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Hallucinogenic drugs as precipitants of schizophrenia1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

William R. Breakey
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Westchester Division of The New YorkHospital-Cornell Medical Center, White Plains, New York
Helen Goodell
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Westchester Division of The New YorkHospital-Cornell Medical Center, White Plains, New York
Patrick C. Lorenz
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Westchester Division of The New YorkHospital-Cornell Medical Center, White Plains, New York
Paul R. McHugh
Affiliation:
The Department of Psychiatry, Christian Medical College, Ludhiana, Punjab, India

Sysnopsis

The authors have examined the drug-taking histories of 46 schizophrenics and 46 matched controls. They have found that the schizophrenics on average used a wider variety of drugs, in greater amounts. Schizophrenics who had used drugs experienced the onset of symptoms on average four years earlier than non-users and were also admitted to hospital four years earlier, on average. Those schizophrenics who had used drugs had had better premorbid personalities than the non drug-users. These results are indicative of some precipitating role of drug abuse in the onset of schizophrenia.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1974

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