14 DAY TRIAL // A case report recently published in the journal Psychiatry: Interpersonal and Biological Processes documents the case of a 19-year-old woman in Spain who experienced catatonic psychosis after smoking synthetic cannabis.
According to Dr. Gonzalo Haro with the University of Valencia, it was in April 2011 that the woman, whose identity has not yet been disclosed, started using synthetic cannabis, otherwise known as spice.
In just a few months, the 19-year-old started feeling detached from reality and even began to experience visual hallucinations. Specifically, she remembers seeing figures she liked to call angels.
Besides, the woman's body started acting out. Thus, her hands and feet lost their ability to move in coordination, and her neck, together with her arms and even her neck, became rigid, Live Science informs.
Oddly enough, the doctors in charge of seeing this case through maintain that, during her spice-smoking days, the 19-year-old woman walked around in a bent-over position.
The woman was hospitalized in May 2012 and took about a year to make a full recovery. During this time, she had no access to synthetic cannabis and was administered medication.
In an interview, Dr. Gonzalo Haro explains that this case should serve as a reminder of the dangers associated with smoking chemicals that mimic the effects of natural cannabis but are considerably stronger.