XTC addictive or not: mental withdrawal
In preparation for writing this article, I looked up what people look up on the Internet about XTC. I noticed that XTC withdrawal was not among them. The question of whether XTC is addictive or not was. The fact that people did not search for "kick the habit" actually shows that XTC is super addictive. Because you don't even think about withdrawal in the first place.
As an ex-XTC addict, I can say that XTC is addictive and that you can kick the XTC and it doesn't even have to be that hard. XTC is primarily a mental addiction, but it can also become physically addictive. As a result, you may need antidepressants for life. If you catch it in time, it won't be necessary. That's why in this article I discuss what XTC does to you and how hypnosis can help you kick the habit mentally
XTC pills
XTC is usually sold in pill form, but can also be taken in powder or crystal form. The active ingredient in XTC is MDMA.
XTC effects
You often hear XTC users say that this drug is the friendliest drug around. A fight will never break out at an XTC party. A mass hug is more likely. In fact, one of the effects is that you feel like hugging.
Another reason why fights almost never break out at XTC parties is because use can create a sense of belonging and openness. Instead, you want to connect with others and talk a lot. You are less inhibited and can therefore completely immerse yourself in the music. These are the ingredients for a great party.
There are unpleasant side effects, though, such as:
- Nausea
- Jaw swing
- Heart palpitations
- Unrest
- Insomnia
- Stiffness
- Unable to pee
- Gut Pain
XTC dip
For people who use drugs more frequently on the weekends, there’s a term called the “Tuesday dip.” For people who have never used drugs, this dip is most comparable to the feeling a woman experiences just before or during her period (as I’ve heard from a friend).
You don’t know what you want. Everything feels pointless. You feel like you’re losing your focus. You don’t even know if you enjoy your job anymore. Your relationship. Is this really the life you want?
XTC serotonin
This "Tuesday dip" results from the disruption of your serotonin levels. Serotonin is a hormone your brain releases to make you feel happy. What you are doing when using XTC is actually cutting off the hormone your body has in reserve for the next day. You are stealing your own future happiness by using XTC.
Your body takes an average of six weeks to recover from XTC use, but for some individuals it may take longer because not every person is the same and we are not all average. So even if you abide by that "rule" you can still harm yourself because your body may take up to eight weeks to recover.
XTC addictive
To avoid the dip, you can actually start using more XTC on the day of the dip. At some point you want the feeling of XTC not only at a party, but at every party. Then also at family visits and your work is also much more fun when you use XTC.
It's suddenly much cozier at work and your colleagues are super friendly. This is where it goes wrong. Namely, you no longer behave professionally. You have become dependent on the XTC to function "normally" for your own sense of self, when in fact you are functioning abnormally.
Using XTC every day or weekly or even just monthly consumes your reserves of serotonin.
Not only do you deplete your serotonin reserves, The serotonin receptors in your brain also become damaged. Brain research that has mapped the differences in these receptors between ecstasy users and people who have never used ecstasy shows that MDMA users have damage to those receptors, causing them to absorb serotonin less effectively [1].
If you’ve used a lot of ecstasy and feel depressed without it, that makes sense. So it’s not a harmless drug. Ecstasy use can cause you to suffer from depression for the rest of your life because the damage to your brain means you’ll never again experience the normal sense of happiness you’d feel on an average day. You’ll always feel down. Using more ecstasy will only make this worse. So you need to stop. Give your brain a chance to heal itself and, if necessary, take antidepressants that can recycle serotonin, so you can still feel normal. Because of the damage to that receptor, you can become physically dependent on it, but that’s not the same as an alcohol addiction.
People who never used XTC had no damage to the receptors.
Quitting XTC
As a former XTC addict, I can tell you that life is worth giving up XTC for. In my opinion, hypnosis is the best way to quit XTC because you’re primarily mentally addicted to it. It’s all in your head.
Hypnosis, like XTC, works on the connections in your brain. In this case, on the reward area that causes you to release extra serotonin when you use XTC. With hypnosis, techniques are used to easily stop XTC use.
Relaxation Exercises
For most drug addicts, anxiety or some other uncomfortable feeling is often a reason to start using drugs. Back in the 1980s, research was conducted on the effect of relaxation exercises to support rehab. This research shows that relaxation exercises give subjects a greater sense of control over their lives and anxieties.
Relaxation is also very important during hypnosis. Relaxation makes it easier to focus on your goals and therapy during hypnosis.
Eliminating causes for drug abuse
There are several reasons why you might start using drugs; these include:
- Group pressure.
- Escape from Reality.
- Experiment.
- Problem solving with drugs.
- Like Effects.
During hypnosis, you can find out why you ever started and continue with the drugs. Then the thoughts you have about the drugs and the cause of the use can be addressed with hypnosis.
For example, if you use XTC primarily because of peer pressure, it is important to empower yourself against it. Hypnosis can do this to you by strengthening your own ego and making the group weaker, making you less susceptible to peer pressure.
When it comes to escaping reality, the problem lies somewhere other than drugs. In that case, we can look at what you find so annoying about that reality and how to deal with it differently.
Empowering Ego
Drug habituation can make you feel down without drugs and also make you feel down on yourself. "See I need it." These kinds of thoughts may come to mind. During a hypnosis session, a hypnotherapist will help you make your ego strong and powerful again. Because of course you can do without XTC. After all, you also lived without XTC for years before your XTC addiction. Probably your life then was even better than it is now.
During hypnosis, your ego is strengthened through suggestions the hypnotherapist gives you about your ego. In addition, you may be given homework in the form of self-hypnosis to strengthen yourself in moments of weakness, but that isn’t always necessary.
Reward system changes
An addiction completely throws your reward system out of whack [2]. Just taking that pill gives you a sense of satisfaction. Even if you know it’s not good for you, your addiction will lie to you and tell you that ecstasy is good. Of course, that’s not true.
Hypnosis changes the reward system back to old values before you were addicted and new values that help you stay off XTC.
What's more: Hypnosis makes you abhor XTC. XTC, after successful hypnosis therapy, is something you no longer want or enjoy. This also makes the mental withdrawal process much easier.
Rewriting values about "being normal"
Because of your XTC addiction, you may think that being normal is always being happy, sociable and energetic. But everyone is tired sometimes, everyone wants to be alone sometimes. It is not normal to be sociable and cheerful around you 24/7.
Hypnosis helps you return to normalcy and recognize what a normal feeling is. When are you actually really down? What is normal? And how do you recognize happiness and joy without taking an XTC pill?
Various techniques are used by the hypnotist to give you tools for the answers to these questions.
If you want to use hypnosis to kick your XTC habit or help others with hypnosis, you can take various (self-)hypnosis courses at the Hypnosis Institute of the Netherlands.
Also pin this handy infographic:
Sources:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673698043293
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0306460384900066