So far as Bills experience in the hospital and whether or not it was genuine.
I think the results speak for themselves.
Genuine conversion experiences have been documented aplenty and the results are positive for the afflicted.
Belladonna doesn't really produce any sort of a high, I think this is a myth that has gathered momentum especially in the anti AA circles.
Belladonna contains two chemicals used for medicinal purposes.
The first chemical is scopolamine, which is used primarily for reducing body discharges. It is also helpful in reducing stomach acid, which can help with both nausea and acid reflux.
Scopolamine is also used for controlling the heart rate and relaxing muscles.
The second compound extracted from belladonna is atropine. Similar to scopolamine, atropine can be used to help reduce bodily discharge, but it is not as effective as scopolamine when used as a muscle relaxant and in heart rate control.
Also, atropine can be used to dilate the eyes. In some cases, atropine works as an antidote to insect poison and chemical warfare agents.
Once extracted, one or both chemicals are combined with other medications to help treat some diseases and conditions.
Some of the treatments target:
- motion sickness
- irritable bowel syndrome
- stomach ulcers
- excessive nighttime urination
so looking at what the "Belladonna Treatment" would actually have offered in the treatment of alcoholic withdrawal, no doubt the heart rate control and muscle relaxant properties were the two main things, similar to how they dose us with Valium these days for the same reason.