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Ecstasy (MDMA), often referred to as “Molly” by youth and young adults, is a party drug taken in the electronic dance scene, at concerts, and music festivals. According to recent data, around 1.3% of 12 to 17-year-olds in the US report using ecstasy at least once [1].
Ecstasy abuse can lead to psychological tolerance and addiction, increasing withdrawal symptoms and making it harder for teens to quit on their own without adult intervention. It requires specialized care to address both the biological and social impact of MDMA.
What is Ecstasy (MDMA)?
Ecstasy/MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) is a synthetic drug known for its use in a dance or party culture because of how it energizes users and increases euphoria. It increases the release of several neurotransmitters, including dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine.
It has several properties that contribute to its unique effects, acting as a stimulant, hallucinogen, and entactogen [2]:
- Stimulant Properties: Increases energy and alertness. Many users can stay out all night dancing and have little need or desire for sleep.
- Hallucinogenic Properties: Distorts one’s sense of time, sound, and visuals. It can also spark insights about oneself or the world.
- Entactogenic Properties: Increases empathy and makes users feel more in touch with their spiritual side and connected to others.
Why Do Teens Use It?
There are several reasons why teens abuse ecstasy. A few of the most common include:
- Sensory Experience: Teens with sensation-seeking tendencies are more likely to try MDMA as an exciting and fun experience [3].
- Peer Influence: MDMA is typically a social drug, and many who abuse it do so with others. Teens may try it in clubs or parties as a way to increase social bonding and connection.
- Media Influence: Many mainstream artists, such as Kanye West, Tyga, and Miley Cyrus, all have songs mentioning Molly, normalizing the drug and increasing curiosity among youth.
- Emotional Connection: MDMA often increases feelings of closeness, empathy, and intimacy, helping teens feel more connected and relieving social anxiety.
The Risks of Ecstasy Use for the Teen Brain
Teens are at the greatest risk of using and abusing Ecstasy because the reward system in their brains is still developing. Their pleasure center increases risk-taking behavior and can make them more prone to seek out “thrilling” or “sensory experiences” without thinking of the long-term consequences.
MDMA hijacks cells containing serotonin and norepinephrine, increasing the amount available in the synaptic cleft and bloodstream to enhance mood and energy. However, this reward process can lead to dependence and impact several regions of the growing teen brain, including the [2]:
- Frontal Cortex: Controls decision-making, impulse control, and emotional regulation
- Midbrain and Serotonin Pathways: Influence sleep cycle, appetite, and mood regulation
- Hippocampus: Essential region for learning and memory
Long-term abuse can increase the development of mental health disorders, including depression, anxiety, paranoia, and bipolar disorder, due to serotonin depletion. Because the teen brain is still developing, the damage can be more difficult to reverse, and early intervention is recommended to prevent problems from persisting into adulthood.
MDMA can also cause several social effects on teens, such as strained relationships, difficulty getting and maintaining a job, social isolation, academic decline, and lying or stealing money to fund substance use.
Why Teens Need Specialized Treatment for Ecstasy Addiction
MDMA abuse often requires specialized treatment to address the social and biological impact.
Ecstasy use is more common among older teens, 16 to 18, who often use it in social settings such as raves, music festivals, and parties. Open conversations around the risks of MDMA and harm prevention strategies can be helpful in this instance, especially before your teen goes off to college or moves away from home.
Treatment focuses on replacing the function of MDMA with other activities that encourage emotional expression and social connectedness, such as art, music, or dance therapy. Many teens who become addicted to MDMA may also struggle with co-occurring disorders such as anxiety, depression, or trauma, and effective treatment must address those alongside addiction to reduce the risk of relapse [4].
MDMA addiction can also cause uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms, especially if teens were mixing it with other substances such as cannabis, amphetamines, benzos, or alcohol. Although the physical effects are often not life-threatening, ecstasy withdrawal symptoms include:
- Depression, exhaustion, confusion
- Anxiety, restlessness, irritability
- Cravings for the drug, inability to feel pleasure
- Trouble sleeping, loss of appetite
- Short-term memory loss
- Changes in self-perception, increased social anxiety
Treatment Options for Teens Suffering from MDMA Addiction
If you recognize your teen is struggling with MDMA addiction and a decision has been reached about getting them into treatment, you can consider different programs available for substance abuse.
At Clearfork Academy, we specialize in treating a range of substance abuse and co-occurring mental health disorders in teens. We offer several program levels and evidence-based therapies that support the unique needs of teens, regardless of where they are in their recovery journey.
For mild ecstasy abuse and addiction challenges, we offer several outpatient programs, including Partial Hospitalization (PHP) and Intensive Outpatient (IOP), and for chronic substance abuse disorders, we offer detox and inpatient residential treatment.
Some of the therapies we offer for MDMA addiction throughout all of our programs include:
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) helps reframe negative thought patterns that drive substance abuse and develop positive skills for long-term coping. It is a first line of treatment for mental health disorders like anxiety and depression, which increase the risk of drug use in teens.
- Creative Therapies, such as dance, music, or art therapy, support emotional processing and expression, and can reduce cravings. Dance therapy, in particular, can be helpful to manage the sensory-seeking tendencies in teens that often contribute to ecstasy use.
- Medication is sometimes used to treat co-occurring mental health disorders such as depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder.
- Family interventions such as therapy and educational events address dynamics in the home that drive substance abuse, and help improve skills such as communication, empathy, and active listening.
Professional Support from Teens and Families at Clearfork Academy
Clearfork Academy is a network of behavioral health facilities in Texas committed to helping teens recover from behavioral addictions, substance abuse, and mental health disorders. Our licensed and accredited facilities are dedicated to providing comprehensive, evidence-based care and education for parents and caregivers of youth.
We provide evidence-based treatments for teens with substance abuse and co-occurring mental health disorders. Our licensed therapists and clinical psychiatric team can help your teen end the cycle of addiction and build healthy habits for adulthood.
Contact our admissions team today.
Sources
[1] Chilcoat, D. (2008). Adolescent ecstasy and other drug use in the National Survey of Parents and Youth: the role of sensation-seeking, parental monitoring and peers’ drug use. Addictive behaviors, 33(7), 919–933.
[2] Obed Okwoli A. (2023). New Study Reveals Long-Term Effects of MDMA on the Brain’s Glutamate-Glutamine Complex. The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology, 26(9), 616–617.
[3] Hanewinkel, R. (2010). Using sensation seeking to target adolescents for substance use interventions. Addiction (Abingdon, England), 105(3), 506–514.
[4] de Wit, H. (2016). The effects of MDMA on socio-emotional processing: Does MDMA differ from other stimulants?. Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England), 30(12), 1248–1258.
Mike Carter, LCDC
Alumni Relations Manager
Mike grew up on a dairy farm in Parker County, Texas. At the age of 59, he went back to college and graduated 41 years after his first graduation from Weatherford College. God placed on his heart at that time the passion to begin to help others as they walked from addictions, alcoholism, and abuse of substances. He is a Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and in the past few years he has worn many hats, from intake and assessment, group counseling, individual and family counseling, intensive outpatient and now he is working with clients, therapist, and families on discharge planning and aftercare. He also coordinates our Alumni Outreach Program.
