3 ms·

I'm not claiming I know the long term negative side effects on MDMA use, but like any powerful drug why would I not suspect something that floods your brain wit

by tempsy 3y ago

I'm not claiming I know the long term negative side effects on MDMA use, but like any powerful drug why would I not suspect something that floods your brain with serotonin would not end up in a situation where your brain anticipates the drug and creates an dependency situation where your brain does not produce serotonin in normal levels without it? Anecdotal evidence from long term users in MDMA forums suggest lots of frequent users don't ever feel the same without it. Bizarre we have gotten to the point where the default is "take powerful drug because no scientist has proven not to in a century long twin study!!"

fragmede 3y ago
Long term abuse to the point that "users don't ever feel the same without it" is quite concerning and very problematic, but once or twice over the course of a lifetime seems fine. In absence of a century long twin study, I'd weigh the opinions of millions of people who've taken it a few times, over the secondary source of someone who read something off some random Internet forum (reddit?) from people who are seriously abusing it (like Thursday, Friday, Saturday every weekend).
kortex 3y ago
> but like any powerful drug why would I not suspect something that floods your brain with serotonin would not end up in a situation where your brain anticipates the drug and creates an dependency situation where your brain does not produce serotonin in normal levels without it? Because this is such an incredible oversimplification of what goes on in the brain. SSRIs also dramatically increase the overall serotonin flux, to the point where if you quit suddenly, the brain is left in a deficit, the effects of which can be quite unpleasant. And contrary to the "serotonin is happy chemical, more serotonin = more better" myth, the net result of all this serotonin is that 5-HT receptors actually downregulate. Ultimately, the result of all these changes is an increase in neuroplasticity. Blasting 5-HT receptors (eg by LSD, psilocin, etc, and to an extent MDMA) is also shown to increase neuroplasticity. Neurotoxicity and psychopharmacology are extremely complicated. It's beyond reductionist to say "drug floods brain ergo bad".

by tempsy 3y ago

fragmede 3y ago

Long term abuse to the point that "users don't ever feel the same without it" is quite concerning and very problematic, but once or twice over the course of a lifetime seems fine. In absence of a century long twin study, I'd weigh the opinions of millions of people who've taken it a few times, over the secondary source of someone who read something off some random Internet forum (reddit?) from people who are seriously abusing it (like Thursday, Friday, Saturday every weekend).

kortex 3y ago

> but like any powerful drug why would I not suspect something that floods your brain with serotonin would not end up in a situation where your brain anticipates the drug and creates an dependency situation where your brain does not produce serotonin in normal levels without it? Because this is such an incredible oversimplification of what goes on in the brain. SSRIs also dramatically increase the overall serotonin flux, to the point where if you quit suddenly, the brain is left in a deficit, the effects of which can be quite unpleasant. And contrary to the "serotonin is happy chemical, more serotonin = more better" myth, the net result of all this serotonin is that 5-HT receptors actually downregulate. Ultimately, the result of all these changes is an increase in neuroplasticity. Blasting 5-HT receptors (eg by LSD, psilocin, etc, and to an extent MDMA) is also shown to increase neuroplasticity. Neurotoxicity and psychopharmacology are extremely complicated. It's beyond reductionist to say "drug floods brain ergo bad".