Cited by 28Psychedelics and Drug StudiesMindfulness and Compassion InterventionsPsychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction

Additive effects of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and compassionate imagery on self-compassion in recreational users of ecstasy

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Kamboj, Sunjeev K., Walldén, Ylva S. E., Falconer, Caroline J., Alotaibi, Majdah Raji, Blagbrough, Ian S., Husbands, Stephen M., Freeman, Tom P.·2018·Mindfulness

Abstract

3,4-Methylenedioxymethylamphetamine (MDMA;‘ecstasy’) produces prosocial subjective effects that may extend to affiliative feelings towards the self . Behavioural techniques can produce similar self-directed affiliation. For example, compassionate imagery (CI) and ecstasy reduce self-criticism and increase self-compassion to a similar extent, with the effects of CI enhanced in the presence of ecstasy. Here, we examine self-compassion and self-criticism in recreational users who consumed chemically verified MDMA in a within-subjects crossover study. In a naturalistic setting, polydrug-using participants performed a self-focused CI exercise on two occasions separated by ≥6 days: once having consumed self-sourced MDMA and once not. Effects on state self-criticism, self-compassion and emotional empathy were assessed before and after MDMA use (or over an extended baseline period on the occasion that MDMA was not consumed) and reassessed after CI. In participants ( n = 20; 8 women) whose ecstasy contained MDMA and no other drug, CI and MDMA appeared to separately increase emotional empathy (to critical facial expressions) and self-compassion. The effects of CI and MDMA on self-compassion also appeared to be additive. Establishing the observed effects in controlled studies will be critical for determining the combined utility of these approaches in fostering adaptive self-attitudes in a therapeutic context.

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  • Two experimental studies with ecstasy demonstrated that ecstasy increases feelings of self-compassion and reduces self-criticism.

    “With respect to the former, two experimental studies with ecstasy (presumably containing MDMA in one study and tested to confirm MDMA in the other) demonstrated that ecstasy increases feelings of self-compassion and reduces self-criticism (108, 109).”

    From MDMA-Assisted Therapy as a Means to Alter Affective, Cognitive, Behavioral, and Neurological Systems Underlying Social Dysfunction in Social Anxiety Disorder (2021) · cites this paper as [109]

    The Results (Effects on Self-Criticism and Self-Compassion; page unavailable) report increased self-compassion after MDMA use in this study of recreational users whose ecstasy was chemically verified. They do not clearly demonstrate that MDMA reduced self-criticism: the Time × Session interaction was not significant, and the Discussion describes those effects as less clear-cut. The paper also reports a previous ecstasy study, but this source itself is one of the two studies, not both. (LLM, conf=0.88)

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Authors
Kamboj, S. K., Walldén, Y. S. E., Falconer, C. J., Alotaibi, M. R., Blagbrough, I. S., Husbands, S. M., & Freeman, T. P.
Affiliations
  • University College London (GB)
  • University of Bath (GB)
  • King's College London (GB)
Corresponding author
Kamboj, Sunjeev K.
Venue
Mindfulness
Published
2017-11-04
Volume
9
Issue
4
Pages
1134-1145
ISSN
  • 1868-8527 (ISSN-L)
  • 1868-8535
OpenAlex
W2765997654
Cited by
28
References
48
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 1
FWCI
2.37
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Mindfulness (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Research Portal (King's College London) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • government of Saudi Arabia
  • Society for the Study of Addiction
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychedelics and Drug Studies
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction
Keywords
MDMA, ecstasy, self-compassion, self-criticism, affective empathy, recreational drug use, polydrug use, prosocial effects, additive effects

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