How Smoking Marijuana Can Affect Your Mental Health
How marijuana affects mental health and whether people with mental health problems can smoke.
Marijuana is considered a “soft drug”, so many are confident that even prolonged and regular use does not threaten anything. However, some studies show that abuse can adversely affect mental health over the years.
Scientists warn of an increased risk of developing such severe mental disorders as psychosis, mania, and even paranoid schizophrenia. At the same time, other researchers believe that it’s too early to talk about a causal relationship, and the brain of heavy smokers is fully restored in just a month after the connection. There are still others who even suggest using weed to treat mental disorders. We understand what to fear.
How marijuana affects the brain
Marijuana is the most popular drug and the fourth most common way to poison your body a little (immediately after alcohol, tobacco, and coffee). Its effect on the body is complicated: the active substances do not directly interfere with its work, but indirectly affect many vital processes.
Cannabis resin contains more than 80 active substances (cannabinoids), but the natural effect of smoking best CBD vape pen (find out here) is caused by a combination of two main substances, the effect of which is the opposite.
Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)
It causes euphoria, revitalization, and pleasant excitement, and also enhances anxiety, and over-inflation.
Cannabidiol (CBD)
It has an inhibitory effect, reduces anxiety, and soothes.
The interaction of these two substances explains the exciting effect of small doses (THC – a more active substance) and the subsequent inhibitory effect – of large doses (CBD is greater in volume).
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Cannabinoids simultaneously affect several parts of the brain and processes in the body
The limbic system, which is responsible for emotions, which can cause both euphoria and fear.
The hippocampus controlling memory and attention: memory becomes weaker, attention becomes distracted, and thinking becomes chaotic. Consumers may describe these sensations as intuition and insight, but in reality, it is a chaotic wandering of thoughts and emotions;
The prefrontal cortex, which begins to react to external sensations sharpened: sounds, colors seem brighter;
Affect the feeling of hunger, increasing appetite;
Enhance the release of dopamine, which explains the positive emotions.
Is there marijuana addiction
Contrary to popular belief, hemp addiction exists, but the risk of developing it is lower than from hard drugs, tobacco, or alcohol.
In the United States, marijuana addiction is on the list of mental disorders, and it affects more than four million people, and in England, there are hotlines and support groups for addicts.
The condition of the addict is described as “
The experiment with the participation of students (volunteers smoked 11 jambs a day, and they were still paid for it) showed that their learning abilities recovered when the experiment ended. Until irreversible changes in the brain directly caused by marijuana have been identified. Science says that, if tied, on average in a month, mental abilities will return to normal. However, this is not accurate: research is ongoing, and there is already evidence (so far requiring clarification) that some consumers, even months later, are less able to make informed decisions and more prone to risk and impulsiveness.
Despite rumors, withdrawal symptoms exist when using a marijuana
The impact of marijuana is very individual and depends not only on the variety of herbs but also on the reactions of a particular organism. So to predict it in advance is almost impossible.
The best-studied psychoses are those that occur with cannabis in various forms. A large dose of hemp (or a small one, but with a high THC content) can cause acute psychosis – a mental disorder in which a person loses touch with reality and the ability to behave appropriately; he can see hallucinations, hear voices, and express delusions.
In medicine, there is a particular term, Cannabis induced psychosis. It is accompanied by bouts of fear (terrible hallucinations cause them) and aggression (a person tries to defend themselves from them).
There may even be a twilight disorder of consciousness in which the patient flees where his eyes look, without reacting to others, and after hours he does not remember what happened to him/her. According to various studies, the risk of getting such an experience is from 1.5% to 5%, and the higher it is, the higher the dose you take. Usually, after a few hours, the patient fully wakes up, but there may be long-lasting consequences.
The relationship between marijuana abuse and schizophrenia has been dealt with by hundreds of studies involving tens of thousands of people, and most of them have come to the conclusion that there is such a relationship, and is quite strong.
One of the most significant studies was carried out in Finland: for 15 years, doctors examined 18,000 patients with acute psychosis caused by drugs or alcohol, which over time from single psychotic attacks developed into schizophrenia.
46% of patients in whom psychosis was caused by hemp within eight years fell ill with some form of schizophrenia. This is more common than patients who abuse alcohol or amphetamines.
For a disposable CBD vape pen to provoke mania or the onset of bipolar disorder, there must also be a hereditary predisposition. It was even possible to establish the genes that are responsible for it. If you have a specific AKT1 gene variant, the risk of manic psychosis is higher. “If you have a BAR and use marijuana to relieve your symptoms, ask your doctor to send you for a genetic test,” the study authors carefully suggest.
