Posted by med_empowered on January 24, 2007, at 20:10:04
In reply to Re: Link b/w psychotic disorders and substance abuse » halcyondaze, posted by Phillipa on January 24, 2007, at 17:43:01
I think we might be missing the point. The differences between "drugs" and "meds" are: 1)expen$ive meds are legal, cause dysphoria, and are legal; 2) drugs cause euphoria, aren't recognized as valid, and are illegal.
We now know that opiates, which some schizophrenics abuse, have anti-psychotic properties. They may cause addiction, but they don't cause dysphoria, tardive dyskinesia, or diabetes so..I'd tend to say that they're preferable, at least from a consumer's point-of-view. With stimulants, its worth noting that cocaine and Ritalin are similar, and Ritalin has been used in some schizophrenics for negative symptoms.
Also, I don't think we can discount psychosocial stressors and possibly med side effects as possible contributers to substance use--even apart from hallucinations and what not, I think these are important factors.
poster:med_empowered
thread:726030
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070119/msgs/726153.html