Need your experiences - drug related..

[JustDax]

Hi all,

A close friend recently had what appears to be a drug induced psychotic episode. He is a recreational drug user whose drug use has not impacted upon his ability to have relationships or hold down a good job to this point. He drinks, smokes dope and takes various pills from what I can tell, but not daily - probably just on the weekends mainly.

He took some acid, which he says has never affected him badly before. He went all incredible hulk, and his girlfriend had to call an ambulance - they kept him in hospital overnight. He can remember nothing of what happened - his girlfriend however is fairly traumatised by the whole event.

I guess I'd like to hear people's experiences with this. Is it likely to happen again if he stays away from the acid, or are we at the precipice of something worse like a full blown mental illness?

Any comments appreciated - thanks!

[naughtylion]

Hi all,

A close friend recently had what appears to be a drug induced psychotic episode. He is a recreational drug user whose drug use has not impacted upon his ability to have relationships or hold down a good job to this point. He drinks, smokes dope and takes various pills from what I can tell, but not daily - probably just on the weekends mainly.

He took some acid, which he says has never affected him badly before. He went all incredible hulk, and his girlfriend had to call an ambulance - they kept him in hospital overnight. He can remember nothing of what happened - his girlfriend however is fairly traumatised by the whole event.

I guess I'd like to hear people's experiences with this. Is it likely to happen again if he stays away from the acid, or are we at the precipice of something worse like a full blown mental illness?

Any comments appreciated - thanks!

Acid is a 'sometimes friend'.

I've seen a couple of people go off the deep end through regular heavy use... one of them now is unemployed and sits in the corner not saying much. You can squeeze conversation out of him but most of the time he's not a vegetable or anything, but just really really quiet and he can't work or function in a social setting.

And yeah tell the dude to maybe lay off. This person I know wants to hit it again. I wanted to hit him. Mental illness is the last frontier when it comes to drugs. They can hurt ur body, but when they hurt your mind you've lost. For your mate to come that close to almost losing his mind, if that isn't a wakeup call he deserves to loose it.

I don't know if it will happen again if he doesn't use acid, but either way I think it's time to put it away.

[rudeboy86]

Get him clean...seriously...

LSD is fun but some people just should not do it. Same with most things really. If he is hitting the crystal or heroin kick his fucking arse and get him to rehab.

[weathervain]

It's weird he went like that on acid, what else had he taken?
Or was there actually a catalyst stimuli to the aggression, if there wasn't I'd say maybe time for him to have himself evaluated or ask Mum and Dad about mental illness in the gene pool, what you're describing is more predominant as a reaction to speed or crystal meth, or even cocaine.

Either way this guy sounds like he should lay off substances until the root cause is defined, and he probably shouldn't ever have what he took that night again.

[bgf northernnick]

Was a Mardi Gras 78 er and a fixture and fitting at many of the bars on our now 'defunct" Oxford Street when I was a 'city lad'.........The late 70's and 80's saw man gay men using party drugs in an atmoshphere where there were people around who would pull you up if you were using too many and remind you that being 'drug fucked' was not a good look either.
Maybe a timely to remind some of our younger party heads that just one weekend using party drugs will stuff up your brain chemistry for up to eight weeks and can affect your moods etc......... Sleep derpevation alone can cause serious mental issues on it's own as is now apparent with the escalating incidents of violence associated with "Meth" use.
A few old party tips out of the archives.
Go up from a good place and you'll come back down in one.........Go up from a bad space and you'll come back down to hell!
If you feel other areas of your life ie relationships, work, socialising are being compromised by your party habits then consider just taking some time out for a couple of months to allow your brain chemistry to return to as near normal as possible before taking any drastic actions/or trying to diagnose conditions and always check in with your GP too............All substances will effect individuals differently and if you happen to be using Hiv medications you could be doing a lot more harm than you think too.......
Very importantly if you and m8's have been using substances give eachother a bit of slack and don't take anything too seriously till you are back on 'tera firma'.....argueing a point on a bad come down is for losers!.
Watch out for your m8's and party safely,
Some gr8 come down tips in previous post too!
Nick

[Christian Taylor]

awesome advice northernnick.

i'd go seek some professional advice on this one. i haven't had much to do with acid, have never taken it myself...

[weathervain]

Was a Mardi Gras 78 er and a fixture and fitting at many of the bars on our now 'defunct" Oxford Street when I was a 'city lad'.........The late 70's and 80's saw man gay men using party drugs in an atmoshphere where there were people around who would pull you up if you were using too many and remind you that being 'drug fucked' was not a good look either.
Maybe a timely to remind some of our younger party heads that just one weekend using party drugs will stuff up your brain chemistry for up to eight weeks and can affect your moods etc......... Sleep derpevation alone can cause serious mental issues on it's own as is now apparent with the escalating incidents of violence associated with "Meth" use.
A few old party tips out of the archives.
Go up from a good place and you'll come back down in one.........Go up from a bad space and you'll come back down to hell!
If you feel other areas of your life ie relationships, work, socialising are being compromised by your party habits then consider just taking some time out for a couple of months to allow your brain chemistry to return to as near normal as possible before taking any drastic actions/or trying to diagnose conditions and always check in with your GP too............All substances will effect individuals differently and if you happen to be using Hiv medications you could be doing a lot more harm than you think too.......
Very importantly if you and m8's have been using substances give eachother a bit of slack and don't take anything too seriously till you are back on 'tera firma'.....argueing a point on a bad come down is for losers!.

Watch out for your m8's and party safely,
Some gr8 come down tips in previous post too!
Nick
Yup
another good piece of advice is "Make it a Ritual not a Habitual"

[JustDax]

Thanks everyone for your input. My friend is making all the right sounds re modifying his behaviours, and we haven't had any other episodes - so I'm quietly confident. :)