Bath salts made me catatonic but the wrong diagnosis made my symptoms even worse READ MORE: A woman woke up after 20 years in a catatonic state By CASSIDY MORRISON SENIOR HEALTH REPORTER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM Published: 18:27 GMT, 15 November 2024 | Updated: 19:04 GMT, 15 November 2024 e-mail View comments A teenager who took bath salts in the Alps was left in a catatonic state for over a month - unable to move or speak. The 17-year-old had taken a small tablet while on vacation that police later confirmed was ‘bath salts,’ a synthetic stimulant that can cause euphoria and alertness, as well as aggression, violence, paranoia, and hallucinations.
She hallucinated and became confused on the drug. When it was leaving her system, symptoms devolved into severe anxiety and depression . A week later, she went to the hospital anxious, confused, and dissociated, having not slept in days.
She had poor balance, slurred speech, and difficulty speaking. Doctors believed the girl had suffered a psychotic break and began a regimen of antipsychotic medication, which blocks dopamine receptors in the brain. Bath salts flood the brain with dopamine, the neurotransmitter most closely associated with pleasure, reward, and motivation, as well as motor control.
But too much dopamine, though, can lead to hallucinations and paranoia, both symptoms of psychosis. But her condition worsened and eventually she stopped talking altogether, a condition called mutism. She did not respond to doctors' requests.
