Drug abuse could lead to acute mental disorder, says doctor
PETALING Drug abuse, especially club drugs, may not only induce short term mental problems but also trigger schizophrenia among those who are predisposed to it, said consultant psychiatrist Dr Rusdi Abd Rashid.
He said cannabis and methamphetamine could trigger schizophrenia in drug users who have risk factors such as family history.
The Universiti Malaya’s Centre for Addiction Science Research director warned that an early onset of schizophrenia due to drug use would require treatment for life.
For drug-induced psychosis, the users’ behaviour could suddenly become abnormal and they suffer from hallucination or delusion and behave aggressively, which mimic schizophrenia, said Dr Rusdi.
“If drugs are taken in the long term, some psychosis may be persistent and may turn into schizophrenia. It is not known yet if the condition will become permanent,” he said.
He said drug-induced psychosis might be acute and could lead to drug users harming or killing others.
Dr Rusdi said the University Malaya Medical Centre sees 30 to 60 cases of drug-induced psychosis every month.
Patients usually recover within three days to two weeks with treatment but if a drug user returns to the habit, he or she will have continued psychosis, he said.
He added that those wanting to kick their drug addiction may require life-long counselling.
Young patients are usually school dropouts who become dependent on their parents, he said.
He said most addicts start abusing drugs between the ages of 20 and 30 but some start as young as 12.
Dr Rusdi said there was effective treatment for opiates available but no medication yet for newer drugs.
He said most major hospitals had treatment for drug addiction and those with affected family members can seek help there.
Dr Rusdi added that the public can get help from police if a family member refuses treatment.
He said they can bring in the patients under involuntary admission when a patient is suicidal, aggressive or misbehaves in public.