Open AccessHerbal High: Substance-Induced Psychosis after Consumption of Seeds of the Hawaiian Baby Woodrose
Author(s) -
Esther Sobanski,
Saskia Dalm,
Luisa Sievers,
Tim Külzer,
Heinz Liesenfeld,
Halgard Schmidt-Kittler,
Michael Huß
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
zeitschrift für kinder- und jugendpsychiatrie und psychotherapie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.215
H-Index - 24
eISSN - 1664-2880
pISSN - 1422-4917
DOI - 10.1024/1422-4917/a000792
Subject(s) - lysergic acid diethylamide , psychosis , psychiatry , medicine , adverse effect , substance use , pharmacology , receptor , serotonin
. Seeds of the Hawaiian Baby Woodrose (HBWR, Argyreia nervosa) are known as “legal or herbal highs” and can be easily purchased online in Germany. They contain various ergot alkaloids, including lysergic acid amide (LSA), which is chemically related to lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). Pharmacological data are limited but suggest that LSA-concentration in HBWR seeds is highly variable, and that adverse psychiatric and somatic effects are not related to LSA-dosage. Anecdotal, mostly cross-sectional clinical case reports describe spontaneous remission of intoxication-related somatic and psychiatric symptoms as well as intoxication-related death. Treatment recommendations for LSA-induced psychiatric syndromes are not available. We report here on the clinical course and treatment of a drug-induced psychosis after consumption of HBWR seeds. The adolescent had consumed HBWR seeds once before without suffering any negative effects.