Question: what are the potential health risks of regular use of stimulant drugs such as MDMA? What makes it so addictive?

Katie Fala answered on 14 Nov 2019:

I’m not a neuroscientist, but my understanding is that amphetamine-type drugs like MDMA stimulate a part of your brain to release very high levels of a neurotransmitter called serotonin. This is a neurotransmitter that makes us feel happy – it can be released in normal levels when you eat chocolate or do something fun for example. However MDMA causes almost all of the serotonin to be released basically at the same time. While this might feel nice at the time, as it wears off your body will have very low levels of serotonin and experience a withdrawal while the levels build back up, which can be very unpleasant. While MDMA may not be the most addictive of all recreational drugs, there is some evidence that regular use can cause permanent changes to serotonin pathways in ours brains.

There are plenty of health risks to stimulant drugs – as well as possibly permanently altering the architecture and functionality of your brain, there are immediate risks like overheating, dehydration, electrolyte imbalances and gastrointestinal disturbances as well as longer term effects on things like your appetite, sleep, memory, irritability, anxiety, paranoia, depression etc.