system
Does meth addiction cause mental psychosis and hallucinations?
human
Hello Doctor, My older brother was diagnosed with psychosis today. I know that he s been doing meth and that he started having seizures in November last year. 2 days ago he was running around the streets with delusions of being chased by men in white scrubs. I figured this was either the meth talking or that he was spun meaning he was crashing after a drug binge. I had to call the police due to a fear of him getting run over. The police came with an ambulance and took him away. When he got to the hospital he was acting very aggressive. He was sedated today and talks like normal but still swears that he was being chased by these people who wanted to lock him up in an assylum. The psychiatrist says this psychosis was not induced by the drug but that it was hereditary. Im not a psychiatrist, and i wont pretend to be... But im just very skeptical about this diagnosis... We found out that he started doing meth in November last year. This coincides with the onset of his seizures. Theyre telling me its backwards and that he started using meth to (subconsiously) self-medicate... I know my brother... He likes the street life; drinks too much, smokes weed too much, would huff glue, would do cocaine. Thats his life style. He s never hallucinated until after the meth use. What would make a doctor rule out a psychosis caused by stimulant use? Im concerned because i want him to get the proper treatment. And with that being said, is there a difference in treatment? i hope you could shed some light on this. Sincerely, Louie H.
gpt
Hi Louie,It is often difficult to distinguish between drug induced psychosis and primary psychosis. It is more likely to be drug induced if the symptoms start after a using drugs and stop within a few weeks of stopping drugs. Since most people do not stop drugs, it is usually not possible to confirm if the symptoms vanished on stopping drugs. You also need to know that cannabis is also likely to have contributed to his psychosis in addition to meth. Since the treatment for both kinds of psychosis is with anti-psychotics, you need not worry and let his doctor decide. Best wishes.