-- Psychosis & Relevant Information --

[~Bliss~]

After being awake for over 5 days, I suffered a brief stint with psychosis. I will explain to you what I can remember.
My perception was totally altered. I wasn't on any drugs, but I had taken a bit of extacy and speed in those 5 days. The alteration of perception I experienced was like nothing before. I was not hallucinating, and I wasn't lovey or high. It was not like being on drugs.
My perception was changed in the way that I thought about things, myself and my friends. Personally I felt resilient. I didn't feel tired at all, and I had a feeling of "superiorness" over those around me. I was looking at my 1 of my closest friends thinking that I was so much better than her. People were telling me to get to sleep, I was telling them to shutup!
The closest I can relate the feeling of superiorness, is the egotiscal behaviour that can sometimes be displayed after repeated use of Ketamine. I felt like I was God, and that I could do anything I wanted. Nothing else mattered.
During this time, I had no belief that I was experiencing psychosis.
I ended up accidentally locking myself out of my friends place (while they were sleeping). I was on a mission to find cigarettes. I bought some and then spent 2 hours walking around Sth Yarra trying to find my way back to my mates. I was a surprisingly nonchalant.
Finding my way back to the house and nobody was up yet. I started calling people at 7am on a Tuesday morning because I was bored and needed somebody to hang out with. I had lost all perception of time and it was outside of my abilitites to work out what the time was.
I fell asleep sitting on the chair with a cigarette in my hand. 2 hours later, I received a phone call of a friend wanting to meet up for coffee, I'd had 2 hrs sleep in 6 days now, yet I jumped up went for coffee and we chatted for a while. This person came to me with a problem, my response was pretty much "I cant be assed helping you out."
Thats all I can remember. I dont know how quickly I recovered from my psychocis as it was all a bit of a blur. It hasn't altered me in the slightest. It was a very interestnig thing to experience.

 

[superbabydoc]

Certainly RAveDUST. I can only speak about the Victorian system. As I said before, it is under resourced and there is inadequate staff throughout the various services, from inpatient units to community teams. This means it can be very hard to get access to services unless you are severely unwell. For example, inpatient units are often full, so people can't get admitted until they are extremely unwell, in which case someone in the ward who is a bit less sick will be sent home. Sometimes at 8pm at night. There has been a huge reduction in available beds in the last ten years, and there just isn't enough IMHO these days.
Community mental health centres will usually only see people who have a pattern of ongoing mental illness, who for some reason can't be treated in the private system. For example, pensioners, unemployed or people who won't cooperate with treatment and are on a community treatment order (an involuntary order).
CAT teams (crisis assessment teams) are also overworked and the idea that they will respond immediately to a crisis (as the name implies) is inaccurate in reality. In the past they have been reluctant to assess people under the influence of alcohol or drugs, but this is changing. Once they have actually assessed you, they do a great job at providing treatment to acutely unwell people in their own homes.
So that's the doom and gloom side, but on the positive, mental health provide free sevices that do great work despite the issues mentioned.
ACCESS / OPTIONS
If you or a friend needs mental health treatment unexpectedly, start with a GP. Don't be afraid to tell them about drug use - they won't tell the police if you are just a user. A GP can prescibe medication and refer onto other services - either private or public if need be. Say you need to see the CAT team, they will usually see you more promptly if your Dr calls rather than if you call yourself.
If it is out of hours, you can go to the local emergency department or call an ambulance. If you don't go via ambulance, be prepared to wait for a number of hours at the ED.
If someone is refusing treatment but is clearly unwell things get more complicated. You can call the CAT team triage worker AKA duty worker for advice. Depending on the circumstances they might agree to come out with the police or ambulance and recommend someone under the Mental Health Act, so they can be taken to hospital against their will. This would only happen if certain criteria are met, the main ones being 1) they appear to have a mental illness and 2) are a risk to themselves or others if they are not recommended.
Be aware that mental health services (at least in Vic, but I believe in other states) work in specific catchment areas with specific boundaries. Say you live in Burwood, but you are at a friends place in Kensington and need treatment. You could go to the Royal Melbourne Hospital ED for assessment, but if you need treatment they'll send you to BoxHill, because that's the hospital for your home address. Try not to get frustrated with this bureaucracy - that's just how it is.
For Victorians see Victoria's Mental Health Services for info on services available and how to access them.

 

[BigTrancer]

Sounds like delusions of grandeur, bliss. I believe these are fairly common with high-level dissociative use, including PCP/K/cocaine.
BigTrancer

 

[RAveDuST]

thanks babydoc. It's seems there is a progressive system in place, although underfunded hence a lack of resources. Keep up the good work.