A methamphetamine addict in Adelaide who attacked his parents and stabbed two women during a crazed drug-fuelled rampage has been jailed for more than three years.

The District Court heard Darren Cawte, 28, had been continuously taking methamphetamine for up to five days and had not slept during that time.

Cawte "snapped" in August last year and started punching his mother in the family's home.

He then turned on his father, punching him "over and over" and kicking him in the back with "full force" when he was on the ground.

Cawte then ran to a neighbour's house.

The neighbour, along with one of her friends, put Cawte in the back seat of her car to take him somewhere so he could calm down.

But Cawte started yelling abuse at both women, waved around a knife and said "I'm going to stab you".

He stabbed the driver five times before she rolled out of the car and ran down the road covered in blood.

The knife punctured the woman's lung. The other woman was stabbed twice.

Police find gun, ammunition in bedroom

Later, Cawte smashed the window of an old school friend's house and was arrested.

Police found a gun and a variety of ammunition during a search of his bedroom at his parent's house.

Cawte pleaded guilty to a range of offences including causing serious harm, property damage and possessing a firearm without a licence.

The court heard Cawte's rampage lasted about two-and-a-half hours.

Chief Judge Geoffrey Muecke said the incident was a blur to Cawte.

"You had been using methamphetamines on a daily basis and had been awake for five days," the judge said.

"During that time you experienced paranoia, violent outbursts, depression and anxiety.

"You had little or no memory of what you did that night."

Time in custody meant Cawte missed daughter's birth

The judge said Cawte started taking methamphetamine after he developed depression, but the drugs actually made things worse.

"You began using methamphetamine on a social basis," he said.

"Your use of that drug escalated after you lost your employment, after you had problems with a relationship, and when your grandmother died."

The court was told Cawte had missed the birth of his daughter and many of her milestones because of being in prison.

He was "visibly shocked and shaken" when he learnt the full extent of his violent actions.

His head sentence of three years and 10 months came with a non-parole period of one year and nine months.

The jail term was backdated to the time of his arrest.