Cannabis and Mental Health
More and more in my practice as a therapist, clients are reporting anxiety, depression, anhedonia, and amotivation while reporting an increase in their daily cannabis intake. It is often hard to know if the underlying anxiety and depression caused the cannabis use, or if the cannabis use increased the anxiety and depression over time. What is scientifically known, is that if an individual is biological predisposed to anxiety or depression, he or she is more at risk of developing anxiety or depressive symptoms from cannabis intake, than a person who is not biologically prone to anxiety or depression.
This month's Translational Issues in Psychological Science, Vol. 4, Number 1 has some great empirically validated, evidence-based journal articles discussing purported amotivational syndrome caused by cannabis use, in particular, among adolescents. "Findings showed that relatively frequent young-adult cannabis users (52 days or more per year) were rated by informants as having higher levels of amotivation than nonusers. These findings are consistent with several prior naturalistic studies demonstrating a link between cannabis use and self-reported amotivation (Kouri et. al., 1995; Lac & Luk, 2017; Looby & Earleywine, 2007; Verdejo-Garcia et.al., 2006) From Translational Issues in Psychological Science, Vol 4, Number 1. In addition, cannabis use is associated with psychotic-like experiences among teens (Kelleher & Cannon, 2018).
According to another study, cannabis users who had used 52+ days in the past year were more likely than those who had not used cannabis in the past year to “have more psychotic-like experiences, to binge drink, smoke tobacco, and use illicit drugs; and to have more depression symptoms.” (Haynes, Brem, Stuart, et. al, 2018).
After combing through 20 years worth of research, Wayne Hall, a professor and director of the Centre for Youth Substance Abuse Research at the University of Queensland in Australia, published the following about the risks of chronic marijuana use in the August 2017 issue of the Society for the Study of Addiction.
The risk of developing a dependence on cannabis is approximately 1 in 10 for all users and 1 in 6 for those who begin using in adolescence.
Regular users have double the risk of developing psychotic symptoms and disorders, particularly if they or family members have a history of such disorders. This risk is elevated for people who start using in their mid-teens.
Adolescents who regularly use cannabis have poorer educational outcomes, and they’re likelier to use other illicit drugs.
Regular use of cannabis that starts in adolescence and continues into adulthood may result in cognitive impairment.
CBD is the non-psychoactive compound in the cannabis plant and has been shown to help with seizures, inflammation, and to aid with childhood epilepsy. There are scientific, evidence-based studies backing this information.
However, I have found no large randomized, double-blind, controlled stage studies showing the efficacy of CBD to reduce generalized anxiety or major depressive disorder. I found one small study using a sample size of 24 people that shows that CBD mildly decreases social anxiety, so there is much scientific research to be done in this area. There are also many potential drug interactions with CBD that people are unaware of, including but not limited to harmful interactions with NSAIDs, beta-blockers, HIV antivirals, antihistamines, and more. Some CBD has harmful toxins and can be extracted using deadly solvents such as propane, hexane and other forms of hydrocarbon. Consult your physician before taking any form of CBD.
I want my clients to be healthy and happy and to have a reduction in generalized anxiety and major depressive symptoms. I hope more studies come out that are scientific, evidence-based, controlled-staged studies and research on CBD and its effects on mental health for the benefit of mental health and the public.
Please see this linked article from The Atlantic, August 20, 2018:
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/08/americas-invisible-pot-addicts/567886/