A century ago, somewhere around 8–10 percent of all psychiatric admissions in the US were caused by bromism. That's because, then as now, people wanted sedatives to calm their anxieties, to blot out a cruel world, or simply to get a good night's sleep. Bromine-containing salts—things like potassium bromide—were once drugs of choice for this sort of thing.

Unfortunately, bromide can easily build up in the human body, where too much of it impairs nerve function. This causes a wide variety of problems, including grotesque skin rashes (warning: the link is exactly what it sounds like) and significant mental problems, which are all grouped under the name of "bromism."

Bromide sedatives vanished from the US market by 1989, after the Food and Drug Administration banned them, and "bromism" as a syndrome is today unfamiliar to many Americans. (Though you can still get it by drinking, as one poor guy did, two to four liters of cola daily [!], if that cola contains "brominated vegetable oil." Fortunately, the FDA removed brominated vegetable oil from US food products in 2024.) //

After the escape attempt, the man was given an involuntary psychiatric hold and an anti-psychosis drug. He was administered large amounts of fluids and electrolytes, as the best way to beat bromism is "aggressive saline diuresis"—that is, to load someone up with liquids and let them pee out all the bromide in their system.

This took time, as the man's bromide level was eventually measured at a whopping 1,700 mg/L, while the "reference range" for healthy people is 0.9 to 7.3 mg/L. //

ChatGPT did list bromide as an alternative, but only under the third option (cleaning or disinfecting), noting that bromide treatments are "often used in hot tubs."

Left to his own devices, then, without knowing quite what to ask or how to interpret the responses, the man in this case study "did his own research" and ended up in a pretty dark place. The story seems like a perfect cautionary tale for the modern age, where we are drowning in information—but where we often lack the economic resources, the information-vetting skills, the domain-specific knowledge, or the trust in others that would help us make the best use of it. //

darlox Ars Centurion
12y
291
There's clearly a bell-curve of "the right amount of information" for society to function well. Too little, you end up with quacks selling cure-alls and snake oil because nobody can effectively do any research. Too much, and you end up with quacks selling cure-alls and snake oil because everybody can effectively do terrible research.

Sooner or later this will work it way out of the gene pool.... one way or another. 🤦‍♂️ //

Steel_Sloth Smack-Fu Master, in training
3y
26
Subscriptor
You should cut down on your use of table salt? Ah, that old bromide... //

Frodo Douchebaggins Ars Legatus Legionis
12y
11,409
Subscriptor
Some people are on this planet solely to become cautionary tales. //

UweHalfHand Wise, Aged Ars Veteran
5y
153
Subscriptor++

ajm8127 said:
Don't you need some chlorine? For example to form HCl and break down food in your stomach. I am sure the body uses it for other processes as well.

Remember, a BALANCED diet is what you are after.
No! ChlorINE is very dangerous war gas; it’s chlorIDE you need, the latter is a benign ion of significant biological use. Granted, it’s only one tiny electron difference, but that makes all the difference… a very renowned biophysicist corrected me quite emphatically on this point once. If you attempt to let that electron be added inside or for that matter anywhere near your body, you will regret it.