Effects - can opium make you go insane?

[Dr. Mario]

I've seen a few a few documentaries and movies were one of the main characters is an opium addict and in the end goes off the deep end completely. Can Opium really make you go insane with heavy use. SWIM worries about this because is a heavy user of poppy-pod tea. I dunno i think i allready know the answear, jus throwing it out there.

[Paroxysm]

I've heard of no such thing. Unless by "insane", they mean addicted?

[Orchid_Suspiria]

No not really but swim thinks dealing with opiate withdrawals have got him halfway there.Atleast for the time they were going on anyways.But then again what is normal and what is sane?Well thats probably a topic for another post.

[lexifer]

This reminds SWIM of Reefer Madness. SWIM's sure alot of swimmers here have seen it.

Anyways in the movie, at a certain point, one character loses it and kills someone with a baseball bat after having smoked some joints.

Haha completely ridiculous stuff. Swim supposes if one is already prone to mental illness then psychoactive substances could exacerbate the problem but hallucinogens are usually the culprit in these cases.

SWIM has never heard of anyone "going insane" from Opium or any other opiate. The documentaries were probably government-released propaganda in the same way as Reefer Madness was released to discourage people from smoking weed. (Which as we all know, didn't work, haha.)

[fnord]

People who use heavily on a daily basis can suffer from delusions from withdrawls but straight up insanity fomr opium use seems like a silly idea.

Addiction can cause some very silly behaivor when adicts are trying to get there high.

How often/what dose does your friend use?

[lexifer]

Good point SWIFnord, SWIM completely forgot about the possible withdrawl hallucinations and such.

[patourkid]

SWIM knows a certain person who is VERY close to SWIM who WENT OFF THE DEEP END due to several years of HUGE doses of Morphine, this person is very sane and has NEVER shown any signs of mental instability ,she was doing about a thousand mgs a day of MSContins for several years (doctor shopping) she became VERY delusional and eventually completely broke down and was checked into the hospital for detox. Swim must also add that she was doing HUGE doses of Benzos also. I'm not at all saying it was due to the Opiates just relating the story as it were. She has been clean for about a year and a half now and is COMPLETELY back to her normal self. She got VERY delusional during the WDs and had to be partially restrained. I also want to note that we are talking about HUGE amounts of heavy drugs 1000 mgs. of morphine 100 mgs of Hydro and up to 10 mgs of Xanax a day for very prolonged periods (years). On top of that Patches as often as she could get them. This is the only case I have ever seen of it's kind except for the FREAK out that WDs can bring on, this case certainly wasn't from wds it was from use.

[Panthers007]

Someone who gets so strung-out that they are doing a gram of morphine a day is not going to be very well. Or 2 quarts of whiskey. Or...anything.

But yes, this is another example of "Reefer Madness" propaganda showing up. There was a string of movies about crazy junkies that came out right after major wars. Why? Because lots of people return from major wars with monkey's in their luggage. So we vilify those who return un-well so as not to detract from the image of the brave, all-American hero waving the flag. Waving the starting flag, that is, to the next generation to get up and go join the military.

So those who show they were injured - psychologically - by war are cast aside and made out to be the bad guys. To say they are insane is about the worst thing you could do after World War II or Korea. Insanity being diagnosed would mean commitment to a state institution (unless you were rich) and subjected to the latest "cures." Lobotomies, electro-shock, ice-water immersion, etc. And, of course, beatings and rape at the hands of staff and inmates alike.

And we see the same thing happening today in the USA, only on a more insidious scale: Bush de-funds the Veteran's Administration and closes hospitals. And allows the flagship hospital - Walter Reed in Washington, D.C. - to turn into a snake-pit.

[cra$h]

if anything, when swim starts to think (swim is very philosophical, and always gets thoughts that end up alter swim's perspective on life) those thoughts, opium tends to bring him back to the rest of the world. it just relaxes the brain to a meditiative state. no thought, no need for thought. so if meditation can make you go insane, swim could see how opium could

[Dr. Mario]

1000 Mg a day?!?!?!
Well ive got nothing to worry about. But jeez how does someone live like that and support themselves. Thats fucked up. I guess my crazyness just came from the poppies i had; i think. Are there any reports on poppies having really really really mild closed-eye visuals. Thats what i was having; barely even visuals... Mabey just need to lay off the prescrition Dexadrine and get some sleep.