The poet syndrome: opiates, psychosis and creativity.

For some people, heroin is a self-medicating tool used to control innate psychic sensitivity. The habitual use of heroin provides the sensitive addict with a definition of consciousness by containment, psychic buffering, and psychic marking. This article is an examination of the political and social history of opiates, opiates as antipsychotics, "drug of choice" as a determinant of self-medication, and the connection between creativity, spirituality, psychosis and addiction. Using clinical observation, the article explores the poet syndrome hypothesis and offers direction for an alternative drug treatment paradigm.