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Heavy marijuana use increases schizophrenia in men, study finds

bloomberg.com

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Re: Heavy marijuana use increases schizophrenia in men, study finds

#101

Post by robbiep »

aatd86 wrote: post #40
mikhmha wrote: post #5

I really recommend people interested in Schizophrenia to read the book “Hidden Valley Road”. I saw it recommended in a HN comment previously. The book follows an American family who gave birth to 12 children, 6 of whom were later diagnosed with schizophrenia in their teens. It’s interesting because the book gives lots of insight into the historical to modern research on the condition. In the past psychologists though…

Genetic cause is often what is claimed of things that are not very well understood at all. Myopia being one of them for instance. (it's actually often an adaptation process that is actually found to be reversible) Wrt SZ, not only is it very badly understood but a lot of the symptoms can be attributed to biochemical disorders and that does not necessarily imply a genetic predisposition at all. Caffeine can induce psy…

No one is getting (properly) diagnosed with schizophrenia with incidents of drug induced psychosis, which is what you’re describing. Schizophrenia as a diagnosis relies on the presence of both negative and positive symptoms (as defined in the literature). Other people here have talked about the definition and fluidity of schizophrenia, things change but what does not change is schizophrenia is characterised by not only the positive and negative symptoms but also by being a degenerative condition. As opposed to drug induced psychosis, which is reversible if you remove the aetiological agent.

Re: Heavy marijuana use increases schizophrenia in men, study finds

#102

Post by kayodelycaon »

sjc02060 wrote: post #92
xupybd wrote: post #88

My father was a mental health social worker. He worked with youths, mainly teens. In his experience the vast majority of teens that ended up in his hospital had some drug fueled episode that led to their mental health crisis. He told me that he didn't think the drugs caused the mental illness but we're often the trigger. That is these kids already had a mental illness that had not started to present symptoms until it…

Is that to assume these kids would've got mentally ill anyway, just later down the line?

I think that's a safe assumption. Things like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder tend to get worse with time.

Re: Heavy marijuana use increases schizophrenia in men, study finds

#104

Post by denton-scratch »

kitanata wrote: post #80

You have these cells in your brain called Microglia. They are responsible for cleaning up neurons and plaques and other weird proteins. These Microglia are activated by the firing neurons which release 2-AG and AEA (Anadamide). AEA binds to the CB1 receptor in these Microglia. 2-AG binds to CB2. THC binds to CB1. CBD binds to CB2. Autistic adults have significantly low blood serum levels of AEA. Autistic people’s neu…

Empirically (based on my own observations) I've known for decades that weed induced episodes in schizophrenic people. I didn't know it was helpful for autistic people.

On the same (personal observation) basis, I'd say that schizophrenic people are drawn to cannabis. I have no idea why; perhaps because they're often very marginalized and precarious.

Re: Heavy marijuana use increases schizophrenia in men, study finds

#106

Post by qrio2 »

tehjoker wrote: post #39
whalesalad wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like the idea of not capping anything. Live and let live.

This will likely lead to a competitive race of stronger and stronger potency. Market dynamics aren't neutral.

There's increasing demand for less potent cannabis. Low THC CBD flower and high CBD percentage flower is kind of secondary but you're right that for the most part customer demand is for stronger flower.

Re: Heavy marijuana use increases schizophrenia in men, study finds

#107

Post by seabrookmx »

xupybd wrote: post #88

My father was a mental health social worker. He worked with youths, mainly teens. In his experience the vast majority of teens that ended up in his hospital had some drug fueled episode that led to their mental health crisis. He told me that he didn't think the drugs caused the mental illness but we're often the trigger. That is these kids already had a mental illness that had not started to present symptoms until it…

This aligns with my anecdata. My (now diagnosed schitzophrenic) brother was always "off" but his first major episode was triggered by magic mushrooms, which nearly ended in his death (he was trying to cut a demon from his stomache with a hunting knife). If drugs are a match, the underlying mental health issues are gasoline.

Re: Heavy marijuana use increases schizophrenia in men, study finds

#109

Post by mikrl »

denton-scratch wrote: post #104
kitanata wrote: post #80

You have these cells in your brain called Microglia. They are responsible for cleaning up neurons and plaques and other weird proteins. These Microglia are activated by the firing neurons which release 2-AG and AEA (Anadamide). AEA binds to the CB1 receptor in these Microglia. 2-AG binds to CB2. THC binds to CB1. CBD binds to CB2. Autistic adults have significantly low blood serum levels of AEA. Autistic people’s neu…

Empirically (based on my own observations) I've known for decades that weed induced episodes in schizophrenic people. I didn't know it was helpful for autistic people. On the same (personal observation) basis, I'd say that schizophrenic people are drawn to cannabis. I have no idea why; perhaps because they're often very marginalized and precarious.

One of my stoner friends in high school 10-15 years ago was dating an autistic girl, and he mentioned that it had some medical benefit for them.

Obviously it was ‘pothead science’ without a mechanism etc but it has been a thing anecdotally for at least as long as the medical push has existed.

Re: Heavy marijuana use increases schizophrenia in men, study finds

#110

Post by hirvi74 »

16bitvoid wrote: post #10
mikhmha wrote: post #5

I really recommend people interested in Schizophrenia to read the book “Hidden Valley Road”. I saw it recommended in a HN comment previously. The book follows an American family who gave birth to 12 children, 6 of whom were later diagnosed with schizophrenia in their teens. It’s interesting because the book gives lots of insight into the historical to modern research on the condition. In the past psychologists though…

I can't speak to its validity, but the way it was explained to me from a neuroscientist a few years ago is that the general hypothesis now is that some people have a genetic predisposition to schizophrenia and that predisposition sort of lies dormant until triggered. That would explain how both could be true: it could be genetic and triggered by environment/trauma.

I would not be surprised if the "dormant until triggered" explanation is true for most conditions.

This seems to be pretty compelling observations for various disorders like Alzheimer's, various autoimmune conditions, etc. being caused or exacerbated by previous infections.

It was the case for me. I apparently have the genes for a semi-rare autoimmune condition (Guttate Psoriasis) that was triggered after a bout of some kind of viral illness. Typically, step throat is the trigger for many with the disorder, but that was not the case for me.

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