Obsessive-compulsive disorder followed by psychotic episode in long-term ecstasy misuse.
The world journal of biological psychiatry : the official journal of the World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry January 1, 2009 Carlo Marchesi, Matteo Tonna, Carlo Maggini
Two young people developed obsessive-compulsive disorder during heavy ecstasy use. After stopping the drug for several months, one developed major depression with psychotic features and the other a psychotic disorder. Neither had any prior mental disorder. One had a family and personality vulnerability for mental illness; the other did not. Physical exams, lab tests, and brain scans were normal in both. Treatment with a serotoninergic medication plus an antipsychotic led to remission of OCD and the depressive or psychotic episode. Heavy long-term ecstasy use may alter the brain's serotonin-dopamine balance, possibly triggering obsessive-compulsive, depressive, and psychotic symptoms. The drug likely interacted with a pre-existing vulnerability in one subject, while the other may have developed an entirely new disorder from ecstasy.