Regular ecstasy users are 25% more likely to suffer a mental health disorder than the rest of the population, according to what is believed to be the most extensive survey of clubbers published yesterday.
One in four had a potentially serious psychiatric disorder, compared to the national average of less than one in five, the survey of 1,000 clubbers, in the dance culture magazine Mixmag, revealed.
Respondents were also twice as likely to have seen a doctor about mental health issues, with half of those being concerned about depression.
The findings - gleaned after respondents completed a mental health questionnaire used to diagnose psychological disorders - tally with a wealth of recent research suggesting ecstasy is linked to mental health problems such as paranoia, panic attacks and depression.
Scientists are also concerned the drug may lead a generation of users to become "amotivational" - a psychiatric condition that completely disables the sufferer - following various tests on animals showing ecstasy permanently reduces levels of serotonin, the chemical in the brain partly responsible for mood changes. Brain scans of ecstasy users have also revealed damaged serotonin terminals, while a raft of research also indicates the class A drug causes permanent memory loss.
Last night, Mixmag's senior editor, Viv Craske, said the higher incidence of clubbers visiting their doctors suggested they were aware of the dangers ecstasy could pose. "Clubbers are more concerned about their mental health - with good reason. It appears clubbers are much more susceptible to mental health problems than the rest of the UK."
Clinical toxicologist John Henry, a consultant at St Mary's hospital, London, added: "It's quite clear you can get terminal changes to areas of your brain by taking ecstasy. Ecstasy doesn't kill that many people. There are about 20 deaths a year. But what we should be concerned about is the large numbers of people whose ability to function is being reduced within a year or two of using this drug."
The survey, conducted in connection with the National Addiction Centre, at the University of Kent at Canterbury, found that 98% of respondents took ecstasy regularly, with the average reader taking the drug each weekend for an average of four years, and smoking cannabis every other day. They began smoking at 14, first took cannabis at 15 and took their first ecstasy pill at 19.
One in 10 users believed that taking ecstasy made their lives worse overall, while 30% of the 45% taking cocaine reported suffering a nosebleed after taking the drug, and one in 10 of the 10% taking ketamine - an animal anaesthetic - experienced paranoia, agitation, chest pains, palpitations and nightmares after taking the drug.
Bizarrely, the survey also revealed that the number of clubbers taking ecstasy in the same way as suppositories had doubled from 3.4% to 6.7% since last year. The practice, immortalised by Ewan McGregor in the cult movie Trainspotting, ensures drugs enter the system more swiftly, than if swallowed.
The survey also suggested ecstasy was deemed "less dangerous" than alcohol, with one in three saying they had been violent after drinking, compared to one in 10 on ecstasy, and with those surveyed being three-and-a-half times more likely to injure themselves when drunk compared to drugged, and two-and-a-half times more likely to end up in casualty.
And it revealed drug use fell last year, with a sharp downturn in "new" drugs such as ketamine and the "date rape drug" GHB.
Ecstasy consumption was down 13%, despite prices falling to £4.12 a pill, compared to £8.83 in 1999.
