ECSTASY USE TRIGGERS DEEP DEPRESSION

Just Two Tablets Enough To Cause Long-Term Health Problems, Psychologists
Are Told

Ecstasy, the so-called love drug taken by hundreds of thousands each
weekend, can result in crippling depression after just a couple of tablets,
a study revealed yesterday. Experts warned that the changes to the brain
brought about by the drug leave a legacy of long-term mental health
problems, including memory loss and lack of concentration, although many
young people still regard it as harmless.

Psychologists have found that even those who gave up taking the drug
several years ago scored higher on a depression rating than people who had
never taken it.

But for clubbers who are taking large number of tablets regularly, ecstasy
actually appears to tip them into clinical depression, according to Dr Lynn
Taurah, researcher at London Metropolitan University.

She looked at the habits of 221 young professionals and studied the
differences between frequent and less frequent ecstasy users, also
comparing them with former users, people who used cannabis and those who
took nothing at all.

'What we found is that, whether you have taken it fewer than 20 times or
more than 20 times in the past few years, you are still more likely to be
depressed than non-users,' said Taurah.

'But for those who over years have taken thousands of tablets, there is a
significant chance of serious depression. It's a weird drug.

'At first it gives you a surge of happiness, but after a day or two, and up
to three weeks later, the user will have mood swings and feel low. In
theory, it shouldn't have a long-lasting effect, but our study showed that
even those people who had stopped taking it had higher scores on the
depression rating than those who had never taken it.'

Taurah presented a paper yesterday at the British Psychological Society's
annual conference in Bournemouth.

At the conference earlier in the week, Dr Fabrizio Schifano, a leading
authority on the drug, revealed new data showing how ecstasy was very often
being taken in a cocktail with other drugs. Schifano, a consultant
psychiatrist at the addiction centre at St George's Hospital Medical School
in south London, said: 'What we know from previous studies is that those
who take relatively large amounts of tablets have an eight times higher
chance of suffering depression than the lower users.'

He revealed at the conference that, out of the 202 ecstasy deaths recorded
in England and Wales between 1997 and April 2002, 85 per cent involved
mixing ecstasy with other drugs.

He said that it was common for clubbers to start their evening with a
mixture of alcohol and ecstasy and that during the second part of the night
- - usually between 2am and 3am - they would often re-energise themselves
with 'uppers' such as cocaine and amphetamines.

Then at the end of the night, as the 'loved-up' feelings begin to fade and
be replaced with irritability - usually between 5am and 6am - it was common
to take 'downers' such as alcohol and heroin.

'If you take ecstasy, you tend to have a liberal attitude towards drugs and
are more likely to have tried a vast array of other drugs, but even when
you allow for the impact of the other chemicals, it is clear that ecstasy
is linked to depression and other cognitive disturbances.'

He said that most users were completely unaware of the fact that it might
also lead to memory loss and difficulties concentrating.

This has been confirmed by brain-imaging techniques showing that ecstasy
affects serotonin neurones - nerve impulses fired when the mood-chemical
serotonin hits them.

The cells, which run from the brain stem down to the frontal cortex, are
'pruned' by the chemical, removing cells that affect our response to pain
and govern mood and cognitive functions.

'We can no longer conclude that ecstasy is going to be safe. This new study
confirms the other research showing that even a small amount has an
impact,' said Schifano.

'What no one can predict is what it will mean for the future. These
clubbers may be 24 or 25, but how will their minds be affected by the time
they are 55 or 60?'