Drug ‘ice’ is linked to psychosis

Research at The Australian National University has established for the first time strong evidence of a causal link between the drug ‘ice’ and psychotic symptoms.

Dr Rebecca McKetin, of the Centre for Research on Ageing, Health and Wellbeing in the ANU College of Medicine, Biology and Environment, and colleagues tracked 278 methamphetamine – commonly known as ice – users over several years and found a clear dose-related increase in psychotic symptoms during periods of use, with around half experiencing psychotic symptoms when taking the drug daily.

“People describe being followed, spied on – they will take down the number plate of every car behind them, spend hours searching for bugging devices in their homes, and some won’t leave the house because they think that people are waiting for them outside,” said Dr McKetin.

“These experiences are often coupled with seeing or hearing things that aren’t there. It is disturbing for their friends and family and often very frightening for the person.”

There are an estimated 97,000 Australians who are addicted to stimulant drugs like ice, and psychosis is a significant public health concern surrounding the use of these drugs.

Dr McKetin said the study showed that the psychotic symptoms were not due to pre-existing conditions; the study excluded people who had a known psychotic disorder, such as schizophrenia. It also revealed a strong temporal relationship between using the drug and psychosis, with symptoms abating when people stopped using ice.

“The good news is that psychosis cleared for around nine in 10 people when they stopped using drugs. This points to a clear need for effective treatment to help people reduce their ice use,” said Dr McKetin.

“Currently we don’t have much in the way of effective treatment for methamphetamine use, or strategies for helping people who experience psychosis from using this drug – there is a clear gap in our knowledge.”

To rectify this situation, Dr McKetin, along with colleagues including Dr Robert Tait from the ANU Centre for Mental Health Research (CMHR), have developed an online self-help package for users of ice or other stimulants.

The program, called Breaking the Ice, was developed at CMHR in collaboration with the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre at the University of New South Wales.

“We are looking for users of illicit stimulants to take part in a randomised trial to determine if this is an effective way of helping people to address their health, financial and other problems relating to stimulants,” said Dr Tait.

The study is published in JAMA Psychiatry.

(Source: Australian National University: JAMA Psychiatry)