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One of the key concerns for many people about using ice and other forms of methamphetamine is the potential to experience ‘psychosis.’ Psychosis is a distorted sense of reality or an altered way of thinking, speaking and behaving. It can include the experience of hallucinations (seeing or hearing things that aren’t there), being paranoid and suspicious (for example believing people intend to harm you or are talking about you, or ‘out to get you’) and having delusions or bizarre beliefs (for example, believing you are Elvis Presley or you have special powers). Experiments conducted in the 1970’s showed that all volunteers developed psychosis when given sufficient doses of a stimulant, thus psychosis is a result of methamphetamine toxicity. Toxicity is too much of a substance in your body, but as each person is individual, different amounts can be toxic for different people. For most people, drug-induced psychosis can last anywhere from two or three hours to a number of days. The rate of psychosis amongst methamphetamine users is 11 times that of the general population. Experiencing, or being with someone who is experiencing psychotic symptoms can be extremely distressing. Methamphetamine can cause psychotic symptoms in otherwise healthy people and can also worsen or bring on psychotic symptoms in people with pre-existing mental health problems. Factsheets |
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