Psychiatric sequelae of MDMA (ecstasy) and related drugs

Cassidy, Géraldine; Ballard, Clive

doi:10.1017/s0790966700014841

Cited by 13 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…There is a growing body of evidence to suggest that this might, indeed, be the case. There are a number of case reports of chronic psychiatric symptoms following regular use of the drug including reports of depersonalisation (McGuire et al 1994), obsessive-compulsive symptoms (Cassidy and Ballard 1994), flashbacks (Creighton et al 1991;McGuire and Fahy 1992;Schifano and Magni 1994), panic attacks (McCann and Ricaurte 1991; Pallantini and Mazzi 1992;McGuire et al 1994;Schifano and Magni 1994;Series et al 1994;Cohen 1996;Windhaber et al 1998), psychosis (Creighton et al 1991;McCann and Ricaurte 1991;McGuire and Fahy 1991;Schifano 1991;Keenan et al 1993;Cassidy and Ballard 1994;McGuire et al 1994) and depression (Benazzi and Mazzoli 1991;McCann and Ricaurte 1991;McGuire et al 1994;Schifano and Magni 1994). These symptoms appear to differ from the more common acute psychiatric effects of ecstasy (Solowji et al 1992;Curran and Travill 1997), in that they were often not associated with the timing of each dose, and were chronic, persisting long after ecstasy use had been discontinued (McGuire 1999).…”

Section: Evidence For Chronic Neuropsychiatric Effectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecstasy (MDMA): a review of its possible persistent psychological effects

2000

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Section: Evidence For Chronic Neuropsychiatric Effectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecstasy (MDMA): a review of its possible persistent psychological effects

2000

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“…In addition, Creighton et al (1991) reported a patient who was free of psychiatric symptoms for 8 months, but after taking a further 4 doses of Ecstasy the psychological symptoms returned. The individual reported by Cassidy and Ballard (1994) stated that there was a close relationship between symptom improvement and Ecstasy cessation. Additional support comes from a large-scale clinical survey (Schifano et al, 1998), where the longer-term polydrug users, who had consumed an average of 43 Ecstasy tablets, were found to be at a considerably higher risk of developing a psychopathological disorder than the patients who took smaller amounts (average 3).…”

Section: Psychiatric Casesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychiatric disorders in Ecstasy (MDMA) users: a literature review focusing on personal predisposition and drug history

Soar

Turner

Parrott

2001

Human Psychopharmacology

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3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA or Ecstasy) has been implicated in the onset of a number of psychological disorders and associated with a number of psychiatric symptoms that have persisted after cessation of the drug. This paper is a review of the published psychiatric case studies from the last 10 years involving MDMA. Only 24% of patients had a previous psychiatric history and 34% had a psychiatric illness amongst first degree relatives. The percentage of patients not having had a personal or family history of psychiatric illness and the temporal relationship between MDMA ingestion and the experience of recurring symptoms strongly suggest a causal relationship between the drug and neuropsychiatric manifestations. Further supporting evidence comes from several studies using non-clinical samples. Ecstasy users that don't present themselves in healthcare settings as having clinical symptoms have significantly higher scores on certain subscales of the SCL-90 compared with Ecstasy-naive controls, with higher pathology scores in heavier Ecstasy users. The full-blown psychiatric cases may represent the broad end of this problematic spectrum. Copyright 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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“…Increasingly high levels of use have been reported in some European countries, notably the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and some central and eastern European countries Korf and Wurth, 1995;Pompidou Group, 1997). Research also suggests that physical and psychological morbidity from this drug is increasing (Cassidy and Ballard, 1994;McGuire et al, 1994;Series et al, 1994;Williamson et al, 1997).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecstasy abuse and dependence among adolescents and young adults: applicability and reliability of DSM‐IV criteria

Cottler

Womack

Compton

et al. 2001

Human Psychopharmacology

150

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As part of an ongoing National Institute on Drug Abuse study on the reliability of DSM substance use disorders, 173 adolescents and young adults have been interviewed to date with the CIDI-Substance Abuse Module (SAM) to determine use and abuse of and dependence on 'club drugs' and other substances. Respondents are recruited from a substance abuse program, high school ads, college dorm flyers, the internet and chain referral. Retest interviews after 5 days determined the reliability of responses. Ecstasy use was reported by 52 respondents (30%); of these users 52% were female and 23% were non-white. Nearly all users (94%) reported recent Ecstasy use. Among Ecstasy users, 'continuing to use despite knowledge of physical or psychological harm' was the most prevalent dependence criterion (63%), with excellent retest agreement (kappa = 0.66). Withdrawal (59%) and tolerance (35%) were also commonly reported dependence criteria. Hazardous use was the most commonly reported abuse symptom. Most surprising were the rates of Ecstasy use disorders: 43% met DSM-IV criteria for dependence; 34% met criteria for abuse; only 23% met neither. This is the first effort to assess the reliability of Ecstasy abuse and dependence, and the first to determine abuse and dependence using criteria specific to Ecstasy. The importance of additional studies and the relevance of such work to DSM-V are discussed. Copyright 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Psychiatric sequelae of MDMA (ecstasy) and related drugs

Cited by 13 publications

References 11 publications

Ecstasy (MDMA): a review of its possible persistent psychological effects

Ecstasy (MDMA): a review of its possible persistent psychological effects

Psychiatric disorders in Ecstasy (MDMA) users: a literature review focusing on personal predisposition and drug history

Ecstasy abuse and dependence among adolescents and young adults: applicability and reliability of DSM‐IV criteria

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