Newer substances and their effects: A case report
European Psychiatry March 1, 2016 Inmaculada Peñuelas‐calvo, J. Sevilla Llewellyn-Jones, Aditya Sareen et al. 1 citation
A 36-year-old immigrant woman from South America began using ayahuasca daily as part of rituals performed by a community in Europe. Over time, she became socially isolated and developed delusional and mystical religious ideas, persecutory delusions, and auditory hallucinations in which Archangels spoke to her about creating music. She was involuntarily admitted to a mental health unit and treated with risperidone, which gradually resolved the hallucinations. After discharge, she continued outpatient treatment with injectable risperidone. The case highlights the need for clinicians to understand culturally unfamiliar substances like ayahuasca, which is undetectable in standard urine or blood tests.