i know drug use can mimic behaviors and make schizophrenia symptoms worse if they already have the ilness.
but my question is does drug abue CAUSE schizophrenia?
and if it DOES. then does the drug use have to be heavy use or occasional use of drugs?
also please list your sources.
Comments
Drugs (including alcohol, tobacco, and street drugs) themselves do not cause schizophrenia. However, certain drugs can make symptoms worse or trigger a psychotic episode if a person already has schizophrenia. Drugs can also create schizophrenia-like symptoms in otherwise healthy individuals.
sources www.mentalbook.com
Not likely without a serious pre-existing condition ... or some sort of pre-disposition like an inherited condition. The stories about how you're clinically insane if you do blank (acid) 5 times or whatever are complete urban myth. Heroin is a opiate pain-killer ... not much different from the morphine they give in the hospital except with unregulated dosage/delivery. Much more likely than a drug causing mental illness, is that an underlying mental illness made escape through drug use seem appealing at a young age. That said, repeated high doses of drugs can sometimes lead to mental illnesses ... for example amphetamine psychosis in heavy meth users.
The answer, as far as research has shown thus far, is no, it can not.. though drug abuse certainly has a long list of dangers all it's own.
However, drug use is often comorbid in people with all types of mental disorders, including schizophrenia.
I gave you an easy source, but my more accurate source would be courses I've had on abnormal psych and on the neuropsychology of mental illnesses.
The fact is, though, that no one has every answer yet and anything you put in your body that seriously alters your brain on a frequent basis is bound to have some side effects.
It is a possible cause of schizophrenia. Drugs tend to act on the neurotransmitter dopamine, and people with schizophrenia have too much dopamine. So schizophrenia could be an effect of drug use.
I think it may bring out mental illness that was not previously suspected but was always there. The illness might actually become transparent and worsen as drug use continues.
I'm not sure about causing it. My ex certainly acted like a schizophrenic when he was high on cocaine, but only after he had been using for a while and was an addict.
nope that's a myth... some drugs do give off similar symptoms but it is not the mental disorder ;-) i took many psych courses it's just a myth
i wouldn't be surprised, but if it does not cause schizophrenia then it probably causes some sort of dimentia in the long run cause i know that drinking a lot of alcohol causes dimentia.
Drugs can "wake up" that gene in a person who'd maybe never get sick if not trying drugs.
everything & anything can cause schizophrenia meds, drugs, anything.
No.