I had my first nang at a house party. Six months later, I woke up in a psychiatric hospital

ملخص مفصل

The NSW government recently introduced new restrictions on the sale and supply of nitrous oxide, a gas that sent 22-year-old Sam Bramman into psychosis.

People were drinking — as they usually do at parties — but some were also using something I had never seen before: nangs.

'Nangs' is the Australian slang term for small steel canisters of nitrous oxide that are meant to be used solely in whipped cream dispensers.

But it is also the gas known as 'laughing gas', used by dentists as an anaesthetic, which makes you feel calm, relaxed and light-headed. Hence, its party appeal.

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Like many other young people, I thought nangs were harmless. That was the impression I was under when I first tried it at the party.

I felt spaced out and strange but great the first time — like I was seeing and hearing triple. The next week, I had another hit.

Within a month or two, I was travelling to different tobacconists during the day to use alone. The bulbs come in packs of 10, and I often went through 50 bulbs or 'hits' a day.

Sometimes I got freeze burns on my fingers from the pressurised gas; other times my lips went purple and I did not notice.

I was working at a cabinet factory but felt lost in life with no direction. Nangs helped me escape from feeling aimless. But it reached a point where I needed it just to function and I did it without thinking.

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