Undiagnosed Drug-induced Psychosis Resulting In Ptsd

[Grace Hope]

Considering that LSD was used as a psychiatric drug treatment that even Sigmund Freud used, I think you may find information in the early psychiatric treatments, maybe somewhere around 1950s. I`m not totally sure of the dates. Different countries did research and treatments with it. I am sure of that.

I don`t think it`s a good idea to self diagnose with your problem i`m pretty sure it has got a name and there is someone out there who will know what it is. Perhaps it may be a good idea to get an apointment with a drugs support worker after all they deal with these issues every day.

Good luck
Clan Destany

 

[healingdove]

I would definitely see a therapist experienced with psychedelic and long-term usage, trauma, ptsd, all of those so they can put things together and diagnose if it is in fact PTSD. I just posted about suffering a real trauma (a physical injury) that occurred in the first 2 hours of an LSD trip I had last month-- since you have done LSD, imagine me on the trip thinking that part of my body missing was just "fake" and a "bad" trip...and then the trauma of realizing everything actually happened and I needed to go to the emergency room daaaays later. I am actually glad you posted something about LSD. While I have only taken it on 3 occasions, I think it would be hard for people who haven't taken it to relate to what you are talking about. Since I don't know you, I don't know whether there are other traumas/anxieties separate from the lsd trip in your life that have perhaps lead to your current issues. I suspect that two things are going on, you have some form of anxiety from something (or a group of things or experiences in your life) and then the physical effects of long-term lsd use (like tracers, feeling back in the trip etc.) All I can say is that I feel for you and think you should seek professional help and wish the best for you.

 

[anthony]

Drug induced psychosis (bad trips) is specifically mentioned against most diagnoses as discarded for diagnosis, as there are specific drug related mental diagnoses that adequately cover nearly all drug types, trips, psychosis, memory loss, etc. The diagnostic manuals are very specific, hence, with complete certainty, you cannot be diagnosed with PTSD due to a bad drug trip.

Suffering trauma, such as mentioned above by HealingDove, where a physical injury occurred, that is different. You would not be diagnosed with PTSD because you had a bad drug trip, you would be diagnosed IF you met the criteria based on the physical trauma suffered, ie. loss of a limb, hit by a car and nearly died, etc, during the hallucination / psychosis. The hallucination / psychosis is simply a parameter of the event, the event though was an actual abnormal traumatic event by definition then, being hit by car and nearly died, lost a limb, etc.

That is completely different. But with 99.99999999999999% certainty, you won't be diagnosed with PTSD due to a bad trip, as there are more accurate diagnoses available that cover drug usage and the effects of drug usage, none of which are PTSD.

The minor percentage is left open for errors (a complete moron) where diagnostic medicine is misdiagnosed.

 

[Barberian]

My 2 copper.

A doctor wouldn't perform open heart surgery on themselves.

It's a bad idea in my book (and many others) to self diagnose a mental illnes. The one person on the planet that can lie to you the most effectivly is yourself. You can convice yourself of just about anything if you want it to be true, or false. This is true of everyone on the planet.

I hope you the are able to find the support you need.

 

[Razz]

Dear Clockwork
I came upon your post by googling lsd induced ptsd and when I read it my first thought was holy s.. did I write this? I relate so well to your experience. Over 40 years ago I was taking LSD on a fairly regular basis...not as a party drug but to open up higher consciousness as many others were. I had many great experiences and felt that I was getting closer to my goal of Self realization. The last time I took it, the experience began with "epiphanies" and an experience that was like dissolving into the Divine. It felt personal as if there was a growing closeness with God. Suddenly the polarity of the whole energy switched to negative and I had an overwhelming experience of being God's enemy and I deserved nothing but punishment. I had lost any ground of being and It took weeks just to be able to leave the house and even then I felt everyone was looking at me as if they knew that I was the enemy of God. Like you, I tried every therapy and "ism" out there to try to change this identity that was lodged in me and I was stuck in this nightmare mind. This is 45 years later and this is still with me and it plays continuously in the back of my mind. Over the years I learned to cope and became high functioning but that inability to feel whole and the hypervigilance etc.. is still there. Only recently I began to see how congruent my symptoms were with those who suffer from PTSD. Reading your post helped because it does begin to enable me to see this as something that happened to me rather than something I am. Where do we go from here? Thanks for the courage to put your story out and for hanging in there. BTW, in response to another post from Anthony, I did lose my right leg about a year before doing acid.....do I qualify now?

 

[Abstract]

It might also be worthwhile looking at Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder (HPPD). Not saying that is what is happening for you but worth a read.

[DLMURL]http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/elements/2013/05/a-trip-that-lasts-forever.html[/DLMURL]

 

[anthony]

Please read the latest DSM V criterion, which nobody who claims PTSD via any substance can do so due to failing criterion H, let alone A: The disturbance is not attributable to the physiological effects of a substance (e.g., medication, alcohol) or another medical condition.

[DLMURL]https://www.myptsd.com/c/articles/posttraumatic-stress-disorder.7/[/DLMURL]

Anyone claiming PTSD due to any substance, is a fail.

 

[Deleted member 1860]

All I can say is THANK GOD that drug induced symptoms are excluded! I'd have another disorder on my record if they weren't! (As in, it's not just PTSD that makes the substance use/abuse exclusion).

 

[martin falxman]

I had the same experience in my early twenties. In an attempt to deal with depression I ate some LSD . . . instant bad trip. It was about a year before the trauma wore off. But things were still not good. There was no recognition of PTSD in those days. Later I tried an opiate and the same thing happened - another year of hell. Much later I spent 4.5 years dealing with intense suicidal feelings after trying meth.

I put the symptoms (continuous reliving of the trauma) down to a kind of punishment. It wasn't until about two years ago that I was able to make the connection`: I had had continuous PTSD.
It's only now, this day, that I found such a disorder was recognized.

Though the trauma experiences are diminished, they never really went away. I feel the underlying depression is the root cause. And the root cause of the depression: childhood experiences.

I`ve concluded that the mind is constructed in such a way as to relive extreme emotional upheavals, good or bad. Once they get fixed in place there`s not a lot that can be done. My experience is that only time will mitigate unreinforced trauma.

 

[Kintsugi]

@martin falxman
Welcome.

I encourage you to start your own thread in the introduction forum so that folks can better address you and your specific situation.

 

[martin falxman]

@martin falxman
Welcome.

I encourage you to start your own thread in the introduction forum so that folks can better address you and your specific situation.

Thanks, I appreciate you`re commenting. But I was more confirming that PTSD can be continuous (i.e. from the day of the trauma onwards); and that the trauma can indeed be emotional or psychological.

 

[anthony]

You can't have PTSD due to a drug trip. There are diagnoses for that, and they aren't PTSD, they fall under drug induced category.