Perhaps "excited delirium" is what you are thinking of? Rory Miller (who works as a prison officer) describes it in his book Facing Violence.seamusTX wrote:...
This sounds like a really bad combination of drugs. There are certain drug reactions that make people remove their clothes—sometimes tear them off. Supposedly they feel hot or feel like insects are crawling under their skin.
- Jim
I have seen reports that some dispute that "excited delirium" actually exists, that it is just a police excuse for excessive force.Excited delirium is something that cops, Emergency Room doctors and coroners are entirely too familiar with. It usually presents as an enraged, frothing, naked man howling and growling and breaking glass, sometimes attacking anything he can reach. The nakedness is the man’s reaction to a skyrocketing body temperature (liver temperature of 108F was recorded at one autopsy). I don’t know why they break glass. They can be enormously strong and fast. My team dealt with one who pulled six concrete screws out of the wall with his fingers in order to break a stainless steel mirror to use as a weapon. I don’t know what causes it. Most are on stimulants, cocaine or meth or PCP, but not all. Most have a history of stimulant abuse but not all. Some have a history of mental illness, but not all. Most are fine when they finally get to sleep and wake up, except for whatever harm they did themselves smashing fists through glass. But not all. The 108-degree liver temperature was not survivable, I think.
Miller, Rory (2011-04-01). Facing Violence: Preparing for the Unexpected (p. 88). NBN_Mobi_Kindle. Kindle Edition.