Mental Illness Linked to Heavy Cannabis Use

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Apr. 2, 2013 — People with mental illnesses are more than seven times more likely to use cannabis weekly compared to people without a mental illness, according to researchers from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) who studied U.S. data.

Cannabis is the most widely used illicit substance globally, with an estimated 203 million people reporting use. Although research has found links between cannabis use and mental illness, exact numbers and prevalence of problem cannabis use had not been investigated.

"We know that people with mental illness consume more cannabis, perhaps partially as a way to self- medicate psychiatric symptoms, but this data showed us the degree of the correlation between cannabis use, misuse, and mental illness," said Dr. Shaul Lev-ran, Adjunct Scientist at CAMH and Head of Addiction Medicine at the Sheba Medical Center, Israel.

"Based on the number of individuals reporting weekly use, we see that people with mental illness use cannabis at high rates. This can be of concern because it could worsen the symptoms of their mental illness," said Lev-ran, who conducted the research as a post-doctoral fellow with the Social Aetiology of Mental Illness (SAMI) Training Program at CAMH.
Researchers also found that individuals with mental illness were 10 times more likely to have a cannabis use disorder.

In this new study, published in the journal Comprehensive Psychiatry, CAMH researchers analyzed data from face-to-face interviews with over 43,000 respondents over the age of 18 from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. Using structured questionnaires, the researchers assessed cannabis use as well as various mental illnesses including depression, anxiety, drug and alcohol use disorders and personality disorders, based on criteria from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV).

Among those will mental illness reporting at least weekly cannabis use, rates of use were particularly elevated for those with bipolar disorder, personality disorders and other substance use disorders.
In total, 4.4 per cent of individuals with a mental illness in the past 12 months reported using cannabis weekly, compared to 0.6 per cent among individuals without any mental illness. Cannabis use disorders occurred among 4 per cent of those with mental illness versus 0.4 per cent among those without.

Researchers also noted that, although cannabis use is generally higher among younger people, the association between mental illness and cannabis use was pervasive across most age groups.
They emphasize the importance of screening for frequent and problem cannabis use among those with mental illness, so that targeted prevention and intervention may be employed.
This study was funded through the SAMI Training Program of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).



http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130402124817.htm



IMO if you have a mental illness I would stay away from the stuff.
 
Nothing misleading about that headline!

In total, 4.4 per cent of individuals with a mental illness in the past 12 months reported using cannabis weekly, compared to 0.6 per cent among individuals without any mental illness.
Click to expand...

That number seems really low.
 
One could argue, but I think of it as more as 7.3 times those who have a mental illness use as those who don't, not to mention this is only people who report not using (incentive to not report).
 
"That number seems really low."
Click to expand...
Yes, I was thinking the same thing.
That is far too low. Wiki says that about 14% of Americans have used cannabis in the past year, so how could it be roughly 4% with mental illness and 1/2% without?
Someone got their numbers wrong. Maybe self-reporting is the cause, as Ho-Chi-Minh just said.

And, Ho-Chi-Minh, this study doesn't say that it is bad to use cannabis with mental illness.
Only that people with mental illness do so more often - though the rate is lower than for "sane" people, if you use different sources of data. Self-medication is a likely explanation. Maybe the cannabis is helping them?
(I have seen studies that suggested that heavy cannabis use can "bring out" an inherent mental illness, but once it is already out, maybe cannabis helps them? We need more studies!)
 
I couldn't necessarily disprove the theory that it helps them. What I know is that in the past decade many studies have shown that cannabis brings out mental disorders (and may even cause them), but I don't think its rational to speculate that once out, cannabis is actually helping them when it brought out the disorder in the first place. Let me see if I can dig up some sources...

And in no time I found:

http://archpsyc.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=496554
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S092099641001580X
http://www.bmj.com/content/325/7374/1212.short
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/...sCustomisedMessage=&userIsAuthenticated=false
http://www.bmj.com/content/330/7481/11
http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=8553330

There are "smatterings" within these sources pointing to causative factors, but they aren't definitive. The jury is still out, but in conclusion, I'd rather be on the safe side. No doubt Cannabidiol has anti-psychotic properties; the problem is that it usually makes up such a small proportion of the plant compared to THC. Here's to the day when I can smoke some dank, ehhem, *legal*, marijuana low in THC and high in CBD. Cheers.
 
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slimvictor said:
Yes, I was thinking the same thing.
That is far too low. Wiki says that about 14% of Americans have used cannabis in the past year, so how could it be roughly 4% with mental illness and 1/2% without?
Someone got their numbers wrong. Maybe self-reporting is the cause, as Ho-Chi-Minh just said.
Click to expand...

It's Canada, and it's asking about weekly use. Maybe it's not low, but it seems low. Or maybe Canada has a lot of mental illness!

Also, diagnosis by questionnaire is like flying a plane by brail.

Canadian drug data is stockpiled here:

http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/?q=node/1154#sthash.Yu4i5Kwb.iN0xACwF.dpbs
 
Since it was face-to-face and they used the manual its about as close to going to a real psychiatrist as one can get.
 
^ Well, that's not really true. The researchers (who likely had undergrad students do the actual data collection) used questionnaire responses to obtain their data which are notorious for their self report bias, especially when administered face-to-face rather than in writing. Not to mention that there were almost certainly people who reported undiagnosed mental illness, and those with undiagnosed mental illness who reported none. So the method of data collection is far from ideal.

Anyway...

Is weekly cannabis use really considered "heavy"? For instance, I'm a daily smoker but I don't really consider my use to be heavy - I take a hit (just one) from my vaporizer in the morning to help me get psyched up for the day and then 2 or 3 hits in the evening as I'm unwinding for sleep aid purposes. I know people who go through multiple grams a day. I do struggle with anxiety, depression, and ADHD-PI (which is why I only take one or two hits at a time) but aside from the occasional bout of transient weed-induced anxiety attacks I feel like my cannabis use isn't detrimental to my overall mental well-being. If anything, it's better than my baseline. It definitely does feel like self medication, though.

Though really, what is the story suggesting? That people with mental illness are more likely to get high? Seems kinda obvious to me.
 
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Psychiatrists use questionnaires; I don't really see your point. Why would you assume mental illness was over-diagnosed? No statistical procedure is ideal.

I certainly consider it heavy, given the half-life of THCs and its metabolites.

If you're getting negative effects at all from smoking weed (let alone at such small doses) then you could really be doing yourself damage. Its funny because most mental health patients say its good for them, while the psychiatrists, those who have actually studied the brain and went through eight or more years of post high school schooling say its bad for them. I trust the professionals. And the studies stand for themselves. This study is one of many which finds a link between mental illness and cannabis use, many many of which determine everything but causality, while some find p-values which indicate that such is so.
 
I have wanted to kill myself long before I ever tried pot. Weed makes me forget I want to blow my brains out.
 
This is why I'm pretty pumped about the new high CBD strains that contain a 1:1 ratio of CBD to THC. This will eliminate any risks of mental illness caused by cannabis I believe among many other proven benefits of CBD.
 
Whenever an article like this says there's a "link", it's a statistical one and nothing more. It's not really proving anything empirically. See, the problem with modern medicine and statistics is that they haven't yet gathered a think tank of really smart statisticians to compile the decades worth of data to examine the true complexity of the links. They are just doing it sort of anecdotally between 1 and 2 factors, in this case mental illness and cannabis use.

Anecdotally, if I use cannabis every day my depression will get much worse. But my good friend who also suffers from depression gets immediate relief from using it.

Also, it's kind of the chicken and the egg. Does mental illness arise from cannabis use or are people with mental illness more prone to using it? The fact that so many ill people are attracted to drugs in the first place suggests there's something innately neurochemically different about them that they need substances to feel semi-normal... like the dopamine system for instance.

I've often wondered if drugs are nature's way of balancing the brains of ailing homo sapiens.
 
Look, I think the sheer number of studies they've come out with demonstrating a link between cannabis and mental illness, and more so the numerous studies determining that cannabis brings out psychotic illness, and even some which concur that it may cause schizophrenia, have led to a pretty substantial conclusion. Its only so far that people can deny causation without absolute proof while the great numbers of studies concluding that it's detrimental mount.
 
SAMCRO said:
This is why I'm pretty pumped about the new high CBD strains that contain a 1:1 ratio of CBD to THC. This will eliminate any risks of mental illness caused by cannabis I believe among many other proven benefits of CBD.
Click to expand...

I think this is one of the reasons mental illnesses from cannabis have risen, because of the higher THC content in most bud today without higher levels of CBD, which has been proven to act as an anti-psychotic. If there really is going to be a 1:1 ratio THC to CBD that would be great. But still any research done into any drug is restricted by it's illegality, so how many people have been involved in these studies, it still won't be close to the amount of people who actually smoke cannabis, so does it accurately reflect what could happen to someone if they decide to start smoking cannabis? I don't know. My opinion is that cannabis can be used daily with no mental problems, but that is only the case for some people, we don't yet know what it is in cannabis that would bring out a mental illness in someone, so it's hard to say whether that person would of turned out that way or not. I have smoked it daily for around 15 years without any problems other than laziness, but my friend had to be sectioned a few years after leaving school as daily cannabis smoking along with magic mushrooms had sent him literally insane and he was classed as a paranoid schizophrenic, he still comes out now, but he can't even be in the same room as cannabis as it sets him off talking to people who aren't there. So I can definitely see why people think it causes these problems, but the fact that there's millions of people out there who don't have problems smoking it means we can't definitely say smoking cannabis causes mental health problems, but I would say people with problems with paranoia or who are generally mentally fragile then cannabis isn't going to help.
 
I think cannabis brings out latent mental disorders in most people, and definitely causes disorders to show up 10x as fast as they would (i bet some wouldn't have ever shown up if it weren't for cannabis). I still love smoking, but have learned to really slow down my usage. The anxiety is unbearable when i am a daily stoner, same with the depression and detachment from reality. I think people who use a few times a week or less, barely notice any negative side effects . Which is what is so appealing about cannabis, but the heavy smokers are the ones that are really hit.

I know cannabis can be used as medication for some people, but it really pisses me off when everyone uses the term medicated these days. Fuck off, you are not medicating. You are only smoking because it takes away your boredom for the short term.
 
^ I think I understand where you are coming from, and I agree with some of what you say.
You sound like you are trying to take a balanced approach, based on your personal experience.
But you have had some negative experiences, which may lead you to generalize, as evinced in
F1n1shed said:
I think cannabis brings out latent mental disorders in most people
... The anxiety is unbearable when i am a daily stoner, same with the depression and detachment from reality.
Click to expand...

I don't have issues with anxiety when I am a daily user, so I think it really depends on the person.
No depression, either.
Detachment from reality - I understand what you mean, and can get it too. Not good.
But I used to get mood swings when I used cannabis daily. Not a good thing.
So I can see negative side effects in my own life. You see (mostly) different ones in yours.
Based on this and the studies I have seen, I can easily imagine someone with a latent mental illness exacerbating their condition with frequent or high-dose cannabis use.

I completely agree with this:
I think people who use a few times a week or less, barely notice any negative side effects . Which is what is so appealing about cannabis, but the heavy smokers are the ones that are really hit.
Click to expand...

But I think it is true for nearly all addictions/drugs. Balance in use is the key to reducing negative side effects.
Smoking weed every day is not balance. So we agree there.

But, there are other reasons to smoke than to relieve boredom! I use it to enhance creativity, passion, and depth of feeling in general, and specifically when creating art or music, or practicing yoga.
Not "medicating", certainly, but not boredom relief either.

And as for you, Ho-Chi Minh, my friend: I agree with this:
the sheer number of studies they've come out with demonstrating a link between cannabis and mental illness,
but I have not seen evidence for causation in any of them.
Can you show me one study with evidence of causation either way?
I am not trying to challenge you, but I am honestly curious.
If I see such results, I may change my mind, but until then, I think that the effects seen in the studies are due to the fact that people with certain mental illnesses are more likely to use cannabis.
(This is what was shown conclusively by the large number of studies).
The cannabis may help, in some cases, and it may hurt, in some cases.
I would hope that people with such illnesses would avoid cannabis altogether.
 
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^ definitely true, i was basing the stuff on personal issues although i have seen it in other people to. Everyone will run into their own issues.
 
Ho-Chi-Minh said:
Look, I think the sheer number of studies they've come out with demonstrating a link between cannabis and mental illness, and more so the numerous studies determining that cannabis brings out psychotic illness, and even some which concur that it may cause schizophrenia, have led to a pretty substantial conclusion. Its only so far that people can deny causation without absolute proof while the great numbers of studies concluding that it's detrimental mount.
Click to expand...

The link between the two has been substantiated, but what remains controversial is if cannabis causes mental illness or potentiates a pre-disposition.

Schizophrenia usually develops in adolescence. Studies that say cannabis causes schizophrenia in adolescence have a hard time isolating the pre-disposition (i.e. they would develop it anyway, cannabis or not) from a causative effect of the drug.

I'm not in denial about cannabis' detrimental qualities. I don't think it's a universally harmless drug. I've seen it ruin people's lives who couldn't control their usage levels. My point is, this is a complex area of study and the jury is still out on certain factors.
 
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