Freethought & Rationalism Archive

ohwilleke · 03-18-2002, 07:12 AM

I know a fellow who appears to be suffering severe delusions of police being after him, plumbing pipe being replaced, lines of laser light flashing around his residence, helicopters circling his house at night, and so on. He is also a probably ex- drug user, probably of Meth.

Does anyone know of any sites that are fairly explicity about what drugs cause what kind of withdrawal hallucinations, if any? I have a very strong feeling that these are delusions, but would like some coroborration about whether this is consistent with withdrawal from what drugs, consistent with use of what drugs, or consistent with mental illness but not any drug use?

Corwin · 03-18-2002, 07:18 AM

WARNING: IANACP (I Am Not A Clinical Psychologist)

One thing it sounds like may be happening is not so much withdrawal, but that your friend is mentally ill. It's not too terribly uncommon for mentally ill people to start abusing drugs. (Attempts to self medicate... generally not a good idea but they try it anyway....)

I'm not saying this is happening here but it would be something to look at.

Danya · 03-18-2002, 07:28 AM

I don't know of any sites on the subject but I do have personal experience with a person who sounds like your friend.

He was my sister-in-laws boyfriend. He would go on and on about someone doing things to his car. One day he would tell us how he is positive the tires had all been switched around. The next day he would look under the hood and swear things had been taken off and put back on. This was in addition to thinking someone was following him. Even though we tried to tell him that no one would waste their time doing this. He would just nod knowingly as if he was going to figure it out.

His paranoia was caused by meth use not withdrawls. Even when he quit using it he was a little strange so some mental illness could have played a part but the delusional thoughts pretty much disappeared when he quit.

This is common in meth users.

Corwin · 03-18-2002, 07:33 AM

Paranoia is also a very common side effect of cocaine use. (Which has some fascinating implications about Freud's later writings...

)

03-18-2002, 07:12 AM	#1
ohwilleke Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Denver, Colorado, USA Posts: 4,834	Drug Withdrawal Delusions I know a fellow who appears to be suffering severe delusions of police being after him, plumbing pipe being replaced, lines of laser light flashing around his residence, helicopters circling his house at night, and so on. He is also a probably ex- drug user, probably of Meth. Does anyone know of any sites that are fairly explicity about what drugs cause what kind of withdrawal hallucinations, if any? I have a very strong feeling that these are delusions, but would like some coroborration about whether this is consistent with withdrawal from what drugs, consistent with use of what drugs, or consistent with mental illness but not any drug use?

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version	Search this Thread: Advanced Search

03-18-2002, 07:18 AM	#2
Corwin Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 4,369	WARNING: IANACP (I Am Not A Clinical Psychologist) One thing it sounds like may be happening is not so much withdrawal, but that your friend is mentally ill. It's not too terribly uncommon for mentally ill people to start abusing drugs. (Attempts to self medicate... generally not a good idea but they try it anyway....) I'm not saying this is happening here but it would be something to look at.

03-18-2002, 07:28 AM	#3
Danya Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: USA Posts: 638	I don't know of any sites on the subject but I do have personal experience with a person who sounds like your friend. He was my sister-in-laws boyfriend. He would go on and on about someone doing things to his car. One day he would tell us how he is positive the tires had all been switched around. The next day he would look under the hood and swear things had been taken off and put back on. This was in addition to thinking someone was following him. Even though we tried to tell him that no one would waste their time doing this. He would just nod knowingly as if he was going to figure it out. His paranoia was caused by meth use not withdrawls. Even when he quit using it he was a little strange so some mental illness could have played a part but the delusional thoughts pretty much disappeared when he quit. This is common in meth users.

03-18-2002, 07:33 AM	#4
Corwin Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 4,369	Paranoia is also a very common side effect of cocaine use. (Which has some fascinating implications about Freud's later writings... )

Freethought & Rationalism Archive

The archives are read only.