Treatment of refractory substance-induced psychosis in adolescent males with a genetic predisposition to mental illness
-
Mariam Rahmani
,
Sean Paul
Abstract
This article presents two cases of adolescent males who were admitted to our inpatient psychiatric unit with a psychotic, disorganized presentation. Both males had a genetic vulnerability to mental illness and reported significant substance use. Their symptoms were refractory to treatment and required the use of clozapine. Both patients experienced significant side effects, which limited the maximum daily dose of clozapine. However, they responded to a dose that was much lower than that typically used in adults. There is significant evidence in the literature about cannabis use triggering psychotic breaks in vulnerable individuals. We speculate that substance use (including synthetic cannabinoids) triggers treatment-resistant psychosis that requires the use of clozapine. Further, lower doses of clozapine may be sufficient to treat the substance-induced psychotic symptoms than those typically used in adult schizophrenia.
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©2014 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- To precribe or not to prescribe antibiotics
- Review
- A systematic review of transition readiness and transfer satisfaction measures for adolescents with chronic illness
- Original articles
- Prevalence of health risk behaviors and their associated factors among university students in Kyrgyzstan
- Heavy Internet use and its associations with health risk and health-promoting behaviours among Thai university students
- Dyslipidemia and hyperinsulinemia in children and adolescents with chronic liver disease: relation to disease severity
- A cross-national study to compare the knowledge, attitudes, perceptions of sexually transmitted diseases and the sexual risk behaviors of Latino adolescents
- University students and the risk of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections in Uganda: The Crane Survey
- Concurrent and simultaneous polydrug use among young Swiss males: use patterns and associations of number of substances used with health issues
- Sexual behavior of in-school adolescents in Osun State, Southwest Nigeria: a comparative study
- Health profile of urban adolescent girls from India
- Age of first reported sexual experience among U.S. soldiers
- Prehypertension and associated factors among university students in the Philippines
- School-based intervention to promote healthy nutrition in Sousse, Tunisia
- Awareness, acceptability, and use of female condoms among university students in Nigeria: implications for STI/HIV prevention
- Clustering of risk factors in the smoking habits of schoolchildren in Sousse, Tunisia
- Self-esteem in adolescents with chronic physical illness vs. controls in Northern Russia
- Gender differences in the mental health literacy of young people
- Case reports
- An adolescent with chronic giardiasis mimicking anorexia nervosa
- Treatment of refractory substance-induced psychosis in adolescent males with a genetic predisposition to mental illness
- Book Review
- A clinical handbook in adolescent medicine. A guide for health professionals who work with adolescents and young adults
