mental health

im no expert on drugs and their subsequent effect on mental heath, but i know the two dont mix.

i have a history of mental illness( paranoid Schizophrenia) in my fairly close blood line. i am wondering what drugs i should definately steer clear of.
i knoe speed is a bad one, but what about K, or any others?
im nearly 20 and have shown no signs and am a pretty mellow, level headed person, but i think i should stay on the safe side of triggereing something, for the sake of my sane future.

thanks

pot, lsd, ESPECIALLY speed (a speed psychosis is worse than anything else), mushies, come to think of it, its probably easier to list what you -can- have . . .

if i were you id only stick to ecstasy, codeine - in fact, they would be the only ones i would touch, recreationally . . .

at the end of the day, though, you have to ask yourself - is recreational drug use really worth it if you think you are at a high risk of triggering a mental illness? . . . id say, no . . .

but its up to you . . . just dont become another statistic . . .

yeh, ive smoked a fair bit of weed in the past year to no bad affect. except loss of short term memory and motivation!

and im just about to head to amsterdam.

im in extreme conflict with myself coz i want to experience many facets of life but know that there is the slight possibility i could take a turn.

hmmm, damm rellies

Not so much for your predisposition to mental illness, but more for the fact that you're consciously thinking about it, I'd definitely steer clear of psychedelics - especially LSD.

Do some research and weigh the risks.

What are your chances of fucking your head up? Is it worth the experience?

Many people with pre dispositions to mental illness are able to take drugs without any negative effects. Others might take one trip and never come back. Is it worth the risk to you?

Its good to hear that you are thinking about it. I'd just like to point out that because you've had a drug before and it has not triggered a response does not mean you are safe. I'd stay away from weed and psychedelics. If you are going to have anything, keep it to small doses. Less is always more.

Pot Pot Pot
worst of the lot mentioned above

Good news is, the older you get, the less chance there is of you inheriting the illness and the less severe the symtoms will be if you do.
Fish oil is especially benificial to brain funtioning but whether there is a link who knows. Sure can't hurt

^ Can you please back those statements up with some evidence. Technically if you inherit something you've inherited it from birth because it is a part of your genetic makeup. I guess you mean that there is less chance of triggering that genetic inheritance, because regardless of what happens you have inherited those genes.

I had a friend who became schizophrenic from smoking weed pretty full on for a couple of years. It's fucked. Keep away from it. I don't even think it ran in his family, but he had the genetic disposition and the weed triggered it.

If it runs in your immediate family, keep away from it!

Watch out for pills that have hallucinagens in them too.

Stay away frrom Ecstasy, pot, speed, coke, ketamine. I would go as far as saying most if not all of them.
The only ones I would say that wouldn't unleash anything in you would be Benzos, Alcohol or barbiturates. All in moderation of course.

Considering that you say that paranoid schizophrenia runs in your close family members then I would definately recommend that you keep the drug use to a minimum.
Althought there have been no definate and direct causes for schizophrenia there is strong evidence that drugs do play a casual role in the precipitating schizophrenia. The theory behind this is that certain people are predisposed to developing schizophrenia, but do due to having no 'causal' (ie. drug use, bad stressors etc.) environmental factors they will not go on to develop schizophrenia. It would seem, pupetman that you are already predisposed to schizophrenia and your use of drugs is going to greatly increase the likelihood of you developing schizophrenia. My advice to you would be to cut back on all your drug use as much as possible.
Marijuana has been shown through epidemiological studies (studies of diseases within populations) to increase the risk of schizophrenia by about 3 times in mentally healthy people. For heavy users the chances are about 5 times higher, the chances for someone who is already predisposed to schizophrenia would be even higher than this (source: Swedish Cohort Study).
Psychedelic drugs also can lead to psychotic episodes which in people who are susceptable to schizophrenia may result in the triggering of schizophrenia.
Probably best to stay away from all psychedelics and amphetamines, definately keep marijuana use to a minimum if not stopping completely and probably best to stay away from MDxx, due to its amphetamine and psychedilic properties. In fact, don't abuse any drugs becasue an addiction or heavy use of anything is very stressful and high stress is known to trigger schizophrenia.
Also, the main time people develop schizophrenia is between 15-25 so considering your only 20 your definately not out of the woods yet.
Anyway mate, take care of yourself and remember that drug use is not worth developin schizophrenia for.

psy_taco said:

Anyway mate, take care of yourself and remember that drug use is not worth developin schizophrenia for.

Click to expand...

id argue that this point is the most important . . .

psy_taco said:

Also, the main time people develop schizophrenia is between 15-25 so considering your only 20 your definately not out of the woods yet.
Anyway mate, take care of yourself and remember that drug use is not worth developin schizophrenia for.

Click to expand...

^^
What he said Munchee

I worked as a psychiatric Nurse for 3 years dealing mostly with patients with treatment resistant schizophrenia. The vast majority of them had their latent condition triggered in their late teens/early 20's.

I can't provide references but it is generally regarded as fact among mental healt professionals that the earlier in life you have a psycotic episode, the worse your prognosis and that is defiently my experience.

As for pot, I remember this one time in particular working with this young schizoaffective woman. She had been admitted to an acute psych ward floridly psychotic and put into semi isolation with one on one care, I can't remember what precipitated her admission but I do remember she deterated further in our care and had to be put into an isolation room cos she was so out of control where she painted the walls with shit and mastubated openly.

Over the next few weeks she gradually improved and was put back into the general ward. She said to me then that all she could think about was how she was behaving in front of this cute guy (me %) )but she couldn't stop herself.
Then after a few days she had a few drags of a joint another patient smuggled in and BANG! Right back to the begining, absolutely acutely psychotic.

Pot and mental illness either don't mix or go hand in hand whichever way you look at it.

I have had big problems with addiction to pot myself, knowing it fucks me up but being very much attracted to it for it's mind expanding effects (in hindesight I think it puts me into a low grade manic state) and the last time I relapsed definetly had some psychotic symtoms such as thinking all my friends hated me.

Nasty

As for my comments about fish oil; The Brain is basicly a fatty organ and never in history has our diet consisted of so many omega 6 fatty acids and so few omega 3. Some belive this is changing the way our brain funtions making us more predisposed to mental illness. You really are what you eat

What Pleonastic said. You will cause your own mental illness thinking about all of the possabilities of you having a mental health disorder. I did it

Just don't do any drugs too often if you're worried. Take them really rarely on special occaisons.

streetsurfer: I was in no way disagreeing with the general drift of your post, I agree that pot is the worst for triggering psychotic events. Its just that it is preferred on this board that you will back up a statement with some evidence. I guess identifying your role as a person working in health care is a good way to establish some credibility in what you say, as you will have a good deal of general knowledge collected over your career.

I just have to point out again that if you have inherited a genetic predisposition to a disease, then you have had it from birth. The genes are always in your body and always will be (unless gene therapy advances very quickly). I think you may also be able to find studies or discussions pertaining to the incidence of developing schizophrenia in that age group is largely environment related (think of what age group people are often trying drugs, developing quickly, having large changes in lifestyle).

When it comes down to it, I agree with everyone else, you really need to weigh up the odds of having a short time of fun versus a lifetime of mental illness.

i just want to thank everyone for their input, some really wise and educated opinions/facts offered here.

i thank you all as it reassuring to know there are people who can offer you advice and really say "you should or shouldnt do this"

i take heed at "is this one high really worth losing the rest of your life for"
obviously the answer is no.

i am currently studying at uni (in a well respected degree) and have any number of options open to me in the future.

i know what is worth doing
once again,
cheers.

On a semi-related note: I think it was Mr Horse who told me once that when he went to Amsterdam the tour bus driver gave the following advice: "No matter how hardcore you think you are, drugs in Amsterdam are STRONGER... always start with half..."

BigTrancer

All good Munchie :D

On a related note we are only just realising now how long it takes for the human brain to fully mature, I belive the general consesus is around 25 years of age before it has finished wiring.

I know if I had kids I would drill into them that I would support their decision to use drugs as long as they waited to close to this time. Just too many variables mixing drugs with the delevoping brain

in a way your brain never finishes with the "wiring" as you said; new skills can be learned with adequate proficiency on your death bed . . .

in terms of cognitive development, though, i believe all people should steer away from ALL substances until about 18 . . . of course, this is an ideal, and as im pro-choice, i would never force this on to my own kids . . .

If that history was in my family i wouldnt touch drugs at all. Looking after my mental health is #1