What do you think of this theory? Have you ever gone off medications because being psychotic is less boring, or more fun / interesting, more “thrilling”?
Rather rule than exception, non-adherence is to be expected in psychosis, it can be considered as a symptom of psychosis similarly as substance craving and use are symptoms of the substance use disorders. … In order to escape an extremely unpleasant and distressing experience of boredom and to experience the thrill of psychosis, the patients are prone to quit antipsychotic therapy.
Have You Ever Gone off Medications because of Boredom, or because you wanted the thrill of psychosis?
I believed I had developed superpowers, which wasn’t far from the truth as far as being in incredible shape and being an overachiever. I looked forward to getting up every day and kept busy. They were good times. But after twice getting off meds and having to start over after a hospital stay, I don’t think I will try going off-meds unless backed up by my physician…
Hmm, it’s not boredom so much as a well-considered risk-reward analysis of the long term effects of staying on meds. I’ve tried to get off meds several times using different reduction strategies, but I keep bouncing up against a prolonged period of insomnia. We will see if the current super slow method has better results.
I got through the last patch with 5 mg per night of Lorazepam, but even that didn’t work on the failed attempts. Tried Zopiclone and a few others too. I doubt whether Melatonin would cut it. But thanks for the suggestion, I may try it if I have another sustained attack and am out of lorazepam.
I’ve never stopped medication because of boredom i don’t think but i did stop because i did not enjoy the feeling of being doped up to my eyeballs with drugs.
Insomnia sucks, I never go fully insomniac. I’ll get a few hours of sleep then be awake for 24+ hours, then a few more hours sleep. After a few days of that I’m fully psychotic again. Last time I heard a fully written song that was just taunting me. When I looked it up again it didn’t even have words to it. While psychotic though the experience confirmed everything.
Yeah I think it’s what they target but I don’t know.
Will report on that in a couple weeks.
I go by first gen/second gen. Cost and safety. Prolixin sounds pretty good and clean. Similar cost to respiridone. Will be trying a higher dose than what I’m on.
Brankovic is far from the first to suggest stimulus seeking – and even an addiction mechanism – in medicinal non-compliance. Anne Wilson Schaef was making noises about this 30 years ago, though more in her lectures than in any published work I know of (yet). Edward Khantsian’s famed paper on the self-medication hypothesis of addiction in 1997 is taken as gospel nowadays by most in the world of addiction medicine, and it very clearly points to the same mechanisms Brankovic discusses. Finally, the following widely acclaimed paper barks up pretty much the same trees: Shaffer, H.; LaPlante, D., La Brie, R.; et al: Toward a Syndrome Model of Addiction: Multiple Expressions, Common Etiology; in Harvard Review of Psychiatry, Vol. 12, 2004.
One will also find somewhat more “distant” grist for the dopamine channel reward theory – and at least temporary psychosis as being “rewarding” – in Donovan, D.; Marlatt, A.: Assessment of Addictive Behaviors, 2nd Ed., New York: The Guilford Press, 2005, Gorski, T.: Gorski-CENAPS Clinical Model of Substance Abuse Treatment, Spring Hill, FL: Gorski-CENAPS, 2001, and Marlatt, A.; Donovan, D.: Relapse Prevention: Maintenance Strategies in the Treatment of Addictive Behaviors, 2nd Ed., New York: The Guilford Press, 2005; all of which are standard texts in addiction treatment.
My point in citing all this material is to lend credence to Brankovic’s theorizing.
Still I’ll be watching for side effects. That takes time as well. Watching out for irritability specifically, but a lesson of sz you’ll probably find what you’re looking for.