Violence amphetamines

Clinical case reports and survey data point to incidences of intense violence in certain individuals self-administering high doses of amphetamine via the... 

Siomopoulos, V. Violence The ugly face of amphetamine abuse. IMJ... 

Amphetamines have the potential to produce unprovoked, random, and often senseless violence, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). They are likely to demonstrate paranoia, antisocial behavior, become overly verbally and physically aggressive, and start fights over literally nothing. 

Amphetamine psychosis causes feelings of severe paranoia and auditory and visual hallucinations. The amphetamine addict who is psychotic typically experiences delusions of persecution, believing someone, or everyone, is out to get them. Because of these paranoid delusions, violence can frequently occur during amphetamine psychosis. Once the amphetamine abuser is free of the drug, psychosis fades quickly. However, symptoms such as mental confusion, memory problems, and delusional thoughts may last up to several months or longer. 

Amphetamine abusers and addicts become preoccupied with when and where they will be able to get their next dose. Relationships with family and friends frequently deteriorate as the drug takes center stage in the addict s life. Money problems may began to surface as the addict funds his growing habit. Substance abuse also contributes to crime, domestic violence, sexual assault, drop-out rates, unemployment, and homelessness. It is also a factor in the spread of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and unwanted pregnancy. 

Fourth, as an expert in criminal and civil cases, I have studied the lives of many individuals who—under the influence of psychoactive drugs such as SSRIs, nonselective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (NSRIs), and benzodiazepines—have committed acts of aggression that were wholly alien to their character and antithetical to their prior behavior. It is, of course, well known that the illegal use of stimulant drugs, such as meth-amphetamine and cocaine, can be associated with paranoid reactions and violence. 

So the paranoid psychosis produced by cocaine and amphetamine overdose is properh called stimulant psychosis. By the late 1960s, the word was out on the street— Speed kills What was referred to in this slogan was not just death by overdose. Amphetamine overdose deaths did occur, but they were relatively rare. Far more common was the development of a paranoid state that often led to acts of violence. In addition, after a long binge of amphetamine abuse, the user may crash (sleep for an extended period) and then awaken deeply depressed. The depression could last for days and is now recognized as a common withdrawal symptom after hca%7 use of either amphetamine or cocaine. The depression often leads the user back to drugs to try to get up again, and the cycle is repeated. Eventually the user s physical and mental health deteriorates badly unless he or she can break out of the cycle. 

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