Ecstasy and Consciousness

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Ecstasy and Consciousness

• How taking a drug can alter your look on life

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• Introduction - Jocelyn
• Physiology (How it works) - Robin
• Acute response Kristen
• Long term effects Quinn
• Ecstasy and Society Jocelyn
• Conclusion Jocelyn

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What is consciousness?

• Consciousness a state of awareness the totality
  of impressions, thoughts, and feelings
• Drugs act on the chemicals in the brain
• By altering or mimicking neurotransmitters,
  psychoactive drugs can substantially change how
  we feel

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Ecstasy Pharmacokinetics Pharmacodymanics
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Pharmacokinetics

• General Effects
• Combination of stimulant effects, mild
  hallucinogen-like effects, plus more unique
  emotional effects
• Dosage 80 - 150 mg. (500 mg fatal)
• Duration 4 - 6 hours

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• Absorption
• -Primarily oral administration (pill form)
• -Onset of clinical effect is 15 to 30 minutes
• -Peak effects occur at 1 to 2 hours

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• Biotransformation
• 65 of the drug is cleared
• in the urine as the parent drug
• Elimination
• Elimination half-life is reported to be 3 to 7
  hours
• In the abuse setting (i.e. at Raves) patients
  frequently may take a second "booster dose" after
  about 3 to 4 hours, as some of the hallucinogenic
  effects begin to "wear off".

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Pharmacodynamics

• MDMA is an indirect agonist for Serotonin (5-HT)
  for Dopamine (DA) and Norepinephrine (NE) to a
  lesser degree.
• MDMA has a high affinity for 5-HT 2 receptors
• Ecstasy elicits amphetamine-like effects

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• Mechanism
• The primary mechanism of action of MDMA is a
  potent release of brain serotonin as well as
  inhibition of serotonin reuptake
• MDMA uses a unique mechanism which causes a rapid
  and profound acute depletion of serotonin within
  3 to 6 hours

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Acute effects of Ecstasyand personal experiences
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The Love Drug

• Changes individual state of awareness or
  consciousness for 3-12 hours
• Increased sensory perceptions
• General feeling of openness
• Increased empathogenesis
• Increased entactogenesis
• ?all features are extensions of normal reality

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Acute Effects

• Physiological effects
• INCREASED
• heart rate
• blood pressure
• body temperature
• ?seen in other forms of alternate states
• of consciousness

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Common Situations for usage

• Personal experience
• small group setting
• Spiritual expansion
• Treatment of PTSDespecially female rape victims
• Helps people deal with diseases
• e.g. cancer

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Personal Experiences

• One person said, It takes away your fear
  response. You feel open, clear, loving. I cant
  imagine being angry under its influence, or
  feeling selfish or mean or even defensive. You
  have a lot of insights into yourself, real
  insights, that stay with you after the experience
  is over. It doesnt give you anything that isnt
  already there. It is not a trip. You dont lose
  touch with the world. You could pick up the
  phone, call your mother, and shed never know.

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Personal Experiences (cont.)

• With Ecstasy, I had simply stepped outside the
  worn paths in my brain and in the process, gained
  some perspective on my life.
• Ecstasy nudges you to think, very deeply, about
  one thing at a time.
• Ecstasy creates not just a rush but a singular
  kind of emotional elevationyou are launched on a
  hot-air balloon ride that floats over the
  pitfalls of typical humanity.

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Long Term Effects
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• Physiological effects first . . .
• Long term neurotoxic effects
• Depletion of serotonin in central serotonergic
  pathways
• -Specifically, neurotoxic lesions

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• Physiological effects first . . .
• High levels of serotonin release in long-term use
  seem to exhaust neurons involved with it
• Neuro-imaging studies show a subsequent loss in
  serotonin transporters
• Subsequent death of involved nerve endings

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• Physiological effects first . . .
• Important to add that long-term effects are still
  unclear.
• Some scientists even state these long term
  effects are imaginary
• Are brain imaging results iatrogenic?
• Doctors discuss a cause-and-effect relationship
  as if it were fact

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• Psychological effects as they relate to
  consciousness . . .
• How do serotonergic effects manifest themselves
  in behavior?
• Learning and Memory
• immediate and delayed recall tasks

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• Psychological effects as they relate to
  consciousness . . .
• Beyond selective impairment in episodic memory,
  working memory, and attention . . .
• Associated with
• Sleep disorders
• Depressed mood
• Persistent elevation of anxiety
• Impulsiveness
• Hostility

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• Psychological effects as they relate to
  consciousness . . .
• Possible reasons for these other
• alterations in consciousness
• PET results also show alterations in metabolic
  uptake within amygdala, hippocampus, and
  Brodmanns II area.
• keep in mind all of the implications on
  consciousness associated with these areas

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Psychological effects as they relate to
consciousness . . .

• Sleep disorders Anxiety?
• Depressed mood Serotonin? Or is it elevated FDG
  in Amygdala?
• Persistent elevation of anxiety related again to
  serotonin and SSRI anti-depressants?
• Impulsiveness reduced level of serotonergic
  function?
• Hostility Amygdala FDG levels?

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Ecstasy and Society
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Can a drug change societys consciousness?

• Marijuana 1960s
• Cocaine 1980s
• Ecstasy 1990s

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Perspectives Change

• The most obvious users are young
• Looking for fun, new experiences
• Aware of, but not so worried about risks and
  consequences
• Older people get scared
• Skepticism and misunderstanding
• How safe are these drugs, anyway?
• Everythings addictive

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The Media Effect

• Major publicity and media frenzy
• More harmful than helpful?
• He who uses ecstasy destroys himself and dies.
• - Corriere di Romagna, Italy, October 19, 1996
• Ecstasy The Truth About the Enemy Behind the
  Mask
• - No to drugs, Yes to life website
• Fighting the ecstasy' epidemic
• - San Diego Union Tribune
• Ecstasy Rising
• - ABC News

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Conclusions

• Ecstasy changes brain chemistry ? subjective
  experience is altered
• Ecstasy may cause long lasting brain
  reorganization ? a permanently altered state of
  consciousness (?)
• Wide cultural impact despite fairly limited use ?
  collective consciousness changes as a product of
  the media attention and publicity

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References

• Klam, Matthew. "Experiencing Ecstasy." The New
  York Times Magazine 05 June 2001 38-49.
• Kuhn, Cynthia , Scott Swartzwelder, and Wilkie
  Wilson. Buzzed. New York W.W. Norton Company,
  2003. 74-82.
• Morgan, MJ. "Ecstasy (MDMA) a review of its
  possible persistent psychological effects."
  Psychopharmocology. 2000, October lt
  http//mdma.net/longterm/ gt  Obrocki, J et al.
  "Ecstasy--long-term effects on the human central
  nervous system revealed by positron emission
  tomography" The British Journal of Psychiatry.
  Germany, 1999. lt http//bjp.rcpsych.org/cgi/conten
  t/abstract/175/2/186 gt Reaney, Patricia.
  "Scientists Say Long-Term Effects of Ecstasy
  Unclear." Reuter's News Service.London Sept,
  2002. lt http//www.maps.org/media/reaney9.2.02.htm
  l gt
• www.ecstasy.org
• www.projectghb.org/ecstasy.htm
• www.clubdrugs.org
• Wallace, Benjamin, Leslie E. Fisher.
  Consciousness and Behavior. Prospect Heights
  Waveland Press, Inc., 2003.
• Memory deficit and reduced anxiety in young adult
  rats given repeated intermittent MDMA treatment
  during the periadolescent period. Piper, Brian
  J Meyer, Jerrold S, Pharmacology, Biochemistry
  Behavior. Vol 79(4), Dec 2004, pp. 723-731
• Ecstasy or MDMA. http//www.krpc.com/proffed/mdm
  a5Cmdma.cfm
• Drugs and Human Performance Fact Sheet
  Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, Ecstasy)
  http//www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/research/jo
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