Substance-Induced Disorder

Substance-Induced Psychotic Disorder

A large number of toxic or psychoactive substances can cause psychotic reactions. Such substance-induced psychosis can occur in multiple ways. First, people may inadvertently ingest toxic substances by accident, either because they don't know any better (as is the case when a child eats lead paint chips, or mercury in tuna fish), or by mistake (such as when someone eats a poison mushroom they thought was safe, or gets food poisoning from mishandled food). Alternatively, people may take too much of a legitimately prescribed medicine, medicines may interact in unforeseen ways, or doctors may miscalculate the effects of medicines they prescribe. Finally, people may overdose on recreational drugs they commonly use (such as cocaine), or become dependent on drugs or alcohol and experience psychotic symptoms while in withdrawal from those substances. While the substance induced psychosis is triggered and then sustained by intoxication or withdrawal,...