My Mate is "Losing It" ... what to do or say ?

[Chip (OP)]

two people's use of d-meth is WAY too high but one feels quite unwell.

what or how do you become the voice of reason ?

this is possibly one of the most important posts regarding the keeping your peers healthy and waelthy.

[Chip (OP)]

self admission to a psychiatric facility may yeild the best possible outcome.

standby.

[Narkotikon]

In an ideal situation, these two people would check themselves into rehab or a psychiatric facility.  They may not be amenable to that though.  I don't know about Australia, but here in the US we have a thing called a 72-hour hold. 

If a person is a threat / danger to themselves or others, a doctor can commit them for care for 72-hours.  If after 72-hours the person still needs help, and won't cooperate, the courts can get involved (usually at the behest of the person's family) and compel the person to remain in care.

Just know that if you go this route, you may be damaging your relationship with these two people, possibly forever.  This might be especially true if they don't want to go to treatment, if they're not in their right mental state, if they tend to hold resentment / grudges, etc.  But, they also might come to realize you were doing what's in their best interest.  It really could go either way. 

I can understand why you'd be concerned.  I in no way know as much as you about methamphetamine, but I do know it's horrible for one's body and mind, or can be.  At lot of psychiatric symptoms with heavy meth use: paranoia, depression, anger / rage, convoluted or irrational thoughts, etc. 

[Chip (OP)]

they DID voluntarily go in.

time to rest, guys.

have faith.

[Chip (OP)]

initial treatment is with Risperidone.

a strong med, long half life.

... a bit later, need to check chest infection so scans are up.

[andrew]

things should change for the better ... many if not all of us have been there -- and we survived.

never underestimate the role of good food, sleep, exercise and rest (and a stable domestic situation) has on those in our game.

[Chip (OP)]

returning to normal after meds., food and sleep but nose bleeds have been experienced (see http://forum.drugs-and-users.org/index.php/topic,809.0.html)

[andrew]

this didn't end that well.

i now understand what a "paranoid schizophrenic" does when they stop taking their meds.

the person concerned has damaged her house, her body etc. but she flip/flops from normal to "possessed" and back quickly, for want of a better word.

can we blame the drugs ? not directly, as they are only the catalyst ... so what's the root of the problem ? well, we concur that she never has processed all the VERY shitty things that have been thrust upon her and also the many lousy things experienced by herself.

a childhood of the MOST hideous proportions.

what would i recommend ? don't laugh, i have seen it work very well, but MDMA would def. be worth a try (to flush out all the shit that's festering inside) ... an empathetic person or "guide" is indicated.

yes, MDMA is one of the great psych. drugs, if used correctly.

... and i know for a fact that there are psychiatrists whom source MDMA from the street ... what a pity the world didn't wise up on it.

[Narkotikon]

MDMA is a good choice.  But like you said, a guide is imperative.  What happens if she's feeling / reliving one of those traumatic events?  She needs supervision for that.

Another choice is ayahuasca.  I can see some kind of vision quest helping her.  Possibly even mescaline too.

Psychedelics could be dangerous for a schizophrenic person.  There were some studies on LSD and schizophrenia in the 50's / 60's.  I don't remember the results though.

[Chip (OP)]

<snip>Psychedelics could be dangerous for a schizophrenic person.  There were some studies on LSD and schizophrenia in the 50's / 60's.  I don't remember the results though.

excellent point and great HR, too.

[Zoops]

There were some studies on LSD and schizophrenia in the 50's / 60's.  I don't remember the results though.

Results were that for the people who already had schizophrenia the disease was exacerbated at least semi-permanently.

MDMA would be worth a try in this individual. But then again maybe not, since she is so sensitized to methamphetamine, a dose of MDMA might trigger a full-blown relapse. Don't rat and mouse studies show some crossover with MDMA and methamp sensitization?

[Chip (OP)]

the methamphetamine would mitigate the effect as would her psych. meds (that she is NOT taking).

a higher dose might do the trick - the potential benefits are huge, tho'

[nick]

Sounds like your friend is one of the many users who's actually self medicating which tells you quite a bit about the quality of mental health treatment .

There are studies here putting the number of dual diagnosis service users at 50% and that stat will go much higher when street users are thrown in.

It's a difficult situation and a lot will depend on how much she realises she has a problem and her willingness to accept help. Much luck with it,man. 

[Cee]

In this situation whatever you do or say quite often isn't welcomed and doesn't go down well so be prepared. It could get ugly.
Basically, take a break, get some sleep and take it from there.

[Chip (OP)]

when I last visited, she was fine - taking her meds. the meds really work well here.

her brother, and I tell her that she's much better on them but she doesn't like their suppresion.

it's hopefully on the mend but broken windows etc. bear the scars.