title: What kills everyone, gives a high for some-Recreational Snake Envenomation.
abstract: There are multiple reports of recreational snake envenomation describing psychotropic effects in absence of any adverse effects. This is in contradiction with known effects of snake venom. We report a case of a young male who subjected himself to repeated envenomation by a snake purported to be 'Indian Cobra' and experienced a 'high'. However, a direct identification of snake revealed it was a benign 'Rat snake'. We attempt to explain the reported psychological effects as a result of high expectation of rewarding experience, strong suggestion, personality traits and most importantly the dangerous nature of willfully receiving snakebites.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Addiction Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health Neurosciences, Bangalore, 560029, India. Electronic address: drlekhansh@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Lekhansh
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Shukla
authors.affiliation: Centre for Addiction Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health Neurosciences, Bangalore, 560029, India. Electronic address: shivakmc55@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Shiva Shanker
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Reddy
authors.affiliation: Centre for Addiction Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health Neurosciences, Bangalore, 560029, India. Electronic address: arunnimhans05@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Arun
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kandasamy
authors.affiliation: Centre for Addiction Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health Neurosciences, Bangalore, 560029, India. Electronic address: vbenegal@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Vivek
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Benegal
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000523:psychology*; D020330:Bell Palsy / Q000523:psychology*; D017812:Colubridae; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008297:Male; D012909:Snake Bites / Q000523:psychology*; D012910:Snake Venoms; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D012910:Snake Venoms
keywords: ADHD; Neurotoxic venom; Recreational envenomation