A link between taking hallucinogenic drugs and psychosis has long been suspected. Given the recent increase in people taking these drugs, a research group in Canada wanted to know if there was an association between people going to hospital because of problems related to these drugs and subsequent mental ill health – specifically, schizophrenia spectrum disorder.
Schizophrenia spectrum disorder, or SSD, is defined as either schizophrenia itself or “schizoaffective disorder” – a condition with similar symptoms to schizophrenia (such as hallucinations and delusions), but including depression or mania.
This was a retrospective study where hospital records of people living in Ontario were examined from the years 2008 to 2021. Over 5,000 people were found to have visited the emergency department for a reason related to hallucinogen use.
