,” Ruben says. “The chances of dying from E may be low, but the risk of severe side-effects is greater and more worrying.”
Last month a study by Valerie Curran, reader in psychology at University College, London, gave firm scientific evidence for a trend that had previously only been suggested anecdotally – that Ecstasy is linked with depression and diminished concentration. She set up a “laboratory” in a nightclub and tested clubbers’ moods and behaviour. While drinkers quickly recovered from hangovers, Ecstasy users slid into an irritable and anxious depression a few days after taking the drug.
Curran’s study has been backed up by research by psychologist Michael Morgan, who found many Ecstasy users suffered memory loss and displayed impulsive behaviour. He estimates that 10% of people taking Ecstasy could be affected.
Pure E consists of the stimulant drug MDMA, so it comes as no surprise to doctors that users feel a come-down when its effects wear off. What is alarming psychiatrists is that MDMA appears to be having an adverse effect on serotonin, the chemical in the brain thought to play an important part in controlling emotional stability and coherent thinking. Ecstasy acts by overstimulating the release of serotonin, so leading to a depletion of the chemical’s reserves.
Low serotonin levels are associated with suicidal and impulsive behaviour, Morgan explains. “If you add to this the evidence of memory loss, then we could get a million- plus young people who have more severe mood swings and are more prone to suicide, with premature dementia symptoms similar to Alzheimer’s disease. We could get 17-year- olds exhibiting aspects of geriatric brain function.”
This bleak view is not shared by Curran, who believes that only certain susceptible individuals will suffer the severe side- effects of Ecstasy. “Some people are more vulnerable to the effects of drugs than others. There could be a host of different biological, social and psychological factors causing this.”
The truth is that in the world of illegal drugs, with research in its infancy, nobody knows for sure what the impact will be on regular users. Curran’s was the first “controlled” or scientific study, but even then, she says, it was impossible to know the exact ingredients of the drug the clubbers she tested were taking. And she adds that there is no proof that Ecstasy “causes” depression and memory loss; the only certainty is that there is a link.
David, a 29-year-old university lecturer who has taken 40 Ecstasy tablets in the past two years, has suffered severe depression. He describes his condition as like having uncontrollable waves of intense emotion sweep over him.
“I’ve been in important meetings when it suddenly hits me and I just want to rush out and break down and cry,” he says.
But even such black moments as these have not persuaded David to quit Ecstasy. He has seen others suffer similar depressions and recover, he says, so he’s sceptical about the link between the drug and depression and won’t give it up until more is known.
And what about Marc? His suicidal feelings grew until he was driven to seek psychiatric help at the Liverpool Drug Dependency Clinic where he was put on medication normally prescribed for schizophrenics. He is recovering, but is finding it hard to regain self-confidence.
Meanwhile hundreds of thousands of people continue to use Ecstasy every weekend. Their enjoyment is intense and instant. But what is the pay-back? To know its full extent we may have to wait another decade.
ENDS