Detoxing cocaine? schizophrenia?!
Question: 2 years ago I was in the hospital detoxing from a variety of different types of SPEED
The speedy drugs would make me severely prone to VERY realistic hallucinations (People spinning around and around who weren't really there.. people hiding on the ceiling and in the walls)
My paranoia was really bad and on a few occasions I had to call my mum at 4 o'clock in the morning to pick me up because I was so afraid..
The "doctor" at the hospital says I was having a schizophrenic episode induced by drugs and that I'm lucky it went away.. (doctor in quotations because i think he was just an addictions therapist not an actual doctor)
QUESTIONS:
-isn't there more to schizophrenia than that??
couldn't it have been my borderline personality disorder/anxiety & just the drugs
ALSO, if I did have a schizophrenic episode (INDUCED BY DRUGS) does that mean I will have another one someday and possibly become full blown schizophrenic (this happened to a close friend of mine his was drug related)
JUS
Answers: 2 years ago I was in the hospital detoxing from a variety of different types of SPEED
The speedy drugs would make me severely prone to VERY realistic hallucinations (People spinning around and around who weren't really there.. people hiding on the ceiling and in the walls)
My paranoia was really bad and on a few occasions I had to call my mum at 4 o'clock in the morning to pick me up because I was so afraid..
The "doctor" at the hospital says I was having a schizophrenic episode induced by drugs and that I'm lucky it went away.. (doctor in quotations because i think he was just an addictions therapist not an actual doctor)
QUESTIONS:
-isn't there more to schizophrenia than that??
couldn't it have been my borderline personality disorder/anxiety & just the drugs
ALSO, if I did have a schizophrenic episode (INDUCED BY DRUGS) does that mean I will have another one someday and possibly become full blown schizophrenic (this happened to a close friend of mine his was drug related)
JUS
People can have psychotic symptoms (hallucinations or paranoia) without having schizophrenia.
Temporary psychosis can occur with drugs, on withdrawal from drugs. Some people with Borderline Personality Disorder have them even if they don't use drugs.
Schizophrenia is a combination of long term symptoms; psychosis, social withdrawal, and disorganized thinking. Only a psychiatrist or other medical doctor can make a valid diagnosis of schizophrenia.
I don't think the therapist should have used the word "schizophrenia" in front of you.
Some people have transient psychosis related to drugs and never have it again. Some people have it come back again even if they don't take the drugs anymore, but that's generally with hallucinogenic drugs like LSD ("flashbacks"). I never heard of that happening with cocaine or speed.
You can have schizophrenic episodes without being diagnosed with schizophrenia. There is more to a full diagnosis than those symptoms, but they would be enough to qualify as "episodes." Schizophrenia can't be caused by drug use, but it can make the symptoms more recognizable and easier to diagnose. If you are genetically predisposed to schizophrenia, you'll probably develop it, no matter what. The usual age of schizophrenic onset is between 16-23 years, I believe, but can happen earlier or later.
He was saying that some of your drug induced hallucinations were similar to those often experienced by schizophrenics (ppl on or hiding in the ceilings and walls). That's all. It's a description of the hallucination, not your mental state.
Yes there is a lot more to sz.
Drugs are primary. Perhaps your personality disorder played a role.
If you don't carry the sz genes, then you won't develop the disease.
Life as a "full blown schizophrenic" is not without hope and is not even all that bad. Take it from one who is one. Much better than that of a drug addict I assume. Schizophrenia is not a single disease but a spectrum of disorders. The public perception of these disorders is abysmally misinformed and misunderstood. For more information on them type "schizophrenia"into Yahoo web search. Wikipedia has good summary's. Also try "DSM-IV TR" in a web search. This gives info on and access to The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association which is the Bible for diagnosing all mental disorders.
Drug induced hallucinations are not like the natural hallucinations schizophrenics experience in my opinion. If you are troubled by such drug induced hallucinations the simple solution is to stop using the drugs! Other wise expect abnormal experiences but I don't think they are "catching"in the sense they wil result in "full blown schizophrenia" The trouble is the cause(s) of natural hallucinations are unknown. Since they are not experienced by any but those who are to be treated they are often misunderstood by even psychiatrists. Any hallucinatry experience is a schizophrenic episode to many of them.
Until such time as some explanation of the cause(s) of natural hallucinations is available your questions can't really be answered. You can be misdiagnosed.
Good luck getting off hallucinogenic drugs, good mental health, peace and Love!