“Dancestasy”: Dance and MDMA Use in Dutch Youth Culture
Tom F. M. Ter Bogt, Rutger C. M. E. Engels, Belinda Hibbel, Frits van Wel, Stun Verhagen
Contemporary Drug Problems March 1, 2002 DOI: 10.1177/009145090202900107 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Members of the Dutch house youth subculture |
| Topics | MDMA |
| Keywords | Dance Ethnography Subculture biology Identity music Gender studies Visual arts Aesthetics Anthropology |
| Citations | 46 |
| Key findings | The dancestasy experience, despite MDMA's harms, may positively contribute to identity development in adolescence, though it can temporarily impair school or work functioning. |
Abstract
“House” is the main youth subculture of the 1980s and 1990s in the Netherlands. For the members of this youth culture scene, house is a combination of going to parties and dancing all night while being high on MDMA, a drug better known as XTC/Ecstasy. This article is a review of the history of house and the Dutch house scene. It considers some of the psychological effects of dancing combined with taking Ecstasy: “dancestasy.” MDMA itself can be physically and cognitively harmful, but the dancestasy experience may contribute positively to the development of personal and social identity during adolescence. Results of ethnographic studies suggest that the dancestasy experience can have temporary negative effects on functioning in school or at work. After a few years in the dance scene, leisure time becomes less important, and, as young adults, people who are part of the dance scene take up their social responsibilities.
Comparable studies
Other narrative reviews on MDMA, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Human Pharmacology of MDMA | 2004 | Review | |
| Human psychopharmacology of Ecstasy (MDMA): a review of 15 years of empirical research | 2001 | Review | |
| 3,4‐Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, “Ecstasy”): pharmacology and toxicology in animals and humans | 1994 | Review | |
| (±)3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (‘Ecstasy’)-Induced Serotonin Neurotoxicity: Studies in Animals | 2000 | Review | |
| Amphetamine toxicities | 2010 | Review |
Citations in the library
Cited by 3
- “Partying” Hard: Party Style, Motives for and Effects of MDMA Use at Rave Parties Substance Use & Misuse 2005
- Careers in ecstasy use: do ecstasy users cease of their own accord? Implications for intervention development BMC Public Health November 15, 2008
- 'Never drop without your significant other, cause that way lies ruin': The boundary work of couples who use MDMA together. International Journal of Drug Policy September 1, 2019
Cites 7
- Hallucinogenic Amphetamine Selectively Destroys Brain Serotonin Nerve Terminals Science September 6, 1985
- Mood and cognitive effects of ± 3,4‐methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, ‘ecstasy’): week‐end ‘high’ followed by mid‐week low Addiction July 1, 1997
- Human Research on MDMA (3,4-Methylene- dioxymethamphetamine) Neurotoxicity: Cognitive and Behavioural Indices of Change Neuropsychobiology 2000
- Is MDMA (‘Ecstasy’) Neurotoxic in Humans? An Overview of Evidence and of Methodological Problems in Research Neuropsychobiology 2000
- Ecstasy (MDMA) in Recreational Users: Self-Reported Psychological and Physiological Effects Human Psychopharmacology: Clinical and Experimental May 1, 1997
and 2 more in the library