Seattle_Stranger
Bluelighter
TL;DR - A 17 year old kid started with pot and worked up to PCP and all sorts of polydrug use, lost 100 pounds and went from normal to violently psychotic and delusional in barely a few months. Has threaten to kill himself and his family multiple times, thinks he is God and has refused absolutely any helping hand extended outward. We just don't know what else to do, and we need advice. He is a child and his family is shattered.
My lady's little brother who was always a decently smart, kind, more or less normal kid. In the recent year, he discovered cannabis and became immediately obsessed with it. Shortly thereafter, he told us he has been experimenting with LSD and mushrooms. I noticed this unhealthy obsession and made it a point to talk to him a few different times about the dangers of drug use, especially at his young, developing age. I explained about how even something benign like pot can really have detrimental effects on his later years because his brain is still rapidly growing and developing, and the 'negative side effects' of drugs aren't always immediately apparent. I thought he would heed my warnings, but alas....
Over the course of the next ~8 months he started rapidly changing. He lost over 100 pounds in a couple months. He started out just acting like a stoner but then evolved into an extremely violent, psychotic, delusional, suicidal, claims to be jesus, constantly preaching about "the system" and just acting flat out insane. He ran away from warm family home and willingly was living in a tent city with homeless people. He's got that far away look in his eyes and seems to be on some sort of a "mission from God" and has even told his own mother, whom he's EXTREMELY close with, that he was going to "murder her in her sleep" along with the rest of his beloved family. This child went from a total mommas-boy, overweight and excited about getting his first car to this scarily psychotic and violently paranoid stranger over the course of barely 8 months. After much, much, much todo about the whole thing, he is FINALLY under the care of mental health professionals...unwillingly of course.
My first guess was meth, or potentially crack only because he was apparently staying with this known 50-something year old crackhead lady who acted somewhat similar. The only things he has admitted to using were pot, mushrooms and LSD, but I knew for a fact something else was at play, even way before the episode started. Just from his simple curious and limit-testing nature, I knew he had at least tried this and that or wanted to. He seemed to be displaying what I understand a stimulant-psychosis state to be, but at the same time it wasn't spot on. I thought it could be combinations of things, including psychedelics on his young, impressionable mind coupled with a very bad environment and company, teenage angst, etc.. There was the thought that he had a dormant schizophrenia-like illness that came out due to his frequent psychedelic use. There were millions of frustrated guesses. Everyone in his life individually has offered a hand to help him and he bit every last one of them.
One day, he calls up his mother and demands she take him to the emergency room because he hurt his leg. This was used as an opportunity because all along he has absolutely refused to accept any help from doctors or health professionals (or anything that was part of "the system"), and he clearly is needing a professional evaluation. So, she took him to the ER and pulled the doctor aside to tell them what has been going on and that he needs to be checked out, how this is the only opportunity they have, etc.. After a bit of a fiasco, he finally was deemed "in a psychotic state" and was admitted. They took blood work but he refused to allow the results to be released to his mother (apparently you can do that at 16 in WA state), so there's no toxicology report yet. They finally got his iPhone that he worshiped away from him (so much for avoiding "the system", huh?) which he proceeded to scream at everyone saying if they turn it on it will explode and collapse the hospital.
Upon inspection of his text message history by his mother, it was discovered that he has been doing any drug he can get his hands on and literally advertising to several people how "I want absolutely anything and everything you can find, I want to try it all, I don't care what it is". There were several mentions of MDMA, bragging about being high on this and that for days straight, tripping on mushrooms and LSD and all sorts of combinations for a week, combining this and that, pushing doses extremely high, and even text messages to friends saying "I took A, B and C and I think I'm OD'ing can you come help me please". There also apparently a constant mention of "smoking sherm", as if he's addicted to it. I have not seen the texts myself so I don't know what else was in there.
So now, having read up on PCP, all these adverse effects they speak of are SPOT FRICKING ON to the changes we have observed in his behavior. The God-complex, the violence towards loved ones, the paranoia, the disassociating with society and organization, severe weight loss, suicidal tendencies, etc.. Does anyone have advice for us? This is driving everyone insane and we just want to help before he hurts himself or others. Like I said he's in the hands of the professionals now, but what can we do from our end? Also, what precautions should we take to protect his very young little sisters? I don't know if he kept the PCP in the house, and I wouldn't even know what to look for, but I'd like to make sure his 2 year old sister doesn't find it somehow. Has anyone dealt with this? Do people normally recover from this kind of psychosis?
It's extremely sad because of how rapid this happened, and how it has absolutely destroyed his family. He has threatened to kill all of them in their sleep multiple times, has kicked down his sister's bedroom door because she was hiding from him, and has just plain caused straight-up chaos. We want to help, but really don't know what else to do. The other problem, I think the hospital will only hold him for 2 weeks and then they let him out. If he's still in this state at that time, Seattle is going to have one seriously dangerous person roaming the streets at free will.
Thanks for any advice in advance, and sorry I didn't keep it short like I said I would...
My lady's little brother who was always a decently smart, kind, more or less normal kid. In the recent year, he discovered cannabis and became immediately obsessed with it. Shortly thereafter, he told us he has been experimenting with LSD and mushrooms. I noticed this unhealthy obsession and made it a point to talk to him a few different times about the dangers of drug use, especially at his young, developing age. I explained about how even something benign like pot can really have detrimental effects on his later years because his brain is still rapidly growing and developing, and the 'negative side effects' of drugs aren't always immediately apparent. I thought he would heed my warnings, but alas....
Over the course of the next ~8 months he started rapidly changing. He lost over 100 pounds in a couple months. He started out just acting like a stoner but then evolved into an extremely violent, psychotic, delusional, suicidal, claims to be jesus, constantly preaching about "the system" and just acting flat out insane. He ran away from warm family home and willingly was living in a tent city with homeless people. He's got that far away look in his eyes and seems to be on some sort of a "mission from God" and has even told his own mother, whom he's EXTREMELY close with, that he was going to "murder her in her sleep" along with the rest of his beloved family. This child went from a total mommas-boy, overweight and excited about getting his first car to this scarily psychotic and violently paranoid stranger over the course of barely 8 months. After much, much, much todo about the whole thing, he is FINALLY under the care of mental health professionals...unwillingly of course.
My first guess was meth, or potentially crack only because he was apparently staying with this known 50-something year old crackhead lady who acted somewhat similar. The only things he has admitted to using were pot, mushrooms and LSD, but I knew for a fact something else was at play, even way before the episode started. Just from his simple curious and limit-testing nature, I knew he had at least tried this and that or wanted to. He seemed to be displaying what I understand a stimulant-psychosis state to be, but at the same time it wasn't spot on. I thought it could be combinations of things, including psychedelics on his young, impressionable mind coupled with a very bad environment and company, teenage angst, etc.. There was the thought that he had a dormant schizophrenia-like illness that came out due to his frequent psychedelic use. There were millions of frustrated guesses. Everyone in his life individually has offered a hand to help him and he bit every last one of them.
One day, he calls up his mother and demands she take him to the emergency room because he hurt his leg. This was used as an opportunity because all along he has absolutely refused to accept any help from doctors or health professionals (or anything that was part of "the system"), and he clearly is needing a professional evaluation. So, she took him to the ER and pulled the doctor aside to tell them what has been going on and that he needs to be checked out, how this is the only opportunity they have, etc.. After a bit of a fiasco, he finally was deemed "in a psychotic state" and was admitted. They took blood work but he refused to allow the results to be released to his mother (apparently you can do that at 16 in WA state), so there's no toxicology report yet. They finally got his iPhone that he worshiped away from him (so much for avoiding "the system", huh?) which he proceeded to scream at everyone saying if they turn it on it will explode and collapse the hospital.
Upon inspection of his text message history by his mother, it was discovered that he has been doing any drug he can get his hands on and literally advertising to several people how "I want absolutely anything and everything you can find, I want to try it all, I don't care what it is". There were several mentions of MDMA, bragging about being high on this and that for days straight, tripping on mushrooms and LSD and all sorts of combinations for a week, combining this and that, pushing doses extremely high, and even text messages to friends saying "I took A, B and C and I think I'm OD'ing can you come help me please". There also apparently a constant mention of "smoking sherm", as if he's addicted to it. I have not seen the texts myself so I don't know what else was in there.
So now, having read up on PCP, all these adverse effects they speak of are SPOT FRICKING ON to the changes we have observed in his behavior. The God-complex, the violence towards loved ones, the paranoia, the disassociating with society and organization, severe weight loss, suicidal tendencies, etc.. Does anyone have advice for us? This is driving everyone insane and we just want to help before he hurts himself or others. Like I said he's in the hands of the professionals now, but what can we do from our end? Also, what precautions should we take to protect his very young little sisters? I don't know if he kept the PCP in the house, and I wouldn't even know what to look for, but I'd like to make sure his 2 year old sister doesn't find it somehow. Has anyone dealt with this? Do people normally recover from this kind of psychosis?
It's extremely sad because of how rapid this happened, and how it has absolutely destroyed his family. He has threatened to kill all of them in their sleep multiple times, has kicked down his sister's bedroom door because she was hiding from him, and has just plain caused straight-up chaos. We want to help, but really don't know what else to do. The other problem, I think the hospital will only hold him for 2 weeks and then they let him out. If he's still in this state at that time, Seattle is going to have one seriously dangerous person roaming the streets at free will.
Thanks for any advice in advance, and sorry I didn't keep it short like I said I would...
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