Parents sharing ecci's with their teen

**AnyDream** · February 28th, 2014, 07:43 AM

Dianne

. Fantastic that your son felt he could talk to you about this.

E is bad news. There's a whole cohort of adults around my age that bought into the 90s idea that it was a drug whose only side effect was love (!). But it plugs right into the part of your brain that handles mood regulation & healthy sleep and therefore also memory & executive functioning (ie the vast majority of brain functions needed in order to live a full life). I'm sure there are lots of people walking around now with cognitive deficits wishing they knew back then what they do now.

It does sound like there is a lot more going on in that family, so it's a fantastic opportunity to discuss with your kids how to have compassion & empathy for someone while still maintaining healthy personal boundaries. xxx

**Calluna** · February 28th, 2014, 07:52 AM

Ecstasy literally creates holes in your brain.

I have taken it. My memory is shot. I dont know if its the sleep dep or the drugs but I am no where near as intelligent or clear headed as I used to be. It impacts my life significantly and affects my self esteem. I also find every now and then I slur my speech a bit - no idea if others notice it or not but it feels like my brain is slow.

**Tinks** · February 28th, 2014, 08:17 AM

That's pretty low. I would definitely report those parents.

I noticed this thread is 2 years old, what happened with this Dianne?

**Lenny** · February 28th, 2014, 08:21 AM

Ecstasy does not literally create a hole in your brain.

It is actually trialling as a drug to help PTSD specifically in soldiers.

There was an incredibly interesting documentary about it done by the BBC recently and aired on tv here. People took the drugs and were monitored. I was very surprised at how safe it potentially was.

Of course, the actual pills people usually take contain lots and lots of weird and incredibly harmful substances. I believe the pure real MDMA would be very hard to come by.

**Calluna** · February 28th, 2014, 10:28 AM

Well thats what I was taught at school. And I'm pretty sure we watched a video about it too. :/

Whatever. I'm not claiming to be an expert.

**Lenny** · February 28th, 2014, 11:02 AM

I think honesty and truth is so important with children and teens. Telling them untruths about drugs, sex, religion, alcohol or whatever, just to scare them does no one any good. Why will they trust us later if we deny them the truth now.

There is a reason Class A drugs are classed as such.

My 37 year old self would be too terrified to take an ecstasy tablet because without analysing it in a lab, there is no evidence of what rubbish is in there - talcum powder, tranquillisers, aspirin.

I wasn't being rude Calluna, nor do I think I am an expert. I just found the truth about ecstasy very interesting.

**AnyDream** · February 28th, 2014, 11:20 AM

Whoops, sorry - I didn't see the date.

Lenny, I would love to have seen that doco - I'm fascinated by all things neuro. My understanding about the PTSD trials was that MDMA was given as a couple of doses (ie only 2-3 times, max) during several months of intensive psychotherapy. ie, it was more an adjunct to make the psychotherapy more effective, not as a (safe) ongoing therapeutic dosage. Everything I've read about it suggests it's a total load kind of thing - so that higher dosages and frequency and length of recreational use is correlated with a higher incidence of cognitive deficits (and no one knows yet whether the observed deficits are permanent or not). Also, I'd like to point out that there are plenty of other neurotoxic medicines currently in use. Just because medications have a therapeutic application doesn't mean they don't leave behind lasting cognitive problems

. But you make a make a very good point that there is potentially all kinds of other nasty **** in street drugs.

**Tinks** · February 28th, 2014, 11:26 AM

I saw that doco on abc late at night a few mths ago. See if you can watch it online MD.

**nickle730** · February 28th, 2014, 07:31 PM

Most drugs in their purest form have some medicinal benefit (in the right circumstances!). The stuff you buy on the streets is not pure, it's cut in someone's backyard lab with god only knows what. Not to mention the lack of accurate dosing, possible side effects, addiction… Anyway, street drugs are bad news. I really dislike the term 'recreational drugs'. It suggests that taking drugs is as reasonable a choice as walking the dog or kicking around a footy.

I'd be interested to know what happened to this family, too. I'm horrified on a personal level that any parent would give drugs to their child, but sadly, not surprised.

**diannescruffy** · March 1st, 2014, 10:57 AM

Wow, this was going back a few years now. This is a really sad story about irresponsible parents who in my opinion have ruined their sons life. I certainly did report them, one night the boy ran away from home and came to my house. He told DS that his step dad had hit him, DS in turn told me and I rang the police. The next day I also rang DHS. This kid has already been in Juvenile Prison twice and has mixed in with a very bad crowd. It makes me quite angry, this boy could have had a very different life if his parents had of led him on the right path. He would be 18 now so adult prison for him if he continues to break the law. It also makes me very grateful that DS was able to recognize the bad behaviour as he could have easily been led astray also.

Regards,
Dianne

**AnyDream** · February 28th, 2014, 11:25 AM

ETA - I think the hole in the brain thing came from a show on the telly where they showed images of a PET scan of someone's brain who had used MDMA-based drugs. Of course, viewers didn't understand that it was a 3-D picture of glucose uptake in the brain, and not the brain itself. Some areas had no visible uptake and so it looked like a brain shape thing with large chunks missing out of it.

**Calluna** · March 3rd, 2014, 02:22 PM

I wasn't being rude Calluna, nor do I think I am an expert. I just found the truth about ecstasy very interesting.

oops sorry I wasnt trying to imply you did.

ETA - I think the hole in the brain thing came from a show on the telly where they showed images of a PET scan of someone's brain who had used MDMA-based drugs. Of course, viewers didn't understand that it was a 3-D picture of glucose uptake in the brain, and not the brain itself. Some areas had no visible uptake and so it looked like a brain shape thing with large chunks missing out of it.

that sounds familiar.