Mental Health Boyfriend and schizophrenic father smoking too much weed

[Pinkinterlude]

Link between schizophrenia and weed.

My boyfriend's mother passed away just under a year ago, and he has gone from occasionally smoking weed, to smoking it several times a week.

I can understand that he enjoys this and it probably has helped him grieving. We have argued about it, mainly because he drives and smokes but we have managed to come to a compromise, and he has stopped getting behind the wheel after smoking a spliff.

He is spending at least £20 a week on weed, and most of the time, that leaves him with very little money to do anything, so I'm spending for the both of us, which I can't always do, due to my wage not being enough.

He lives with his dad who is obviously also grieving. He is a paranoid schizophrenic and has understandably relapsed since the death of his wife. He has secluded himself and believes everyone is against him. He is trying to do the same to my boyfriend, forbidding him to buy his own weed and his dad is purchasing weed for the both of them.

I believe his dad doesn't take any medication and relies on weed and alco to alcoholhelp him through his bad days, where he becomes very paranoid and delusional. He has at one point accused me of being a spy and didn't want me to visit at one point, so I know his paranoia can be bad at times. I feel that my boyfriend is probably smoking way more weed than I know about and I'm worried about how much that could be.

My main concern is the link between smoking weed and schizophrenia. Is my boyfriend at more risk of developing it? He has said he will stop smoking it but never does, so I feel he is very reliant on it like his dad, so I don't think he will sstop. I'm scared that if I don't do anything to help, his dad will become more paranoid and suffer more, and my boyfriend may trigger it if he is more prone to developing schizophrenia.

What should I do? And please can someone explain the risks and links between the two? Forgive me if I've offended anyone, that isn't my intention. I just want to learn more about it.

Thanks in advance.

 

[herbavore]

There is no link between schizophrenia and weed (or any other drug) though some drug experiences are thought to possibly trigger the onset. How old is your boyfriend?
This is bound to be a very hard time for him. If he has grown up with a schizophrenic father that self medicates with alcohol and weed he probably has a lot of childhood trauma on top of his grief over his mother. It sounds like counseling could do him a lot of good if he is willing.

In every relationship it is important to voice your fears while trying to remain non-judgmental. This is a very difficult thing to achieve but even trying goes a long way. If your boyfriend senses that you are judging him for something he feels he needs right now he is just going to hide it from you more and trust will be further eroded for both of you. If you are able to express your concerns for him with empathy but with honesty, hopefully he will be able to question his use for himself. In the realm of things smoking weed a few times a week is not harmful in an d of itself. What would make me more nervous is whether he is buying into his father's paranoia; if he isn't and he keeps himself safe from driving etc when he is high he sounds all right. Ask yourself if you would have the same fears if he were having a few pints a few times a week. As far as the money goes, that is an issue that seems it needs resolving. You paying for everything is not fair regardless of what he is spending his on (though I'm confused because you also say his dad buys it for both of them.)

 

[bees_knees]

Actually if you read Marijuana And Madness by David Castle, a recent review of the evidence linking the two, it has a lot to say to the contrary.

Personally marijuana and stimulants are the two drugs guaranteed to make my schizophrenia far, far worse. In fact now it is pretty much in total remission, but if I want to do it all over again I can just go smoke a spliff.

 

[Mysterie]

i agree with bees_knees, i am under the impression that schizophrenics should not be smoking weed as it does the opposite of grounding ime and can exacerbate the condition. same for depression/anxiety and regular weed use, which i know from personal experience.

as for boyfriend smoking weed, how is it for him living with a paranoid schizophrenic father? that must be pretty heavy? have you talked to him about how it must affect him emotionally to be able to cope with that kind of environment?

if i was your bf, living in that house, i would probably smoke weed too tbh. honestly it is not worth the high to smoke weed if you have a strong hereditary link to schizophrenia such as a father having the disorder. how old are you guys? the best way to see how the situation can improve is talk about this stuff with your boyfriend, find out if he understands the risks of smoking weed if one has possible underlying mental disorders. it would probably be a good idea for him to move out if you want him to stop smoking weed, although i don't know if he is perhaps living there in order to look after his father?

 

[herbavore]

bees_knees and mysterie, I am aware of marijuana being detrimental to a person with schizophrenia but I was not aware of any real evidence that it can cause schizophrenia (which was the OP's worry).

Chapter seven is excellent and of major relevance to mental health clinicians, drawing on three epidemiological studies from Sweden, Netherlands and New Zealand to conclude that cannabis has some potential causative factor in the onset of schizophrenia. It clearly notes that cannabis is neither sufficient nor necessary to cause schizophrenia and that it is merely a component, whose strength as a causal factor remains to be seen. Chapter eight describes well designed studies conducted only in the last ten years that have confirmed cannabis use as an independent risk factor for psychotic relapse in schizophrenia. This demonstrates how research can sometimes lag behind clinical observation.

I stand both corrected and better yet, educated!

 

[Pinkinterlude]

My boyfriend is 24. He's a very closed off person, I mean he tells me he loves me and is affectionate with me, but I've noticed in terms of talking about emotions, in particular negative emotions, he avoids it. He's told me how he feels like a robot sometimes, but I believe his smoking weed, which has become more than the usual occasional one, must be to relieve what he is feeling.

I have spoken to him many times about the consequences of weed and the link I believe it to have with schizophrenia. The sad thing is that I seem to care more about him than he does himself.

His dad is very controlling, gives him a curfew, only let's him use the car when its good for his dad, and it's not like his dad needs it much, as he doesn't work. We live 20 miles apart do this obviously puts a strain on our relationship, as I have to make the journey to him. This is where money comes into it. My boyfriend doesn't have much money as he is on a low wage. His dad takes most of that money, as he is paranoid people are trying to take his money away from him. He even keeps my boyfriend bank card as he believed people will try and take money. There was an inheritance left by his mother but my boyfriend has no access to it. Everything like the inheritance and the house was meant to go in my boyfriends name, but it's gone in his dad's name. I've tried to say something but I don't want to make too much of a big deal about it because I don't want any one thinking I'm after any money.

We have no money to move out at the moment, he is finding it difficult to change jobs to a better paid one as his dad bombards him with calls of accusations about who he is seeing and what he is doing. No one knows how bad his dad can be. When his mother was alive, I believe she had a positive, calming influence over his dad, or she persuaded him to take medication, as I was unaware of his dad's mental health for several years, and I was staying over a lot. His mother did eventually tell me about a year before she passed away, and my boyfriend always mentioned his dad can be 'weird' but I never really thought anything of it.

I do tell him off for smoking weed which after reading your answers, is something I'll try not to do, or phrase better. I'm just scared he'll rely on it.

I've talked to him about getting help for his dad but he said nothing would work. He said his dad can act 'normal' when he wants to, pretends to take medication, and got very angry when a nurse came round when he was younger. He has been sectioned three times and my boyfriend feels that his dad would never forgive him if he informed anyone about his condition, because there would be a chance he'd be sectioned again. His dad believes most people are against him, and my boyfriend believes he will think this off him. His father believes there is nothing wrong with him, and doctors make it up. My boyfriend just wants to keep things as they are and let his dad have his way, until as horrible as it sounds, he too passes away. He reacts quite angrily to his dad's demands sometimes, so I know it gets to him, and understandably.

I'm sorry to rant on, just don't know what to do. I appreciate your answers Lots they've helped heaps.

 

[herbavore]

Wow, your poor boyfriend. He really is in emotional bondage to his Dad and that is not fair for his life. He can't help his Dad but he certainly should be encouraged to help himself. Actually that would help his Dad! I'm sure he thinks that he is his Dad's only support--which may be true but he is enabling his Dad to keep that true.

 

[Soulgasm]

The general consensus in the scientific community is that cannabis can bring out underlying schizophrenia but is not any sort of causation for the disorder. That being said, there is strong evidence showing a genetic and possibly hereditary component to schizophrenia so I would monitor the bf closely. Otherwise, the moderate consumption of marijuana should present no real problems, other than possible legal and financial issues.

 

[SixBuckets]

There's a correlative relationship between marijuana consumption and onset of (a range of) psychotic disorders. No one has conclusively demonstrated a causative relationship either way, however. Either the weed could be precipitating psychotic episodes in people prone to them, or people prone to psychosis could be more likely to use weed, or a weird complication of both those things and something else. Use of marijuana can definitely trigger psychotic symptoms in people with existing disorders, though, especially when poorly managed.

There's definitely a genetic component to schizophrenia, but the actual numbers aren't too scary. People living with schizophrenia make up approximate 1 - 2% of the general population. The biological children of people living with schizophrenia are 7 times more likely that someone with no family history to develop schizophrenia... which sounds pretty scary, but it's still not a huge statistical likelihood.