What is Drug-Induced Schizophrenia?

Recreational drugs can alter your perception of reality. If you are deliberately abusing drugs like marijuana, hallucinogens, or another type of substance, you might be looking to experience these effects. Unfortunately, taking certain drugs can lead to lasting mental health problems.

For example, some drugs can trigger substance-induced psychosis. This is a short-term mental health crisis that causes you to experience symptoms like hallucinations, delusions, and a detachment from reality.[1] However, it is also possible to trigger long-term mental health conditions when abusing drugs.

If you have a predisposition to mental health conditions like schizophrenia, abusing certain drugs can cause your symptoms to begin.[2] This is known as drug-induced schizophrenia. You could experience long-term symptoms like delusions, disorganized speech, hallucinations, catatonic or erratic behavior, and more.

Substance-induced psychotic disorders like schizophrenia require professional and long-term treatment. You will need to receive ongoing therapy and take daily medications to manage your symptoms. Thankfully, dual-diagnosis rehab centers can help you overcome both substance use disorders and substance-induced schizophrenia at the same time.

In this article, you will learn:

• Can drugs cause you to develop schizophrenia?
• What are the symptoms of schizophrenia caused by substance abuse?
• What is the difference between drug-induced psychosis and schizophrenia?
• How is substance-induced schizophrenia treated?

Can Drugs Cause Schizophrenia?

Using drugs will not cause you to develop schizophrenia unless you are already susceptible to the condition. To explain, some people have genetic or biological factors that make them more likely to experience schizophrenia. Using certain drugs can trigger the condition to begin causing symptoms.

The drugs that are known to trigger schizophrenia and psychotic symptoms include:[3]

• Cannabis
• Hallucinogens
• Amphetamines
• Stimulants
• Sedatives
• Inhalants
• Hypnotics
• Anxiolytics

People with schizophrenia are also more likely to have a history of substance use disorders. For example, a study found that while 16% of the general population suffered from addiction, 47% of people with schizophrenia do.[4]

What are the Symptoms of Drug-Induced Schizophrenia?

Drug-induced schizophrenia is a mental illness that causes delusions and hallucinations. It occurs when someone with a pre-existing risk of developing schizophrenia abuses drugs, triggering symptoms to begin affecting them.

The symptoms of drug-induced schizophrenia include:[2]

• Delusions and paranoia
• Visual and auditory hallucinations
• Disorganized speech
• Catatonic or erratic behavior
• Trouble carrying out daily tasks
• Diminished ability to experience emotions or pleasure

To be diagnosed with substance-induced schizophrenia, you have to be experiencing at least two of these symptoms. Additionally, one of your symptoms has to be delusions, hallucinations, or disorganized speech.

What is the Difference Between Drug-Induced Psychosis and Drug-Induced Schizophrenia?

Drug-induced psychosis occurs when a substance causes someone to experience a psychotic episode. The symptoms are very similar to drug-induced schizophrenia, as you might deal with delusions, hallucinations, and a detachment from reality. However, drug-induced psychosis ends when the substance is no longer in your system.

On the other hand, substance-induced schizophrenia is a long-term mental health condition that will not go away, even if you stop using drugs. Your symptoms may improve upon achieving sobriety, however, you’ll need long-term treatment like therapy and medication.

That said, experiencing drug-induced psychosis is a risk factor for developing substance-induced schizophrenia. According to a study, 1 in 4 people who experience drug-induced psychosis go on to develop schizophrenia.[3] More research found that 17% of people who had drug-induced psychosis developed schizophrenia within 5 years.[5]

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How is it Treated?

Drug-induced schizophrenia is a lifelong condition that requires multiple treatment services to manage it. First, you need to recover from addiction to ensure substances are not continuing to worsen your symptoms. This involves medical detox, evidence-based behavioral therapy, and relapse prevention planning.

Because a portion of recovery from drug-induced schizophrenia is addiction treatment, you should attend a dual diagnosis rehab center. These treatment programs combine mental health treatment with addiction care, which means you could recover from substance abuse and schizophrenia at the same time.

During dual diagnosis rehab you will be provided with therapy and medication to help you manage your drug-induced schizophrenia. Antipsychotic medication will lessen symptoms like delusions, hallucinations, and disorganized speech. Therapy helps you learn how to cope with the symptoms that are not alleviated by medication through lifestyle changes.

Even though drug-induced schizophrenia is lifelong, you can learn how to manage it and live a full and happy life. Therapy and medication are highly effective in controlling symptoms, giving you back control over your mind, and allowing you to focus on school, work, and maintaining important relationships.

Find Help for Drug-Induced Schizophrenia and Addiction

If you or a loved one suffers from drug-induced schizophrenia and addiction, it’s important to seek professional care. Dual-diagnosis rehab programs can help you recover from both of your conditions at the same time through medical detox, therapy, group counseling, medication, and relapse prevention planning. At the Mandala Healing Center, we can help you overcome addiction and manage your schizophrenia effectively.

Why Choose The Mandala Healing Center? Clients are taken on a journey of healing through complete immersion into evidence-based clinical modalities, multifaceted alternative therapies, and expert medical management, allowing them to fully detox and recover from drug and alcohol addictions. Through a program of care designed to encourage change, a foundation is created that allows clients to find their higher purpose and reclaim their lives.

Contact us today for more information on how our treatment center for schizophrenia and addiction works.

References:

1. Frontiers: Substance-Induced Psychoses: An Updated Literature Review
2. Psychiatry Online: Substance-Induced Psychotic Disorders and Schizophrenia: Pathophysiological Insights and Clinical Implications
3. Oxford Academic: Transition of Substance-Induced, Brief, and Atypical Psychoses to Schizophrenia: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
4. Science Direct: The link between schizophrenia and substance use disorder: A unifying hypothesis
5. The National Library of Medicine (NLM): Risk of transition to schizophrenia following first admission with substance-induced psychotic disorder: a population-based longitudinal cohort study