Neuropsychiatric Adverse Effects of Amphetamine and Methamphetamine

Administration of amphetamine and methamphetamine can elicit psychiatric adverse effects at acute administration, binge use, withdrawal, and chronic use. Most troublesome of these are psychotic states and aggressive behavior, but a large variety of undesirable changes in cognition and affect can be induced. Adverse effects occur more frequently with higher dosages and long-term use. They can subside over time but some persist long-term. Multiple alterations in the gray and white matter of the brain assessed as changes in tissue volume or metabolism, or at molecular level, have been associated with amphetamine and methamphetamine use and the psychiatric adverse effects, but further studies are required to clarify their causal role, specificity, and relationship with preceding states and traits and comorbidities. The latter include other substance use disorders, mood and anxiety disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and antisocial personality disorder. Amphetamine- and methamphetamine-related psychosis is similar to schizophrenia in terms of symptomatology and pathogenesis, and these two disorders share predisposing genetic factors.