Electroconvulsive therapy in the treatment of depression in a former ecstasy user
Journal of Psychopharmacology November 1, 2006 Roland W. Freudenmann, Carlos Schönfeldt-lecuona, Manfred Spitzer et al. 4 citations
Depression in people who formerly used ecstasy heavily may not improve with standard antidepressants like SSRIs, possibly because long-term ecstasy use damages serotonin pathways. A patient with MDMA-induced depression who did not respond to several antidepressants, including an SNRI and an SSRI, achieved stable remission of mood and cognitive symptoms after receiving repeated bilateral electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), with improvement lasting over 1.5 years. Add-on ECT could be a treatment option for former ecstasy users with severe depression that does not respond to antidepressants, though clinical trials are needed to confirm its usefulness.