Roger-Luc Chayer (Photo : Pixabay)

Psychological Distress and Early Warning Signs

“I’m scared, I’m going crazy, they’re chasing me everywhere, I need to see a priest urgently, I must be exorcised, I can’t take it anymore, this is very serious, I’m going to kill myself…”

About thirty messages that day. Dominik was in distress, and it was clear. I asked him if he had taken any new medication or consumed drugs that could explain his state. He told me he had taken meth a week earlier and that since then, the devil wanted to kill him.

I know Dominik by sight: I crossed paths with him a few times in the Village, and I exchanged messages with him a few years ago on Instagram because we share a common passion, ancient Egypt. Since I’ve known him, to my knowledge, he has never consumed alcohol or drugs. He has always been “clean” and never displayed strange behavior, until last year when, during our exchanges, he showed unusual attitudes: he seemed dissociated from the present moment and laughed for no reason, eyes closed.

I asked him if he was okay. He replied that he had drunk a little whisky; nothing scandalous so far.

Behavioral Changes and Suspected Drug Use

It was around November 2025 that I noticed he increasingly adopted behaviors that can be associated with drug use. I talked to him about it, and he explained that someone in a well-known shop in Montreal’s Gay Village had given him a drug to try, without specifying which one. He was no longer himself.

Previously shy, reserved, and always very gentle, he became careless, detached from reality, and showed strange behaviors like sleeping standing up or not remembering the conversation in the middle of it.

Profile and Intensification of Distress

Dominik is about 28 or 29 years old but looks like a teenager. Of small stature, he has always been very consistent, never showing significant changes in his character. When I talked to him about these changes, he said he was working too much and sleeping very poorly, which explained his exhaustion.

Until yesterday, February 3, 2026, when I received a flood of messages on my phone in which he was clearly in psychological distress.

“I’m going to kill myself.” This was the most striking message I received from him, around 1:30 p.m., while he told me he had taken refuge at the Grande Bibliothèque in Montreal. I asked if he could go to a hospital emergency room, explaining that they could clearly help him manage his anxiety. He refused, stating that what he was experiencing was real and that doctors could do nothing for him.

He then confided that he had been offered meth in that famous Gay Village shop seven days earlier and that since then, the devil wanted to kill him and was chasing him everywhere.

What Is Meth?

According to my research on toxicology websites, meth, short for methamphetamine, is an extremely powerful synthetic drug that acts directly on the central nervous system. It is a very strong stimulant, much more intense than cocaine or classic amphetamine. It causes a massive release of dopamine, which results in feelings of euphoria, omnipotence, excessive energy, and a temporary disappearance of fatigue, hunger, and sometimes the need to sleep.

The problem is that these effects are often accompanied by serious psychological consequences. Meth can quickly cause intense anxiety, paranoia, persecution ideas, hallucinations, religious or mystical delusions, and a loss of contact with reality. In some people, sometimes even after a single dose, it can trigger an acute psychosis resembling schizophrenia, with a strong conviction that what is experienced is real and indisputable. In this state, the person is not “playing a role” or fabricating: they are genuinely living an inner terror.

Physically, methamphetamine is just as destructive. It exhausts the body, severely disrupts sleep, accelerates heart rate, raises blood pressure, and can cause cardiovascular accidents. It also creates a very rapid dependency, both psychological and neurological, which explains why some people relapse even after a very negative experience.

What makes meth particularly dangerous is this mix of initial euphoria and sudden shift toward paranoia, confusion, and suicidal thoughts. In a context of psychological distress, it can act as a true trigger, even in someone who never had prior disorders.

How Meth Works

Methamphetamine acts on very specific areas of the brain linked to belief, fear, and identity. This neurochemical cocktail explains both the religious delusions and the feeling that the person is “no longer themselves.”

Neurologically, meth causes a massive and prolonged release of dopamine. Dopamine is not only the “pleasure hormone” but also plays a key role in how the brain assigns meaning. When excessive, the brain begins to give enormous importance to trivial thoughts, internal sensations, or coincidences. Everything becomes “loaded with meaning.” This is how persecution ideas, mystical convictions, or the certainty that an invisible force is acting arise.

Religious delusions are frequent because the drug strongly stimulates the amygdala, the fear center, while disinhibiting the frontal cortex, which normally questions our thoughts. The person feels intense anxiety but no longer has rational filters to relativize it. The brain then seeks a coherent explanation for this inner terror. For someone with religious or symbolic cultural references, the explanation becomes the devil, evil, God, a sacred mission, punishment, or possession. This is not a conscious choice: it is the brain’s attempt to make sense of chemical chaos.

The sensation of a “personality change” comes from the fact that meth temporarily—sometimes permanently—alters circuits linked to empathy, inhibition, and memory. A previously gentle, reserved, or shy person can become disinhibited, emotionally detached, incoherent, or absent. Memory gaps, dissociation, inappropriate laughter, or feeling “elsewhere” are typical. The extreme sleep deprivation often caused by meth worsens this state to the point of toxic psychosis.

What is particularly cruel is that for the person experiencing this, everything is absolutely real. Telling them “it’s not true” doesn’t work because their brain is literally unable at that moment to differentiate internal perception from external reality. This is also why medical help is often refused: it is perceived as useless or even threatening.

In many cases, when use stops and the person is quickly taken care of, symptoms can regress. But without help, they can intensify and lead to suicidal thoughts, not from a desire to die, but to escape unbearable fear.

Acute Psychosis and Triggering Factors

Some people can switch very quickly, sometimes after just one dose, while others seem to consume longer before showing severe symptoms. This difference is not due to “moral weakness” but a combination of biological and contextual factors. The brain is not a standardized machine. Genetics play a key role: some people have increased dopamine sensitivity or latent vulnerability to psychotic disorders that never manifest… until a powerful chemical trigger like meth disrupts everything. Chronic stress, exhaustion, isolation, past trauma, or sleep deprivation can also sharply lower the brain’s tolerance threshold.

The first dose can be particularly dangerous because it is unpredictable. The brain receives a massive discharge it has never experienced before, without an adaptation mechanism. In some people, this causes an extreme reaction, like a short circuit. Drug-induced psychosis is therefore not necessarily linked to repeated use: it can occur immediately, especially if the substance is very concentrated or mixed with other products without the person’s knowledge.

Signs and Recognition of Drug-Induced Psychosis

Recognizing drug-induced psychosis relies less on a single symptom than on a set of worrying signs. The person seems convinced of ideas that cannot be nuanced, even in the face of contrary evidence. They may believe they are being chased, threatened, watched, or targeted by a specific entity. Delusions often take a religious, mystical, or paranoid form because these frameworks give meaning to intense fear. Speech can become disjointed, circular, or repetitive. Immediate memory is impaired, with gaps in conversation or a sense of absence. Behavior may seem strange or inappropriate, such as laughing without reason, staring into space, stopping mid-sentence, or briefly falling asleep standing up.

A crucial point is absolute certainty. Unlike severe anxiety where the person might doubt or seek reassurance, here they “know.” What they live through is perceived as indisputably real. This certainty makes dialogue difficult and explains why medical help is often refused. In this state, suicidal ideas are not motivated by classic depression but by an attempt to escape permanent and unbearable terror.

What is encouraging, however, is that in many cases, when the drug is eliminated from the body, sleep restored, and rapid medical care provided, symptoms may lessen or disappear. Time plays an essential role, but only when accompanied by protection, calm, and care. Without this, confusion can worsen and leave lasting scars.

How to Help a Person in Psychotic Crisis

According to my research with ChatGPT, when someone experiences drug-induced psychosis, you should never confront their beliefs head-on. Telling them “it’s not true,” “it’s in your head,” or “you’re delusional” can worsen panic and reinforce the idea they are alone against the world. Instead, validate the emotion without validating the delusion. For example: acknowledge that they are scared, that what they feel is intense and real to them, while remaining neutral on the cause. The goal is not to convince them but to calm them.

You should also maintain constant contact, even if brief. Simple, reassuring, repetitive messages anchored in the present help a lot: remind them of the time, place, and that they are not alone at that moment. Avoid debates, complex explanations, or spiritual discussions. The brain in this state cannot process elaborate reasoning.

When a person clearly expresses suicidal intent, such as “I’m going to kill myself,” it’s no longer prevention but an emergency. At this stage, it is legitimate and necessary to contact emergency services, even if the person refuses help or asks you not to. This is not a betrayal. It is a protective measure. Psychosis impairs judgment: consent is no longer fully informed.

In Canada, immediate resources exist. If someone is in imminent danger, calling 911 is the right thing to do. For a suicidal crisis, the 988 (Canadian Suicide Prevention Line) is available 24/7 by phone or text nationwide. They can also guide a loved one on what to do, not just the person in crisis.

If you know where the person is physically— a library, a public place — this information can be crucial for emergency responders. Even an approximate location can help. The sooner a person is medically treated, the higher the chances of recovery, especially when the cause is toxic and recent.

I want to be very clear on one point: you are not responsible for what happens to them, but you can be a link of protection. Facing psychosis and suicidal thoughts, friendship or discussion alone do not save; intervention does. And intervening sometimes means doing something the person refuses at the moment but that can save their life.

Today, Dominik is not responding to my texts. I hope he’s okay…

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