A Link between Marijuana and Psychosis?

whygohomewhygohome Posts: 2,305
edited February 2011 in A Moving Train
It seems that the study was geared towards those who have psychotic tendencies, and possibly not toward the general public. Anyway, I'm still smoking................

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2011/02 ... s=sh_sthdl

Researchers Link Marijuana And Earlier Onset Of Psychosis

Can marijuana use lead to mental health problems popping up sooner?

The question weighs on the minds of parents and doctors. Now there's more evidence, culled from more than 80 different studies, that marijuana can speed up development of serious psychotic illness.

Australian researchers found that marijuana users who developed psychosis were 2.7 years younger than nonusers who became psychotic. Other sorts of substance abuse sped up psychosis by 2 years, but alcohol alone showed no effect. The result were published online by the Archives of General Psychiatry.

What's going on?


The researcher say the results point toward a strong effect for marijuana in vulnerable people:

This study lends weight to the view that cannabis use precipitates schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders....

Alternative explanations could be that people prone to psychosis are medicating themselves with marijuana or that the drug worsens subtler symptoms.

"It is a wonderful meta-analysis," Dr. William Eaton, chairman of the mental health department at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told Shots after reviewing the paper. The work is both "timely and well done," he says, and adds to the evidence that "there is an association between using cannabis and psychosis."

Proving causation is a high bar, and Eaton says this paper can't be said to go that far. "I think it could be true, but there's no real compelling evidence of that."

Still, he says, the researcher's consolidation of the literature is valuable and important. And the finding that marijuana is associated with earlier onset of severe mental illness is troubling, Eaton says. Even a few years can make a big difference in how a young person's life unfolds. Someone who becomes mentally ill at 22 has a better prognosis than someone struck at 18.

What should parents do? If there's a history of schizophrenia in a family, Eaton says, or the "kids were a little strange," say loners or prone to flight of fancy, "I'd be real worried about them using marijuana." He says we should "protect people" from marijuana who might be on the road to developing psychosis.
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Comments

  • Godfather.Godfather. Posts: 12,504
    I had a good friend in high school that was a genius with a photographic memory,did all the honor roll classes
    breezed thru collage and became an engineer of some sort, Jim was always stoned .
    he called me a while back and I was floored to hear from him,this is how the conversation went,
    Jim;hi Jeff ne***g
    me;hay Jim whats up with you these days ?
    Jim; well I'm a diagnosed schizophrenic
    but I live in lakeside again because aliens kept coming to my old hose and taking me into their ship
    and last time they did experiments on my testicles.
    me;wow Jim sorry to hear that bro are you doing ok now ?
    Jim; well they said they would come back to check on me so thats why I moved
    but I know they'll find me sooner or later.

    I have always wondered if weed anything to do with Jim's condition.

    Godfather.
  • JonnyPistachioJonnyPistachio Florida Posts: 10,219
    Godfather. wrote:
    I had a good friend in high school that was a genius with a photographic memory,did all the honor roll classes
    breezed thru collage and became an engineer of some sort, Jim was always stoned .
    he called me a while back and I was floored to hear from him,this is how the conversation went,
    Jim;hi Jeff ne***g
    me;hay Jim whats up with you these days ?
    Jim; well I'm a diagnosed schizophrenic
    but I live in lakeside again because aliens kept coming to my old hose and taking me into their ship
    and last time they did experiments on my testicles.
    me;wow Jim sorry to hear that bro are you doing ok now ?
    Jim; well they said they would come back to check on me so thats why I moved
    but I know they'll find me sooner or later.

    I have always wondered if weed anything to do with Jim's condition.

    Godfather.

    Cant help you here, but can you find out for me where he got his stuff? :D:lol:
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  • whygohome wrote:
    Australian researchers found that marijuana users who developed psychosis were 2.7 years younger than nonusers who became psychotic. Other sorts of substance abuse sped up psychosis by 2 years, but alcohol alone showed no effect.

    Yes, alcohol plays no role in psychosis... This is true. However, it is 100% responsible for people gettin' CRUNK!
  • JeanwahJeanwah Posts: 6,363
    I would think that there would be a connection in extreme cases (smoking all day, every day), but smoking once in a while, or even every other day would not promote psychosis. Plus, you'd have to figure the personality of the smoker and their emotional state. There's so many factors...
  • Godfather.Godfather. Posts: 12,504
    Godfather. wrote:
    I had a good friend in high school that was a genius with a photographic memory,did all the honor roll classes
    breezed thru collage and became an engineer of some sort, Jim was always stoned .
    he called me a while back and I was floored to hear from him,this is how the conversation went,
    Jim;hi Jeff ne***g
    me;hay Jim whats up with you these days ?
    Jim; well I'm a diagnosed schizophrenic
    but I live in lakeside again because aliens kept coming to my old hose and taking me into their ship
    and last time they did experiments on my testicles.
    me;wow Jim sorry to hear that bro are you doing ok now ?
    Jim; well they said they would come back to check on me so thats why I moved
    but I know they'll find me sooner or later.

    I have always wondered if weed anything to do with Jim's condition.

    Godfather.

    Cant help you here, but can you find out for me where he got his stuff? :D:lol:


    back then....it came from Fallbrook Ca. or Mexico and from time to time someones back yard. :D

    Godfather.
  • pandorapandora Posts: 21,855
    I think all illegal drugs can aggravate a psychosis, whether it has presented or not,
    cause it no, but cause some real problems.

    Even physical conditions like hyperthyroid can bring delusions when you smoke pot.

    Those with anxiety problems can rebound on it and become paranoid.

    Just forget about psychedelics, they can put you over the edge.

    Most people I know, realized they had a problem with pot pretty quick
    and stopped smoking it, they did not enjoy it, made them feel not right
    instead of just right.
  • zarocatzarocat Posts: 1,901
    A room mate of mine long ago use to smoke pot all day everyday and play an online game where you hunt or be hunted.
    He was unapproachable to say the least. You could not say anything to him because either he wouldn't respond because his attention span was shot or he would respond in a violent manner because of that game he was playing while he was high. Literally, 8 to 13 hours a day playing this game high! Besides being high all day playing this game, he would apply the games concepts of hunting or be hunted to everyday activities.
    An example.
    We had gone into the city on a Saturday afternoon and he could not walk down the street peacefully. Anyone who looked at him (even a glance) would get a what-fuck-you-looking-at followed by a waving fist. I'm talking continuously walking down a city street this guy would be doing this. It was sad really. I pulled us into some cafe and had a drink and tried to make him understand that he needed to separate his game from what were experiencing but he just gave evil grins. He told me that he could knock everybody out.

    About the Psychosis. I figure it all depends on what you do with your altered mind. If you're being abused or your abusing some sort of outlet then altering your mind is not a good idea at all.

    Another thing I notice with weed smokers is that the majority of conversations can be and will be solely based on the questions why ? & what for ?

    Personally, I no longer smoke pot (and haven't in years) because I get paranoid.
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  • BinauralJamBinauralJam Posts: 14,158
    zarocat wrote:
    A room mate of mine long ago use to smoke pot all day everyday and play an online game where you hunt or be hunted.
    Literally, 8 to 13 hours a day playing this game high!

    I do this! :lol:


    Besides being high all day playing this game, he would apply the games concepts of hunting or be hunted to everyday activities.

    I do not so this!

    About the Psychosis. I figure it all depends on what you do with your altered mind. If you're being abused or your abusing some sort of outlet then altering your mind is not a good idea at all.

    This!
  • WildsWilds Posts: 4,329
    It might also be that people who are prone to psychosis are drawn to drugs more.

    I have always believed that drugs including MJ could trigger a pre-existing condition. But I do not think that MJ can cause psychosis.

    That has been my impression for the past 15 years.
  • Drowned OutDrowned Out Posts: 6,056
    whygohome wrote:
    From the article in the OP:

    What should parents do? If there's a history of schizophrenia in a family, Eaton says, or the "kids were a little strange," say loners or prone to flight of fancy, "I'd be real worried about them using marijuana." He says we should "protect people" from marijuana who might be on the road to developing psychosis.
    So....how should we protect them? By locking up everyone associated with it's trade? Or by providing better health care and education?
    These studies are all fucking witch hunts, fishing for justification of the unjust...and they provide further evidence of media complicity in government agenda. The media cherry picks facts to sensationalize the issue and sway opinion to the governments' position. The report, even if it was not BS, only confirms the fact that dealing with MJ use should be treated as A HEALTH ISSUE, NOT A LEGAL ONE. But that is never the kind of the 'protection' they advocate, is it?

    If you read the comments under this article (do yourself a favour and DO NOT read the article....fucking CBS using the word 'potheads' shows their bias, what a JOKE), you will find information demonstrating how faulty the data is. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162- ... 91704.html

    It appears this study is another meta-analysis of previous studies. Same as the Zammit report from 2007 that is always cited as proof of the MJ/psychosis link.

    We discussed that report in a previous thread (godfather's legalize pot? thread), where I posted a link to a 2009 study debunking the 07 report.
    The model proposed by the 2007 report cited in your first link, and published in the Lancet, was effectively debunked in 2009 by this study:
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19560900
    If you read this research:
    http://www.schizophreniaforum.org/new/d ... sp?id=1522
    You’ll find that there are compounds in marijuana that can actually be used to treat schizophrenia/psychosis.
    None of this work is definitive. The Zammit report acknowledges its own limitations, and the article you linked gives a pretty fair contrary account of the studies' inherent and conclusive flaws. It’s not exactly hard science; it was a meta-analysis of a bunch of other studies conducted, and funded, during the war on drugs…
    But that’s what I’m saying, this merry-go-round never ends!
    Our governments will be happy to keep spending our money on these studies (or cherry picking them from our institutions for political gain) in order to detract from any meaningful debate on policy revision, and to find a way to keep the drug-war/prison-industrial machine chugging along. This is not in the public's best interest! Profit!!!!

    I'm sure in a few months this study will be debunked by another scientific study, and the debunking study will get ZERO media coverage.....
    This shit frustrates me to no end. Strawman, anyone?
  • inmytreeinmytree Posts: 4,741
    Correlation Does Not Imply Causation....
  • Drowned OutDrowned Out Posts: 6,056
    inmytree wrote:
    Correlation Does Not Imply Causation....
    damnit, would have been so much less work to just say that ;)
  • inmytreeinmytree Posts: 4,741
    inmytree wrote:
    Correlation Does Not Imply Causation....
    damnit, would have been so much less work to just say that ;)

    taking that stats class for my masters paid off...finally... :mrgreen:
  • LikeAnOceanLikeAnOcean Posts: 7,718
    Any drug can have effects on your brain, especially if you're predispositioned for an illness. The key is moderation or abstinance.
  • Wilds wrote:
    It might also be that people who are prone to psychosis are drawn to drugs more.

    I have always believed that drugs including MJ could trigger a pre-existing condition. But I do not think that MJ can cause psychosis.

    That has been my impression for the past 15 years.

    totally agree with this.
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  • I was a big weed smoker in my teens and 20's. Eventually I had to stop because it was doing weird things to my brain. VERY paranoid. If I did it, it had to be at home. Even if I was in a house full of close friends I trusted, it wasn't good enough. I figured "what's the point?".

    I remember Eddie himself saying in an interview when someone asked him if he smoked weed, and he said he used to but he couldn't now because it did funny things to his brain. Paraphrasing, obviously.

    Now, nature (and my kids) are my highs. But of course, I see nothing wrong with anyone else lightin' up a doob. My favourite movie is The Big Lebowski, after all. :ugeek:
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  • guypjfreakguypjfreak Posts: 2,281
    i gave up about 10 years ago best thing i did that stuff fucked with MY brain and im still suffering nowadays any one says its harmless is mad .
    BUT its like every thing to much of it will do you harm .
  • whygohomewhygohome Posts: 2,305
    People handle alcohol differently, people handle marijuana differently. It rests on the individual.
  • Well... obviously there is no causation but it is almost "common sense" that the two would be correlated. People who are psychotic have ZERO concern for the law, and hence would have no problem with lighting up.

    I'm no worried, however, and will continue to smoke on the rare weekends I have no responsibility towards work or my son. (next weekend will be the first since New Years) :D:D:D
    Everything not forbidden is compulsory and eveything not compulsory is forbidden. You are free... free to do what the government says you can do.
  • tremorstremors Posts: 8,051
    The most interesting take on this that I have come across, which correlates with my own experiences, and those of many people I have worked with - is the link between cannabis, trauma, and psychosis.

    Research is starting to suggest that there may be something about the way smoking cannabis affects our ability to process traumatic situations which can play a role in subsequently developing psychosis and other mental health problems.

    A study on this subject looked at the links between psychosis amongst cannabis users who had suffered sexual abuse - since cannabis users and survivors of sexual abuse are both over-represented in the mental health system, particularly with regards to psychosis.

    What the study found was that for those people who started smoking cannabis after their abuse had happened, there appeared to be no greater risk of psychosis subsequently; but for those people who were already smoking cannabis when they suffered the trauma of sexual abuse - the study found that there was a much higher rate of later psychosis amongst this group than amongst non cannabis smokers, or other control groups. The research team highlighted this area of 'responding to trauma while under the influence of cannabis' as being one which is not yet well understood, but should be researched further.

    My own experiences of psychosis have involved both trauma and cannabis use, and many people I have met and spent time with in hospital or worked with professionally have also had this link. I think anyone who is at all familiar with people who have used mental health services would recognise that cannabis use plays a part in exacerbating other types of mental distress. However, the role of cannabis in affecting the way the mind processes traumatic events, and other effects of the psyche, is an area I will be researching further in my own work in the future.
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  • WaveRyderWaveRyder Posts: 1,128
    Bullshit
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