Can smoking marijuana cause psychosis?

Marijuana is the most widely used illegal drug in the world, in large part because it is considered by many users to be a "soft drug." And this low awareness of risk causes an illusion of false security, and many people increase their consumption by thinking that cannabis is a harmless drug.

With the regularization of recreational marijuana use in more and more countries, ideas such as marijuana being a innocent and safe drug (the same bias that occurs with alcohol, which despite being legal, is the drug that causes the most deaths and social problems in the world).

In recent years, several scientific studies have shown that frequent use of marijuana increases the chances of suffering from psychosis or schizophrenia, especially if consumption begins in adolescence (which is the case for most users).

On the one hand, marijuana use increases the chances of suffering from psychosis, and on the other hand, people who already suffer from psychotic symptoms or schizophrenia are more attracted to marijuana use as a form of self-medication (as is the case with alcohol and most mental health problems). psychological).

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What is cannabis psychosis?

What is a cannabis psychotic break? Cannabis directly affects parts of the brain that have many cannabinoid receptors, such as the hippocampus or the amygdala (essential parts in the functioning of memory or emotions). By directly affecting these parts of the brain, excessive cannabis use causes distortions of reality.

What are the symptoms of cannabis psychosis?

• Hallucinations (visual or auditory, such as hearing voices)
• Delusions of grandeur and self-reference (believing that people on the street are watching you or associating almost everything that happens with you)
• Paranoia and persecutory ideas
• Confusion
• depersonalization
• Anxiety and panic attacks
• aggressiveness or violent behavior
• Isolation

How long does marijuana psychosis last? It usually lasts more than a week and requires abstinence and drug treatment in most cases. If the person uses again, it is very likely that psychotic breaks will reappear, or even lead to schizophrenia in the long term.

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Can marijuana use cause schizophrenia?

A research team from the CSIC recently discovered that frequent and excessive consumption of cannabis breaks the balance in glutamate and dopamine transmission in the brain, which can lead to nervous system disturbances associated with psychosis and schizophrenia.

The key would be found in a malfunction of the NMDar receptor, related to neuronal plasticity and memory. This receptor regulates the action of glutamate, which stabilizes the entire neuronal system and counteracts the effects of the drug. Cannabis use deactivates the NMDAr receptor, which increases the effects of dopamine and can lead to psychosis.

Other research has found that marijuana users who have a certain variant of the AKT1 gene have up to seven times the risk of psychosis. In other words, a genetic predisposition seems to be necessary to develop psychotic symptoms after marijuana use.

Other studies found an increased risk of psychosis in adulthood among people who used marijuana as a teenager and had a specific variant of the COMT gene.

It has also been observed in various investigations that the use of marijuana worsens symptoms among people already suffering from schizophrenia or psychosis. Paradoxically, these people are more likely to turn to marijuana use as a form of self-medication, from the false belief that marijuana will ease your symptoms, not knowing that it will probably make them worse with weather.

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Self-deception among cannabis users

One of the most frustrating aspects for relatives and people close to regular cannabis users is that these they are not aware of the risk or the problems it causes in their lives. Marijuana is an addictive drug, for which many people have had to enter detox centers for months in order to overcome their addiction and return to having a normal life.

However, many people who smoke marijuana are "marijuana risk deniers." They do not believe that addiction exists, they do not believe that marijuana brings problems, and they even defend that it is all part of a kind of conspiracy. They are the usual delusions in some cases of addiction, in which the person is carried away by self-deception and creates a separate reality in which marijuana only gives you good things, it has no risks, and it is even the most important thing in your life (which clearly denotes the problem of addiction).

As I explained earlier, many people who are already experiencing problems from marijuana use increase their use in the hope that it will ease their symptoms. Which only makes them worse in the long run, trapping the person is a vicious circle which in many cases ends up ruining the person's life.

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Will quitting cannabis use end psychosis?

It is true that reducing or avoiding consumption reduces the chances of suffering from psychosis in the future. But among people who have already activated the genes associated with schizophrenia, it is very difficult to go back. It's like having pressed a button that can no longer be turned off. Marijuana can trigger a psychotic disorder and the symptoms can stay there forever.

How to quit marijuana to avoid developing (or worsening) psychosis

Marijuana is an addictive drug that has destroyed the lives of many people around the world. Quitting marijuana is not easy, precisely because it causes addiction. If you or someone close to you has begun to suffer from marijuana abuse problems, you should see a professional.

I am Luis Miguel Real, and I am a psychologist specializing in addictions. Contact me and we will get to work as soon as possible.