Re: Has anyone had or heard of cleansers experiencing breaks with reality?

I wouldn't say its not possible but after having done over a dozen 40 day cleanses I would have to say that the cleanse itself would not be "the cause" and even less likely of a "minimal" 8 or 10 dayer. There would have to be some extenuating circumstances like previous heavy substance abuse, addictions and or mental illness history and it would be more of a coincidence that they just happened to be doing the MC.

Many if not most mental illneses are caused by chemical imbalances in the system. When you fast you are essentially changing your chemistry but in my experience any noticeable mental effects don't start till the after the second week but really more recognizable after the 3rd as that is about the point for me where the internal dialog quiets down.

Over the years we've had folks that have mental issues post here and you can tell their desperate state of mind as they see the MC as the cure all that will fix their mental problems and issues like emotional, addictions, coodependency, chronic obesity etc. They don't see that bigger picture. You can tell from their post that something has triggered some of their psychosis. Some will start getting paranoid others go on tirades when something doesn't quite jive with their idea of how things should be. You can also tell the hi and lows of their manic depresive cycles in their posts which they would be having regardless of the fast but the chemical changes of the fast makes them more acute or at least more recognizable by others. There are always going to be the extreme cases like what you describe but they are just that "extreme" and I also  say extremely rare and I'll reiterate  about their being extenuating circumstances and previous histories.