Use of Ecstasy, Speed by Teens Tied to Later Depression

HealthDay – 29 mins ago WEDNESDAY, April 18 (HealthDay News) -- Teens who use the party drugs ecstasy (MDMA) and speed (methamphetamine and/or amphetamine) appear to face a notably higher risk of depression afterward, new Canadian research suggests.

Interviews and mental health assessments conducted among nearly 3,900 10th-grade residents of Quebec revealed that, compared to non-users, adolescents who acknowledged taking either speed or ecstasy had a 60 percent to 70 percent greater risk of experiencing telltale signs of depression a year after their last recorded use.

What's more, those who said they had tried both speed and ecstasy showed double the risk for depressive symptoms, when compared to non-users.

Nevertheless, study co-author Jean-Sebastien Fallu, an associate professor in the school of educational psychology at the University of Montreal, cautioned that his team cannot draw a specific cause-and-effect line between such recreational drug use and depression.

"But researchers have advanced two possible mechanisms," he said. "That these drugs have a neurotoxic affect on serotonin

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