Schizophrenia and Drug dangers?

[meister]

Being at a moderate risk for schizophrenia (maternal grandmother and uncle have full blown paranoid schizo) are there any drugs in particular to avoid? I haven't had anything bad happen yet even with lsd, mushrooms, dmt, 5-meo-dipt etc. I usually have significantly more auditory hallucinations than my friends when we take the same drugs, is that a sign? I have yet to become lastingly delusional and whatever voices I hear fade away when the drug wears off. Can depression turn into schizophrenia? I know that sustained crystal meth use would probably set me off. Is it simply a matter of time?

 

[HYDRO_CHRONIC]

i think you already mentioned the ones you need to be worry about,so i guess you dont have to worry about the drugs,but im not a doc.

 

[angelx]

http://www.erowid.org/index.shtml
I think you might want to check this site and read up a little more on some of the shit you are doing.
I've taken a lot of psychology classes and this is some of the stuff I've learned:
drugs don't normally "cause" schizophrenia, but they can set it off. a bad trip or a mental "spark" can cause an at-risk person major problems. Because no one is exactly 100% what causes schizophrenia, nor how to solve it, they also can't be 100% sure that drug use doesn't later cause at-risk people to become schizophrenic. Now as for the depression, no. Clinical depression cannot just "turn into" schizophrenia. They are two seperate conditions, though a person can suffer from both.

 

[fizzygirl]

<see my later post...i'm erasing this as i was obviously drunk when i wrote it and it didn't make sense AT ALL!>

[ 04 March 2002: Message edited by: fizzygirl ]

 

[meister]

Fizzygrl: I did't quite understand what you said.
I do often worry about getting schizophrenia which can make it worse, but I really would hate to hear uncontrollable voices in my head like my uncle and grandmother. Insanity full on impaired them and changed them into different people. I never want to see the "saints" like my grandmother explain visit her. Thats why I say no to Jimson weed. My doctor explained to me that if someone is depressed for long enough they can develop dementia. I thought that was bullshit?

 

[angelx]

I'm not a doctor, obviously, and I'm not 100% sure what your doc was talking about. But he may have meant that when people are depressed for long enough they create "fantasy" lands in their minds as ways to deal with their depression. They create a new reality for themselves - one that isn't quite as horriffic as the world they currently live in. They lose touch with what you and I see and know to be real. Aflred Hitchcock touched on this in one of his movies...but I'll be damned if I can think of the name of it right now.

 

[Curious_George]

Yes, since you have a family history of schizophrenia, it would be wise to avoid methamphetamine, amphetamine, phentermine, Ritalin and cocaine.

 

[superbabydoc]

I think what fizzygirl meant was that while there is a higher prevalency of schizophrenia in immediate family members, as you don't have it right now there is nothing to predict you will ever get schizophrenia.
If you have inherited this tendency, you will develop schizophrenia irrespective of whether you use drugs. Drug use may cause psychosis to develop sooner in people who are prone to it, but if you aren't drug use won't make you schizophrenic.
The fact that you said this

whatever voices I hear fade away when the drug wears off suggest you are prone to experiencing drug-induced psychotic symptoms which may have nothing to do with your families history. Or it may-no-one can really say right now. If you start finding the symptoms don't wear off when the drug does, you need to stop using and see a Dr ASAP.
There really isn't a simple answer to your question. Most recreational drugs are a potential trigger for psychotic symptoms in prone individuals, including pot, k, stimulants inc MDMA, psychedelics etc. I know of someone who had problems with G triggering psychotic symptoms.

 

[fizzygirl]

lol..how embarassing..
ok..my earlier posts makes hardly any sense to even myself--i so must have been drunk sorrie!
Basically why I'm sure I meant was that even people with close family (parent/grandparents) that have schizophrenia are only 10% more likely than the general population to develop schizophrenia. While this isn't small change, it's not a staggeringly high percentage either. Usually events happen with people that will have schizophrenia that might trigger it. Often this is something like a death of someone close, or something similar that would cause great emotional stress. I've known/worked with about 20 people diagnosed with schizophrenia and many of them could not even identify a trigger. Only two of them had ever used drugs and that was years before they ever had problems and they didn't see any connection as their experiences had been good. So, even with "triggers", it's not predictable. I'd be more concerned with trying to tell someone at risk for depression to lay off certain drugs. The basic consensus is that there isn't a clear reason for who gets it and who doesn't. I've worked with several families where one of the parents had schizophrenia and the children were fine, actually very sucessful, as they had grown up being very self-reliant.
Basically, don't waste wonderful moments in your life worrying about this.
[ 04 March 2002: Message edited by: fizzygirl ]

 

[SovietContin]

. I've worked with several families where one of the parents had schizophrenia and the children were fine, actually very sucessful, as they had grown up being very self-reliant.
Basically, don't waste wonderful moments in your life worrying about this.
No offense, but this is a somewhat ignorant comment concerning his question.
I've watched someone with schizophrenia take LSD and I've known another person with schizophrenia who has taken LSD, although I wasn't present for that one.
It triggered SEVERE psychotic episodes in both people. Neither of them remembered what happened. Both of them became completely out of touch with reality for about 12 hours. And both "came back" by the next day and were fairly normal, although both had a lot of physical injuries from falling, flailing, etc.
So if someone has a history of schizophrenia in their family, I would DEFINANTLY be concerned with taking psychedelic drugs.
But in this case since nothing has happened, I doubt anything ever would. Although the fact that this guy is hearing voices when he trips is pretty bizarre.