There are some chemicals (eg. arsenic, mercury, lead, cadmium) that naturally occur in the human body that would be toxic if ingested. But there are only trace amounts in our body.

However, I think they’re talking about the eight chemicals used to embalm a body. None of that stuff could be good for you.

@Nimis Yeah the stuff in embalming fluid isn’t good, but I’ve also read a couple times that if it is right out canibalism, eating the ctual meat, there is a chemical released by the body during death that contributes to psychosis. Not sure what tht would be.

Dimethyltryptamine.

Might explain a lot of people’s near death experiences. They were basically stoned out of their minds. Ha.

The “crazy bitch” lost the love of her life after only about two years together. I can’t imagine what that is like; to be widowed so young and so soon. She sounds like she has developed a disorder called pica. It is not something that is fully understood, but it is not entirely uncommon.

@lillycoyote Yeah, but still, you gotta be messed up pretty badly to have something like that to this extent.

Psychosis can occur due to any number of chemicals. Ketamine is a common example. Basically any neuroactive drug – meaning a molecule that does not occur naturally, can cross the blood brain barrier, and interacts with the nervous system – can potentially cause psychosis in the wrong dosage. That is a huge oversimplification, but to my knowledge there is no general rule as to what does and what doesn’t cause psychosis.

Psychosis in the form of schizophrenia is thought to involve dopaminergic systems, so any drug that affects dopamine release, receptors, or reuptake transporters could potentially cause psychosis. This is in part due to the fact that dopaminergic pathways project to the emotional and perceptual brain regions, such as the limbic system, and psychosis is primarily an emotional and perceptual abnormality.

Bacterial infections can also cause temporary psychosis through severe fevers though, so I really don’t think there is a solid rule to go by here.