The Agony Of Ecstasy

Upcoming ABC2 documentary, The Agony Of Ecstasy, follows 28-year-old Adelaide uni student Lise as she investigates how her past ecstasy use is affecting her mental health.

This doco appears under the umbrella of the Opening Shot season with up and coming Australian filmmakers.

While some may refer to ecstasy as the love drug – its effects can be deeply disturbing. When ecstasy first hit mainstream Australia in the late 90s / early 2000s, a major UK survey showed that ecstasy users were 25 percent more likely to suffer a mental health disorder than the rest of the population. Despite such warnings, ecstasy is on the rise in Australia and is the most common illicit drug of choice after cannabis. (National Drug Strategy Household Survey 2013). According to the 2014 UN World Drug Report, Australians are the biggest users per capita in the world, with one in ten people over the age of 14 having tried it.

Like many of her generation, 28-year-old uni student Lise experimented with ecstasy when she was younger. She had heard about its detrimental effects on serotonin in the brain, but like all her friends she was having too much fun to care.

Then the lows between the highs began to last much longer and were darker than ever and her moods fluctuated wildly. After a period of crippling anxiety and agoraphobia, Lise eventually lost her grip on reality and was rushed to the psychiatric ward in hospital, where she was diagnosed with psychosis and then clinical depression.

Lise is now back at university, worried her ecstasy use may not only have triggered a possible life-long struggle with mental illness, but also caused other long-term damage, particularly to her memory and capacity for learning. Determined to get some answers to help her understand the lasting impact of ecstasy, Lise tracks down other former and current users on the street, a detective, psychologists and scientists. She also decides to reveal her past drug use to her mum who, until now, had no idea Lise had taken so much ecstasy years before. Her test results are unexpected and disturbing, and Lise is forced to dig deeper into her past and confront the true reasons for her ecstasy use.

Monday, 24 November, 9.30pm on ABC2.