THC and Schizophrenia

[yvonne1]

Hello Im studing mental health and I know people who smoke marjiuana, I didn't think it was that bad.

I know THC is marjiuana but what dose it stand for?

The other thing is for someone to be diagnosed with Schizophrenia would marjiuana be enough to be the sole cause or would there be another reason ?

If it is then why dosen't this happen to everyone who uses it ?

If not what is the cause of schizophrenia ?

:innerconf:confused:

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

thc stands for tetrahydrocannabinol.

i think that the medical community has been in some disagreement about the causes of schizophrenia, but being due to cannabinol use is not one of them. the causes have to do with the physiological neurotransmitters in the brain that are misfiring or faulty anatomy. the cannabinol merely helps enable the manifestation of the disease that was already lurking there.

• http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec15/ch202/ch202e.html
  
• http://www.fpnotebook.com/psych/psychosis/schzphrn.htm
  
• http://www.medicinenet.com/schizophrenia/article.htm

[yvonne1]

Thank you Daytonite you were a big help :loveya:

[Noryn]

There was a study a year or so ago that led researchers to think marijuana does cause psychosis as it doubled the risk.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4305783.stm

Critics of this study will say that correlation is not causation or that this set of population were already at high risk.

Marijuana is difficult to study because of its legal status and many also use other drugs or alcohol.

Right now I really don't think there is enough definite evidence to say that marijuana is a sole cause of schizophrenia.

Some people who smoke it can have "bad trips" which consist of panic/anxiety attacks. Perhaps even hallucinations. This is a very small percentage and I don't think anyone knows why, some people suggest lacing it with other drugs such as pcp. This is not likely though in all cases.

I agree with daytonite, right now it is believed that neurotransmitters are to blame. But we are still in the early stages of understanding mental health issues.

[SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN]

Well, my sister has been chronically schizophrenic since 16. She is now 51.

There's no question in my mind that her illness was exacerbated by her drug use, including psychedelics. When other people would giggle on marijuana Cindy would hallucinate.

Anecdotal evidence only, but I knew enough other people affected in the same way to see a link in its permitting it to express.

[amandapmct]

Although drugs can exacerbate psychotic illnesses and also cause "psychosis" it is not necessarily a cause of schizophrenia - and general consensus (sort of) is that there must be a genetic predisposition to get schizophrenia.0 Schizophrenia can't even be diagnosed until there have been a whole range of symptoms for some time - either six months or a year, I can't remember.

[mshultz]

According to the Introduction to Addiction class I took, people with mental illnesses are more likely to use mind-altering drugs, and are more likely to have bad effects from these drugs. This needs to be taken into account when doing a study of whether THC usage causes schizophrenia.

Some time ago, I came across a college lecture on addiction (I think it has been pulled from the web, since I cannot find it anymore. My search term was "Asians and benzodiazepines"). This lecture had an abridged, but still lengthy, list of famous authors who had been alcoholics. Under the heading of famous scientists who had been alcoholics, it said that none were known, and that scientists tend to dislike drugs that cause cognitive impairment.

Personality has a great influence on drug use and abuse.