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Schizophrenia linked to marijuana use disorder is on the rise, study finds

cnn.com

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Re: Schizophrenia linked to marijuana use disorder is on the rise, study finds

#201

Post by mthoms »

macksd wrote: post #47

>> In 1995, 2% of schizophrenia diagnoses in the country were associated with cannabis use disorder. In 2000, it increased to around 4%. Since 2010, that figure increased to 8%, the study found. Worded that way, causation isn't the first thing this suggests to me. If percentage of cases associated with marijuana rise, it could also be that a larger percentage of the population is smoking and admitting to smoking mari…

Anecdote: My half-sister is a diagnosed schizophrenic and life-long weed smoker. It seems to me (and her doctors agree) that the two are absolutely related.

She was likely predisposed to schizophrenia (because of her father - which we don't share) but I often wonder if it would have progressed the way it did absent the heavy smoking.

I say this also as a pot smoker myself (but only lightly in the past decade or so). I have nothing against it, and used to scoff at those who were against it.

Now... I'm absolutely convinced that marijuana use can have absolutely catastrophic mental health implications for some people. I'm also convinced it can help people with certain conditions.

At any rate, it's much less benign than I long thought.

Re: Schizophrenia linked to marijuana use disorder is on the rise, study finds

#202

Post by antihero »

gonehome wrote: post #89
bittercynic wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe the people I've discussed this with are not representative, but it seems to me it's widely known that weed can lead to an anxiety event, and psychedelics are sometimes a frightening experience. Usually you'll be back to normal the next day, but will have had a memorable experience, and sometimes mushrooms produce long-term relief from depression. I'm definitely not an expert with this, but it seems to me it is…

You're not always back to normal the next day with the more intense hallucinogens. I think bad experiences (or good, but intense experiences) and the longer term psychological recovery from them is often underrepresented online, but it does exist. The risk can be high.

I think a bad trip can be a traumatic experience like any other experience.

Re: Schizophrenia linked to marijuana use disorder is on the rise, study finds

#203

Post by _jjkk »

Barrin92 wrote: post #180
_jjkk wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> they may be contributing very little to society (or maybe a lot), but regardless there's a sense of superiority A sober individual's brain is operating on standard (often societally installed) reward mechanism, including "succeeding" on certain self-evaluated measures like "contributions to society" It's commonly said that weed makes you "OK with being bored". i.e. standard reward mechanisms mentioned above don't r…

well apathetic individuals still rely on the society they are in, most of the time anyway. I think this is where the narcissism perception comes in. Most stoners in particular people who smoke a lot and for a long time at least in my experience become apathetic and to a degree dependent on their environment. They rely on others to organize their lives, even get simple chores done, they become sort of lethargic. And w…

Be careful not to over-generalize from personal experience... Maybe you've just met a few examples of lethargic, dependent narcissists who smoke a lot of weed?

There is selection bias at play, as someone with an admitted negative perception of stoners you probably haven't put yourself in many situations where you might meet counterexamples.

In my experience, I've met many stoners whose driving force is empathy and compassion and not narcissism and apathy.

Anyway, keep in mind any substance abuse is often an amplifier of issues that already existed.

Re: Schizophrenia linked to marijuana use disorder is on the rise, study finds

#204

Post by QuercusMax »

bobthechef wrote: post #62
hereforphone wrote: post #2

I can only speak from personal experience, which is of course limited. I smoked occasionally in my 20s, but not since (I'm middle-aged now). I've been friends and acquaintances with many people that smoke a lot. I see a trend among these people - not necessarily schizophrenia (I'm not a psychologist and probably wouldn't even notice a mild case) - but instead a consistent arrogance and self-importance. It's peculiar…

Ask yourself why people smoke weed in the first place. It isn't because they're temperate and psychically/spiritually/morally in order. Weed stupefies and dulls a person to certain unwanted feelings, like guilt or anxiety. That isn't any more medicinal than alcoholism. In line with that, if what you write is true, it would be consistent with the idea that they have vices which cause them suffering which they then pro…

Wow, this is really ignorant. Have you ever tried cannabis? My guess is no.

Re: Schizophrenia linked to marijuana use disorder is on the rise, study finds

#205

Post by rhizome »

macksd wrote: post #47

>> In 1995, 2% of schizophrenia diagnoses in the country were associated with cannabis use disorder. In 2000, it increased to around 4%. Since 2010, that figure increased to 8%, the study found. Worded that way, causation isn't the first thing this suggests to me. If percentage of cases associated with marijuana rise, it could also be that a larger percentage of the population is smoking and admitting to smoking mari…

When this kind of thing has come up before ("pot causes mental illness"), IIRC it turns out more that people with schizoid disorders are self-medicating with pot before getting diagnosed, rather than having taken harder drugs, alcohol, etc. The classic reversed-arrow of causation.

Re: Schizophrenia linked to marijuana use disorder is on the rise, study finds

#206

Post by subpixel »

asdff wrote: post #166
bjourne wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

According to studies, cannabis potency has indeed increasedi n Europe in the last few decades. See An overview of cannabis potency in Europe ( https://www.emcdda.europa.eu/publications/insights/cannabis-... ) and Increasing potency and price of cannabis in Europe, 2006–16 ( https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/add.14525 ). From the abstract of the latter study: "Resin potency increased from a mean [95% confide…

Anecdotally, I've heard in the 60s and 70s generally people would just smoke a lot more weed in a single sitting than today. Several joints to a person of harsh brick weed vs. half of one with decent modern weed, for example.

Anecdotally, half a joint of weed purchased from a legal, recreational shop is enough to get a dozen people stoned into the ground, unless they are regular users of the stuff.

Re: Schizophrenia linked to marijuana use disorder is on the rise, study finds

#207

Post by CAX »

Most obvious schizophrenics i have come across were not drug users and were just frightened supicious people who couldnt navigate a social interaction including but not limited to food deliveries, drug deliveries, buying batteries etc. I think the uptick in noticed drug user psychosis is Related to something Big Bill Orielly warned us about: the confluence of drugs and technology, esp social media, implying not taking care of sleep hygiene at the least, but at the most you are seeing what can only be described as “cyber torture” in which subjects are persuaded by those without hands to become retarded. Thats what this weapon is

Re: Schizophrenia linked to marijuana use disorder is on the rise, study finds

#208

Post by GordonS »

codr7 wrote: post #177
GordonS wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Personally I can't smoke it anymore, I get super anxious now and nervous I've heard so many people say the same thing, that they used to enjoy using cannabis, then some years later they find it induces anxiety, jitters and nervousness - I wonder what the mechanism behind this anxiety is? Is it as simple as "modern" cannabis strains having much THC than older ones, or is it something else, possibly age-related, like…

Like Shrooms, Cannabis will sooner or later confront you with aspects of yourself that you're not entirely comfortable with. There was always strong weed, and hashish; it just means you either consume less or fall asleep. Hormones are possible, I guess.

Was there always strong weed though? Modern strains go up to 20% THC and 0% CBD.

At least when I were lad (in UK), we only got brick weed (which I remember was a good bit less strong than hash), but it was almost exclusively Moroccan hash we got, and even though that is a "concentrate", THC levels have traditionally[0] been lower, and CBD levels significantly higher, than much of today's modern cannabis flower.

[0] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/303871898_The_main_...

Re: Schizophrenia linked to marijuana use disorder is on the rise, study finds

#209

Post by johnnyApplePRNG »

bjourne wrote: post #173
johnnyApplePRNG wrote: post #140

I have enjoyed smoking Cannabis for decades, but a recent bought of financial difficulty coupled with a desire to get programming last week has shown some teeth on the cute little bubbly image of Cannabis in my mind. I started smoking more (due to stress) and trying to complete a new project (financial difficulty) and it was just a nightmare. It's noticeably more difficult to concentrate and retain new information wh…

A few joints per night? That's a whole lot, isn't it?

They're pretty darned small... ~0.2g a piece maybe.. And by a few I meant 1 or 2 max.

And I only smoked them right before bed to help with sleep. I don't enjoy "being high" typically.

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