Substance Induced Psychosis: An Issue In Current Major (Essay Sample)

Substance-induced Psychosis
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Substance-induced Psychosis
Substance-induced psychosis, also referred to as toxic psychosis, is a type of disorder that causes addiction from use or abuse of substances. The addiction occurs because of the toxic effects of foreign chemicals and drugs or any natural chemicals produced by the body. Psychosis manifests as confusion and haptic or visual hallucination (Pitts et al., 1982). During psychosis manifestation, a person loses the mental ability to distinguish reality, communicate, and interact with other people. Due to mental impairment, people with psychosis lose the capacity to go about their day-to-day business and cope with life’s demands. Unlike other types of psychosis, substance-induced psychosis can be traced back to a particular substance.
Substance Inducing Psychosis
Many types of elements may be addictive and can cause psychosis; these substances can be both legal and illegal. According to the American Addiction Center, the most popular substance that causes psychosis is the abuse of hallucinogenic drugs and prescription medication. In extreme situations, people who are sensitive to medication may suffer from psychosis as side effects of prescription medication even when following the right dosage of the drugs. Drugs whose addiction, abuse, and/or withdrawal may cause psychosis include:
Alcohol. This is one of the most commonly abused and addictive substance in the world. Alcohol may lead to acute inebriation, chronic alcoholism, and may increase the effects of other disorders and thus cause psychotic episodes,
Cannabis. Studies indicate that marijuana can lead to full-blown psychosis. Recent research found that use or abuse of cannabis could increase the risk of developing psychosis episodes to the users (Moore et al., 2007), and
Sedatives such as Benzodiazepines. Malcolm Lader, Institute of Psychiatry in London, estimated the chances of an adverse reaction of sedatives to be at about 5 percent, even to the short-term use of the drugs.
Most affected Age Groups
It is approximated that at least one-third of the people with psychotic disorder go through their first episode before the end of their teenagehood at 19 years. As part of growing up, during teenagehood, a period between13 to 19 years, many people experience a burst of emotion thus separating from their friends and families. Lack of emotional support and the overwhelming need to experience new concepts pushes teenagers to begin experimenting with different substances such as cannabis, alcohol, and other illegal drugs. As indicated earlier, most of these drugs present a significant risk factor in the growth of psychotic disorder.
Reasons for Addiction and Substance Abuse.
Multiple reasons may lead to substance abuse and addiction among the adolescents. According to the National Drug Abuse, adolescents may seek to experiment on substances and/or continue taking them due to various reasons as discussed herein:
Fitting In. Many teens start abusing substances because other people in their age bracket are also doing. Consequently, they are lured into engaging in such activities. They feel that they too should participate to be accepted and be included in the social circle.
Feeling Good. Abuse of drugs and other substances may interact with the neurochemistry of a person’s brain and produce an unrealistic feeling of pleasure and peace. The concentration of this euphoria depends on the type of substance and how it is used. For example, the abuse of heroin slows down the brains ability to communicate with the body thus making the user feel drowsy, content, and relaxed.
Feeling Better. Many teenagers go through a difficult time because of school bullying and domestic violence. They can develop stress-related disorders, anxiety, and suffer from severe depression. Using drugs and other substances is their way of coping with the feeling.
Diagnosis and Treatment
Signs of Substance Addiction and Psychosis
Substance abuse may not lead to addiction, but it may increase the chances of suffering from withdrawals. The intensity of any withdrawal process depends on how long and how much a person has been abusing any substance. Physical addiction is often characterized by the development of withdrawal signs after an individual has stopped using the substance in question. The most common substance that triggers psychosis when dealing with withdrawals is alcohol. Intense alcohol addiction can immensely change the structure and the chemistry of the brain thus producing delirium tremens when a person stops consuming alcohol. Symptoms of delirium tremens include body tremors, agitation, irritability, confusion, change in mental operation, and the dec...