The symptoms happened so gradually they became the norm without us even realizing what was going on.
When I was having trouble comprehending what the FTF instructors were trying to tell me - I was insisting severe social anxiety was my son’s biggest issue (Jeb had told me social anxiety was his problem - it made sense) The instructor asked me which came first, the anxiety or the paranoia?
I didn’t even have to think, I immediate said the paranoia came first. Then the light bulb slowly came on in my head as I realized how long ago the paranoia had started.
People were looking at him, people didn’t like him…
I think it contributed a lot… I think its not a good thing to be alone with ones thoughts night after night… isolated and alone… My son doing overnite security meant he was sitting in a security car or his own… and some of his first delusions involved his bosses… seeing things that he swore was them… spying on him etc…
Yes, I can see that now, same in our family. Her brothers say now, that “she was always weird” so I guess even as children there was something off (she is 10 years older than the youngest boy and used to take care of them, but all are over 21 now).
@ant930 I am glad that your son is able to work now, and that he isn’t doing overnight security alone. I wish I had helped my daughter to switch careers before her psychotic break. Now she is incapable of working except on small short term jobs that don’t involve any live people. She was soooooo great after the last hospitalization and a long acting injectable, but refuses to take any medication on a continuing basis, and has learned to control herself so as not to be hospitalized again. You mentioned that your son came off of his injectable, is he unmedicated now? I hope his job works out long term for him (and you).
My son experimented quite a bit with Spice. They called it Potpourri and it is sold legally in Head Shops. It is the most highly neurotoxic drug out there besides Meth. Yes, you will smell a bad smell on them like machinery oil or something. I have picketed our local shops until they made it illegal in our state. It is still available on the streets and cheaper than MJ and the kids are told it’s just like MJ. It is not. It was developed in a lab by scientists trying to make mice schizophrenic to study the illness and the “recipe” was stolen and it got out on the streets. There are only a few Spice treatment centers in the country but I would do everything possible to get your son to one - quickly. It is also highly addictive while it eats away at the brain. It can be tested for but the usual drug tests don’t include it. And getting compliance is difficult. I used to take my son to the hospital and his tax screen would be negative. He would “hold it together” during the interview and they’d release him. It was very frustrating. I believe anyone with a child with Schizophrenia label needs to educate themselves on all drugs and it sounds like you’re doing that but even alcohol and MJ are not acceptable for that population to be using.
I did not know this. Very interesting. This post was from last year and it makes me realize how far my son has come. He has since been hospitalized and is on Invega, clear and working full time. Clean and clear. Still keeps to himself, however.
When he saw a psychiatrist a year prior to the hospitalization. the doctor told me my son had tried spice. I asked him what it was and he said another form of pot. He did NOT tell me that it could cause psychosis and that was possibly what happened to cause my sons psychosis. When I finally figured out what spice was and the side effects I was really pissed that the doctor didn’t know or tell me this. My son didn’t smoke it often that I know of but when I stared to smell that horrendous smell I investigated and told him to stop immediately and I he did. He will go off meds next Fall and I will be curious to see if he goes back into psychosis (hopefully not).
Doctors avoided explaining the link between drug use, even MJ and psychosis. But your doctor was negligent in not explaining how toxic to the brain Spice is. I had to find out on my own through expensive rehab places and lots of reading and many doctors about drug use. I’m not sure why they don’t explain this to parents. I never did drugs and was very drug naive which helped my son get away with it for some time.
So I advocate to every parent of a MI person to look for signs of drug use because it will cause and exacerbate the psychosis and confound the treatment protocol.
Finding out why my son turned to drugs was key in helping him get clean. It was the same reason I was unhappy in my marriage - an emotionally abusive husband. So I took my son and left the husband. If I hadn’t my son wouldn’t be alive today.
It’s hard to decipher which came first - the drug psychosis or the mental illness. He could have been self medicating. He could have been experimenting and it caused the psychosis.
But my son was seen by a San Francisco psychiatrist who specialized in Marijuana Psychosis. He told me that he had been treating young adults since the 60’s for it. And today, he said the growers are making the MJ 30 times more potent with THC which causes the psychosis. Yes, 30 times! So as states are legalizing Mj for recreational use I’m highly against it due to our personal experience.
Interestingly, I discovered several years ago that there are two major components of MJ - THC the psychoactive part that gets a person “high” and CBD, which modulates the THC and only causes
relaxation, no high. I’m sure everyone is hearing a lot about it now. But what I found out that if someone is experiencing a MJ Psychosis then giving them pure CBD would get them out of it. This worked with my son but then we moved where it wasn’t legal. And, anyhow, he thought he could always get high and I’d “save” him. So that wasn’t a good message. If anyone wants to know which one worked (most don’t) they can email me at dnavg7@gmail.com.
Does your son take CBD regularly or are you saying to give it to the person while they are in psychosis from pot with THC? My son won’t take it as he’s concerned it would come up positive on a drug test. I take it however for my hips and it really helps. I get it from Charlottes web. My sons doctor told us that the pot with THC can bring on the psychosis but they are finding the CBD fixes it.
Charlottes Web is the best CBD oil.
I gave my son juiced AC/DC CBD leaves to
get him out of MJ psychosis but CW oil should work for most. It didn’t work for my son as he can’t tolerate CBDs that have been heated. I’m next going to try some new strains of hemp that are pure CBD in raw form and make raw cookies out of it.
There are many studies in the web now that are proving that CBDs cure MJ psychosis and is also good long term for schizophrenia. Keep in mind that if your son continues using MJ each time he experiences psychosis will be harder to get out of it and eventually it will be permanent
psychosis (Schizophrenia). I’ve heard recently that CBD will not give you a positive drug test but I’m not sure about that. If you are taking it then it might help to get a drug test from the drug store and test yourself. They are quite reliable.
My experience with k2 and spice is that it can bring on psychotic symptoms even in persons who are not so. If he feels he needs it or it helps then asking a daqoctor if there is aything they can adjust with medication that may help the symptoms that smoking helps. My uncle had a similar situation and his psychiatrist was able to adjust his meds and give insight about the smoking and cbd thc…hope that helps somewhat
