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Does everyone who uses experience meth psychosis?

notold ash	Does everyone who uses experience meth psychosis? Does everyone that uses experience meth psychosis at some period of time? Is meth psychosis brought on by amount used or is it something that happens after long term use?
Replies...
imlost inky	Re: Does everyone who uses experience meth psychosis? To some degree, yes. Meth affects your perception of reality. To the extent of some of the stories on here, no not all. I didn't, my husband didn't. I experienced very flawed judgment- very flawed. Very illogical- made no sense- well makes no sense now, made perfect sense then or I would not have done it. My sister did - very much so. She also had a boyfriend who was much the same way - very suspicious, very confronting, very a lot of things. If I had not had a mental inquest served on her, if she had not said yes when they asked if she needed help, I have no doubt she would have been dead within the year- if that long. Meth was taking her sanity - and it was costing her life.
luve piphany	Re: Does everyone who uses experience meth psychosis? You are a wonderful sister, T. Please tell again about your sister and the mental inquest. If you feel like it. I never read the story.
forget suzette	Re: Does everyone who uses experience meth psychosis? it's basically starvation, sleep deprivation, and malnutrition........you don't get it overnight. unless you have been using for years, then you can go from 0 to crazy in one hit.
Corina 08	Re: Does everyone who uses experience meth psychosis? "If I had not had a mental inquest served on her, if she had not said yes when they asked if she needed help, I have no doubt she would have been dead within the year- if that long. Meth was taking her sanity - and it was costing her life. " Can you please tell me how that works and possible how to do that? Also, what State do you live in? I wish I could do something like that for me sis. Thanks!
notold ash	Re: Does everyone who uses experience meth psychosis? Thanks for the input. T my addict is more like what you described. He is paranoid to a certain extent but not extreme like other stories. I believe he's been using for 20 years or more. On-off... maybe even the entire time. I have no idea how much or how often. I guess I'm questioning why the psychosis seems to be more extreme in some then others. Could it be a personality trait magnified by the meth use? My ex acted and was seemingly normal while using. He did cover the window in the room he used in but he never went to any extreme... as in thinking people were watching him through the TV. I guess I'm just wondering why this is?
vctry7	Re: Does everyone who uses experience meth psychosis? I know I'm not T, but this was from the emergency room staff at a hospital in KY I called once: If they are a danger to themselves or others or suicidal or homicidal - call the police. Tell the police they are mentally ill and need a psych. evaluation. If you do not add that last part, they may just take them to jail and let them come down in there. I don't know if it is the same everywhere.
nine years clean	Re: Does everyone who uses experience meth psychosis? I found this online. The things that are in bold are what I experienced during my final years of meth addiction. *Quote:* Methamphetamine Psychosis The main characteristic of meth psychosis is the presence of prominent hallucinations and delusions (APA, 1994). The diagnosis of methamphetamine psychosis is made after performing a thorough history, physical exam, urine drug screen, and "reality testing." Clients who are psychotic will be unable to provide a history themselves, so this information will need to be obtained from significant others. The term ”spun” is used by the meth culture for a user who has overdosed on meth and induced a state of psychotic confusion. The user should be assessed for the following manifestations of psychosis: Hallucinations: Hallucinations, or false perceptions, may be associated with any of the five senses. Auditory: This is the false perception of sound and the most frequent type of hallucination. Most frequently the user "hears voices." Command hallucinations are “voices” that may issue commands for violence to others. For example, the user hears voices telling him to kill himself or others. Obviously, this places the user and/or health care professional in a potentially dangerous situation. Visual: Seeing a person, object or animal that does not exist in the environment. For example, a user sees a lion coming toward him. Olfactory: This is the false perception of smelling odors that are not present in the environment. For example, a user smells his "brain rotting." Tactile: This is a false perception of the sense of touch, often of something on or under the skin. Formication (US Dept. of Justice, 1996) is an advanced form of methamphetamine hallucination during which the user feels bugs on his skin. The user scratches at the “bugs” trying to remove them, gouging the skin and leaving scars. These scars indicate that the user has experienced formication or “crank bugs." Gustatory: A false perception of the sense of taste. For example, a user refuses to eat because he tastes poison in his food. It is difficult to distinguish the hallucinations of schizophrenia from those of drug use. According to MacKenzie and Heischober (1997), the hallucinations of schizophrenia usually are auditory, whereas those for chronic methamphetamine use are more commonly visual or tactile. Kaplan and Sadock (1994) discuss the difference between paranoid schizophrenia and an amphetamine-induced psychotic disorder. An amphetamine-induced psychotic disorder includes a predominance of visual hallucinations, generally appropriate affect, hyperactivity, hyper sexuality, confusion and incoherence and little evidence of disordered thinking. The affective flattening and alogia (inability to speak) of schizophrenia are generally absent in amphetamine-induced psychotic disorder. If the healthcare worker is uncertain about the cause of the hallucination, a urine drug screen should be obtained. Delusions: Delusions are false personal beliefs that are inconsistent with the person's intelligence or cultural background. Delusions cannot be corrected by reasoning. Some common delusions include: delusions of persecution: The individual feels threatened and believes that others intend to harm him in some way. For example, the user thinks that the CIA intends to kill him. delusions of grandeur: The individual has an exaggerated feeling of importance, power or knowledge. For example, a user thinks that he is in control of the state. delusions of reference: The individual thinks that unrelated events or happenings are somehow connected to him or her, usually in a negative way. For example, a user watching TV thinks the news broadcaster is trying to get a message to him. delusions of being controlled: The individual believes certain objects or persons have control over his/her behavior. For example, the user believes the president of the United States has control over his behavior. somatic delusions: The individual believes his/her body or parts of the body are changing or being distorted. The user believes his brain is rotting. ParanoiA. The individual has extreme suspicion of others, their actions or perceived intentions. For example, a user sees a duck on the river and thinks the police have placed a camera in the duck to watch him. Obsessions: According to MacKenzie and Heischober (1997), compulsion or repetitive behaviors are manifestations of chronic meth use. Users may become obsessed or perform repetitive tasks such as cleaning, assembling and disassembling objects or washing hands several times in a 15 minute period. Other repetitive tasks include formication, grinding of teeth, and pulling out hair. MacKenzie and Heischober (1997) recommend careful evaluation of patients who have histories of any compulsive behaviors, including compulsive sexual behaviors.
luve piphany	Re: Does everyone who uses experience meth psychosis? Thanks 9er, wow, I wonder if there is anything newer published? That just shows how difficult it is to diagnose...it pretty much comes down to the same ole thing, most of the time, only a meth addict can really diagnose him/herself after getting clean unless they admit they are using and ask for help. 72 hours in the psych ward is not enough. Yes, I heard that too Vctry, I've also heard that that often doesn't happen the way people want it to...Penelope has such great experience and info on meth psychosis and plain ole psychosis...Pen, where are you? Amazingly, not that many doctors in the ER are trained on meth psychosis and I was told there are so many privacy laws these days...Even the cops have to be very careful. Now, if ya tell em there are weapons involved (no, wouldn't do that-that might get me to jail) Also, the problem with meth psychosis is that an addict can be All over the board-up/down and sideways and then a little dope can make em all better...at least enough to fool the general public. Tricky business...
imlost inky	Re: Does everyone who uses experience meth psychosis? Luv, my sister for the majority of her meth run , did not let me know where she was living or a phone number. Pre caller id days. I went through this with her for 2 years- 1 year in my own addiction. We went through many suicide threats, many men on roofs, many shadow people, many someone is trying to kill me- a lot of psychosis. Finally she moved in the town where I was. So this time when she called with a shotgun in her mouth, I was able to call 911, I came over after the police got there. Yes in KY - and yes they told me all about it. I didn't know anything about the mental inquest warrants before then. How it works is exactly as Vctry says, the police officer asked me if I wanted her to be taken to a psych ward and have an evaluation done- I said yes. They took her to the local hospital here, they held her there for 24 hours before she was evaluated. When the psychiatrist asked her if she felt she had a problem, she said yes. He then asked her would she like help with her problem- she said yes. They had her in an excellent intreatment facility the very next day. Now this is a smaller town - this is a better town in Kentucky. And this was 10 years ago. My sister did the 12 weeks, came out and went back to her boyfriend- but 5 months later, she walked away and never looked back. She has been clean for 10 years- and doing beautifully. Definitely an option to be considered. Beats death and it beats prison. As always it is up to the addict to say yes they want help- otherwise they are released as soon as the danger of suicide is past.
vctry7	Re: Does everyone who uses experience meth psychosis? What's the difference between just hallucinating and psychosis? Is it when you start believing what you see and hear and acting on it? I have visually hallucinated and heard voices many times, but only twice did I think it was real and feel the threat was real enough to take action on. The rest of the time I could actually think it through and realize there wasn't anything there and the devil really wasn't talking to me. Then there was the state at the end where I was so crazy I couldn't hold a conversation. All logic and reasoning had left, even when I wasn't hallucinating.
nine years clean	Re: Does everyone who uses experience meth psychosis? Here's more info off the net: More Info on Meth Psychosis
luve piphany	Re: Does everyone who uses experience meth psychosis? Thanks T, that's wonderful to hear. You were given a chance to help and you did and it did and then she took it. That's a miracle story that I'm sure had a lot of misery behind it. If you didn't know what you did about meth and hadn't waited for that opening... I wonder if 10 years ago there was more support or less? I guess it's hard to say with the huge increase in meth addiction. I went out on a limb told doctors of their patient's meth addiction AND suicidal threats and mentioned psychosis symptoms but no mental health people ever came to the hospital room...nothing. They just let him out. He didn't have insurance. That may have been the issue but I think mostly it was because the infectious disease doctors and nurses didn't have the experience in meth addiction to know what to do and of course, they kept him heavily drugged with diluted the whole time and sleeping meds. I really had hope...Even his father told the doctors. This time he again slipped through the cracks. Gotta figure that there are plans that we have no way of knowing from one far greater. 9er, that link was good too. Go figure, there are never any babysitting services suggested I think I'm going to visualize angels that fight only the meth demons
forget suzette	Re: Does everyone who uses experience meth psychosis? *Quote:* He is paranoid to a certain extent but not extreme like other stories. I believe he's been using for 20 years or more. On-off... maybe even the entire time. I have no idea how much or how often. I guess I'm questioning why the psychosis seems to be more extreme in some then others. Could it be a personality trait magnified by the meth use? I believe whatever character flaw or mental disorder you have, speed makes WORSE. I've seen it many times.....my ex from High school was paranoid before.. now he can't shake the psychosis. he tells me, its worse everyday. my ADHD got 1000x worse.......maybe age has something to do with it. but speed plays a large part of not being able to control it easily. it's interesting I read once.......many people have a latent "speed personality" that would never be revealed if the drug isn't used. my last ex was like that......he turned into something we didn't know was there.
Broken N2	Re: Does everyone who uses experience meth psychosis? All I can tell you is my personal experience. I used on & off for 12 years and never tripped, skitzd or whatever ya wanna call it UNTIL the end when I was using hard core everyday. I think it can happen to anyone who uses and that it does sooner than later.
jballiet	Re: Does everyone who uses experience meth psychosis? I notice that when I did not force myself to sleep daily, I would start to show signs of psychosis. Over many years of going on meth runs, the psychosis was brought on much sooner until my last run which pushed me into a meth psychosis on day 2. During the meth runs in which I force myself to sleep, I showed no signs of psychosis. But the runs where I stayed up for more than one day had the following symptoms... 1.) Seeing shadows and ninja like movements that translated to humans that where following me. 2.) Acute paranoia - I was sure the police where after me. And my neighbors where in on it. 3.) Hearing conversations and noises 4.) I started smelling ammonia constantly - I was sure we where being attacked by terrorists This happened not to long ago. I am really hoping that I have reach my bottom because I am tired of this poison killing me slowly.
Spase monkey	Re: Does everyone who uses experience meth psychosis? No. Amphetamine psychosis is extremely similar to schizophrenia. In both cases you have an overabundance of dopamine, an inability to sleep, and a lack of appetite. Also... in both cases a persons personal brain chemistry plays a huge role in whether the condition will ever be an issue for them. I personally never saw shadow people, never heard voices talking to me, never constructed paranoid realities in which I thought was being chased or watched by anyone etc. I've known people who went nuts the first time they used or within the first week of using and usually if you didn't start getting a taste of psychosis early it wasn't going to be a major factor for you. In my experience most people who don't experience psychotic breaks in the first months of using never really will. An exception is if someone uses long enough it is possible to do enough damage or to change your brain enough that you do start having psychotic breaks. I should be clear though... most everyone gets the mild hallucinations from being up too long. That's sleep deprivation though and you can do that to yourself without ever touching drugs. Hallucinations brought on by sleep deprivation and amphetamine psychosis are very qualitatively different. Just my experience. I watched a lot of users over long periods of their time using and had a pretty good idea how much they were using in most cases.
Fly f1sh3r	Re: Does everyone who uses experience meth psychosis? It took a long time for me to have psychosis, it gradually got worse, and I didn't have to be up for days to experience it.
notold ash	Re: Does everyone who uses experience meth psychosis? WOW What wonderful Reponses! Thank you all! KCI is a great place to be Thanks to all of you.