Schizophrenia and Street Drugs. The use of street drugs has very important implications for people suffering from schizophrenia. Over half of all those with a diagnosis of schizophrenia in the UK have a diagnosed drug or alcohol abuse problem running alongside their mental illness and a recent US study found that around 26% of people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia use street drugs. 6 In
Sometimes people assume that those with schizophrenia use alcohol to self-medicate their symptoms from either schizophrenia itself or from the antipsychotic medications used to treat schizophrenia
Drug abuse does not cause schizophrenia. Drug abuse worsens schizophrenia. Drug abuse and alcoholism are common among people with schizophrenia
Drug-induced schizophrenia refers to a subtype of schizophrenia that is triggered by drug use. Schizophrenia itself is a chronic mental disorder
Drug-induced psychosis is not schizophrenia, so the term drug-induced schizophrenia is a misnomer. The symptoms of drug-induced psychosis are identical to those of schizophrenia. The difference
Both drug-induced psychosis and schizophrenia can cause similar symptoms. However, schizophrenia can have several different causes, whereas drug-induced psychosis only occurs from drug use.
Switching to aripiprazole from other antipsychotic drugs. Switching between antipsychotics in the treatment of schizophrenia and bipolar
According to the American Journal of Psychiatry, a psychotic episode s length distinguishes schizophrenia from drug-induced psychosis. It has been found that those who develop schizophrenia after drug-induced psychosis are already genetically susceptible to the disease. Drugs do not cause schizophrenia.
Although antipsychotic drugs are most commonly prescribed for schizophrenia, they appear to be effective in treating these symptoms whether they result from schizophrenia, mania, dementia, or use of a substance such as amphetamines.
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