The Down Side of Meth

One of the most serious down sides of using ice or crystal-meth is the increased risk of methamphetamine psychosis. It has been found that almost ¼ of regular meth users will suffer from a symptom of psychosis over a year a year. People regularly using and bingeing on crystal-meth are also more likely to experience psychotic symptoms.

If a person has used crystal they may have eyes like saucers with the pupils dilated, be speedy, talking and moving quickly and sweating a lot. Generally it will be fine and there will be no major dramas however it is good to understand a bit about one of the main side-effects of using ice. If someone has a psychosis, the sooner you or your friend can get treatment, the better the chances are of making a good recovery.

Symptoms

• Paranoia: believing people are against you, following you, try to steal your stuff, or the government has you on surveillance etc.
• Panic attacks – really bad attacks of anxiety, pounding heart, breathless, heavy thoughts and feelings of expecting something bad to happen.
• Strange Beliefs – believing you have special powers or are on a special mission.
• Hallucinations – Hearing and seeing things that aren’t there; talking to people that you can’t see, imagining there are people hiding in the backyard.
• Jumpy, edgy and agitated.
• Overreacting and really stressing out more than usual.
• Confused thinking and thoughts are all over the place.
• Talking really fast, can’t finish a sentence and jump from topic to topic
• Yelling at people for no reason
• Getting agro or violent because you believe people will hurt you, are scared by the symptoms and what is happening and lash out at those around you

You can experience just a couple of mild symptoms through to really bad and severe symptoms. If you or one of your friends have been using ice and begins to feel strange or experience any of these symptoms go to a doctor or see someone from the drug and alcohol or mental health team at your local community health centre.

How long will symptoms last?

Symptoms will often last for two to three hours. However for some people it will get worse and last for several days. For some people the first time they have a meth-amphetamine psychosis seems to trigger a longer term mental illness.

Look Out for Your Friends

The Sooner the Better

It might be hard and you may feel like leaving your friend with it so you don’t have to deal with the paranoia and other weird behaviour but your friend is really vulnerable right now and your support could make all the difference in them getting treatment before things get worse and they get sicker.

Be Upfront (but don’t given them a hard time)

If you notice that one of your friends is showing signs of any of these symptoms and you think (or know) they might have been using ice then the best thing is to ask them upfront about what is happening. Find out when they last slept as lack of sleep can aggravate psychosis and sometimes getting a person to rest will help deal with symptoms. This can be hard as they may be really scattered and unable to sleep properly.

Don’t Confront or Make Fun of them

It is really important not to argue with the person even if they are talking about things that aren’t real. This doesn’t mean that you go along with their strange beliefs. Psychosis is scary not funny and when people are really sick they might say some really out there things. Just talk about day to day stuff or things you need to do and gently encourage them to think about seeing a doctor or mental health worker.

Calm & Quiet

Speak slowly and quietly and avoid lots of direct eye contact. Reassure them that you will stick by them and go with them to see a doctor or health worker if they want to. You want to try to make the place as quiet as possible so turn off noisy things like radios and TV’s – but don’t make a big fuss about it. Don’t stand really close to them and if they are agitated, avoid any physical contact – even a pat on the arm can upset things.

If Things Get Worse

If they are getting really agitated and distressed then you may have call an ambulance on 000 or 112 from a mobile phone. If they get agro and violent or threaten to hurt themselves then don’t muck around call an ambulance and let them know that you believe the person is experiencing a methamphetamine psychosis. If there is real concern about people’s safety (either the person’s or others including the ambo’s) then the police will be called to help and the person is likely to be taken to a psychiatric hospital for treatment.

What Happens Next!