Ecstasy Case Studies

This month GIRL invited two people from different backgrounds to share their experiences and insights on what is dubbed the party drug and the valuable lessons they have learnt from experimenting with drugs.

CASE STUDY #1
GIRL: How did you get involved in the whole drug scene?
**Jimmy: I wanted to find answers to life's questions. I thought that through mind expansion and alternative reality I could see what this was all about. I lived in Sydney at the time and had just made friends with some UK backpackers who went to house parties. They offered me some ecstasy and I took it. Mind you, I had never taken any other drug before that time. Ecstasy was my first drug. I didn't even smoke tobacco. From the first time I took it, getting high wasn't my agenda, but seeking the truth.


GIRL: So did you feel pressure to take drugs?
Jimmy: I had NO pressure what so ever to take drugs. My friends did it but did not in any way pressure me into taking it to be cool or otherwise.


GIRL: Why did you turn to the ecstasy drug?
Jimmy: At the time, 1995, it was the in drug. It was promoted as being a psychedelic and not just a feel good drug. It was everywhere at the time. You could just walk into a popular Kings Cross nightclub and find the right person to get some. That is, if He didn't find you first. After a while you could tell who sold it, who wanted it, and definitely, who was on it.


GIRL: What are the effects after you've taken ecstasy? What sensations do you feel?
Jimmy: Effects over the year and a half that I used it varied. At the forefront, extreme sensory awareness and pleasure swept over you. You felt the world around you in ways you never had before. You felt like you had opened your eyes for the first time. You wanted to hug, hold, talk to others- most often about how really good you feel - you wanted to dance, smile. Sight, sound and touch all come alive. Colours become more vibrant, sounds more deep and textured. Touching your arm feels amazing. Getting a backrub from a friend or total stranger is two steps from sheer heaven.


GIRL: Having experienced all these great sensations when on the drug, what are the after-effects?
Jimmy: After-effects include grumpiness, tiredness, sore muscles and feet - from dancing most often. You're mouth during taking the drug is dry and you want to chew something, so afterwards you're jaw is rather sore. Two days later, when you're back at work, you get what's called Tuesday Blues, a feeling of depression and sadness because you now find the real world a little overstated. The world you see in ecstasy is a much more enjoyable world.


GIRL: What made you stop taking ecstasy?
Jimmy: I took ecstasy on and off for about a year and a half. I had started to try other drugs after my first ecstasy experience - LSD was one, dope another. All had their fair share of good and bad experiences, the good times seen as fun and enjoyable, the bad times, such as when I had a bad trip was utterly terrifying and horrific. Nothing can prepare you for a bad experience with drugs no matter what it is - ecstasy, LSD, alcohol even. Mixing drugs of any kind, that is, taking one type of drug with another can sometimes be okay, but the majority of the time, is a bad decision. I did this a couple of times and found myself at the mercy of my demons and a paranoid mind. At times like this, you could expect to get on an 8-10 hour roller coaster ride.


GIRL: Did you ever witness/experience the dangers of taking drugs?
Jimmy: Yes I stopped because I had some bad experiences. I burned myself out and needed a break. I was going through a stressful time as it was without drugs and was told to stop taking them by a doctor. One night back in August 1996, a friend and I decided to sit around his unit taking LSD and smoking pot. This was a mistake as I started to have a bad trip. I felt I was going to die and that my friend was the devil coming to take my soul away to hell. Enough said. This lasted 10 hours and a call to 000 for help. There was nothing the ambulance officers could do other than tell me to ride it out.I have seen in others the way ecstasy and other drugs, more so pot, affect people and destroy friendships, relationships and lives. It dulls the mind, stops one from being proactive and wilful. People lose respect for themselves and their environment. It leads to depression, loneliness, suicide and even death.It disorientates people, leads them to their inner-self, which can be liberating as well as frightening. Bad pills can lead to vomiting, dehydration, psychosis, self harm and harm to others.But three and a half years later I am drug free and will not touch any drug ever again.


GIRL: What advice can you offer to young people about taking drugs?
Jimmy: Well firstly don't take drugs! But in most cases young kids and older kids will try. So if you do, try it with friends you can trust in a safe, clean, happy environment. Make sure you know who you are getting your drugs from, that they are not contaminated with impurities (often this is the major factor in bad trips). If you do get into trouble or a friend does, call 000, take them to a hospital or get help. Doctors and ambulance officers do not and cannot tell the police. Do not feel worried that you will get into trouble if something goes wrong. It is better to have a friend live than watch them suffer while you debate calling for help.


GIRL: What major lesson have you learnt from all this?
Jimmy: I spent a year and a half taking drugs because I thought I could find answers to life. It was fun as well. I didn't find my answers just more questions. After this year and a half I spent three and a half years suffering from depression, anxiety, panic attacks, alienations from friends and family, not getting jobs I wanted, taking medication that led to other problems such as weight gain from eating junk food and chocolate and much more. It wasn't worth it. , it WILL NEVER be worth it.


CASE STUDY #2
GIRL: How did you get involved in the whole drug scene?
**Mandy: All of my friends were doing it, my boyfriend was doing it and they were all doing it every weekend (or there about) and none of them seemed to have been affected by it and all of them appeared to be having so much fun with the whole thing. They always kept trying to coax me into coming out with them.


GIRL: Did you feel pressure to take drugs? If so, where did this pressure come from?
Mandy: Yes...pressure from my friends and from my boyfriend as well as my workplace at the time.


GIRL: Why did you turn to the ecstasy drug?
Mandy: Because that is what all of the people I knew, were taking. My friends and boyfriend said it was fantastic and not to be scared to take it. They explained to me that all the sensations you normally feel areheightened and that it was nothing to be scared of. I asked a lot of questions before I made the choice try it so that I could know to some extent what to expect.


GIRL: What are the effects after you've taken ecstasy?
Mandy: I felt nothing at first then all of a sudden I felt so happy and free. I felt like nothing mattered and that I could take on any situation. It made me feel like I was the best at everything that breaking up with my boyfriend didn't matter. It made me feel like I could dance and sing for hours upon hours. It made me feel more daring.


GIRL: What sensations do you feel?
Mandy: I felt happy and free. The top of my head felt tingly and I felt very energetic.


GIRL: What are the after-effects?
Mandy: The next day and after a fair few hours (after taking it) I felt okay at first....for me it was a general growing feeling of uneasiness, then feeling as though my thoughts were all over the place. Also feeling myself become less happy and then starting to feel a little anxious. A fair amount of time later I felt very erratic in my behaviour and also felt like I was tired but couldn't sleep. My mind felt like it was racing.


GIRL: What made you stop taking ecstasy?
Mandy: First of all it was disgust at myself as I had always been so against drugs of any kind and I had become a complete hypocrite. Then as well as this I had a frightening experience. One of the pills I took had a bit of trip or acid in it and I started seeing all sorts of shapes. When I looked in the mirror my face was distorted and I felt my heart racing at a million miles an hour. I couldn't relax and I was terrified because everything I looked at became distorted. When I closed my eyes I saw colours and images of I really don't what? My hearing also became distorted and I could hear noise like when someone turns the channel on the TV onto a channel with no picture - hissing and buzzing.


GIRL: Did you ever witness/experience the dangers of taking drugs?
Mandy: Yes, as above and yes I was witness to a person collapsing in front of me. That person collapsed in to an unconscious state, foaming at the mouth, lips went blue and their teeth did not stop chattering. An ambulance was called and they were taken away to a hospital. I do not know what happened to that person. I also knew a guy (acquaintance) who died. He was a friend of a friend. He died in his sleep and I do know that he had been out taking the ecstasy drug all weekend, non-stop for two days. He had not been home or slept for 48 hours. He died form choking on his own vomit in his sleep.


GIRL: What advice can you offer to young people about taking drugs?
Mandy: The temptation can be so great. So many people around you can appear to be having the best time and having no side effects or after effects. But there will be. It may not happen the first time or the second time, but it will have adverse effects on your body. The scariest part is nobody knows if it will affect him or her in the same way as the next person and you do not know what you are taking. The depression and scatterbrain thoughts that can come with taking ecstasy can be incredibly distressing and if you experience any acid-trips effects or depression, this can be awfully frightening.


GIRL: In hindsight, what are your thoughts on the whole drug scene now?
Mandy: There is no definite expected reaction to this drug that is the scariest part. The temptation can be overwhelming and there may be no problem experienced at all in the beginning. But because it can feel so awesome to some, that is how it becomes addictive. Then the need to have more and more each time to acquire the same sensation grows. The strain on your heart, kidneys and liver is immense and cannot be underestimated. Also the fact that you can without meaning too, over-hydrate yourself. Too much or too little liquid can have dreadful effects. There are way too many unknowns and though the original thrill and sensation may seem so fantastic, if the ability to look at what it was really doing to the body was apparent, I believe most people would stop immediately and be ashamed at what they had done to their own body. Resist the temptation!


** Names have been substituted to protect identities **


- Annemarie Failla