Cannabis use has been on the rise.
One area of cannabis that is not commonly discussed is
its effects on Mental Health.
So in today's video,
we will be discussing the effects of cannabis and its
association with various mental health disorders.
In the United States more than 11.8
million young adults,
reported using marijuana in 2018.
And in 2011,
there were nearly 456 000 drug-related emergency department visits in
where marijuana use was mentioned in their medical records.
Well what is cannabis and what is it made out of?
Cannabis is a well-known drug,
which is known to alter the mind-body.
It is also known as pot, weed,
Ganja, Marijuana and many other terms.
People either smoke cannabis through a hand-rolled cigarette,
or through vapours and edibles.
Cannabis is derived from the plant Cannabis sativa,
which contains high amounts of THC.
This stands for Tetrahydrocannabinol.
This contains a psychoactive component that makes people feel high.
The other component of cannabis is cannabidiol,
which is used to reduce pain and inflammation.
Now that we know the components of cannabis,
You must be wondering about its effects on the brain
and body.
When a person smoke cannabis, THC and CBD
go into the lungs into the bloodstream.
Once the chemicals are in the bloodstream,
it is transported throughout the body. Well the after effects
of drugs are experienced at different intensities.
General effects include: increased appetite for food,
laughter,
and joy,
and the ability to hear, see, smell, taste and feel drastically
increases.
Focusing on the short term effects of cannabis on the
brain, cannabis creates
tiredness, difficulty in remembering information, concentrating
and confusion.
It can also lead to anxiety, fear and reduce
the ability of a person to react quickly, thus
making it dangerous to drive or operate equipment.
Short term-effects also include psychotic episodes,
including paranoia, delusion or even hallucinations. However,
the long-term effects of cannabis
use are severe. The ability for the brain to remember information, concentrate,
make decisions can significantly decrease,
as well as the overall IQ.
These effects can be permanent,
even after cannabis is stopped,
and can be experienced differently depending on the person,
especially on age.
Now that we know about the effects of cannabis on
the brain.
Let's dive into its effects on the body.
In the short-term,
just blood vessels,
decreases,
blood pressure and increases heart rate.
These can further cause a person to faint, become prone
to heart conditions or get a heart attack.
If a person continues to smoke cannabis in the long-term,
they can experience problems with their lungs.
This can increase the risk of bronchitis, lung infections,
chronic cough,
or increased build-up of mucus in the throat.
Cannabis can be used for both medicinal and recreational purposes.
And in Canada,
330,000
Canadians are using marijuana for medical purposes.
Some pros of medical marijuana is that it's safer to
use than opiates,
it's less addictive.
It's a great muscle relaxant,
it lessens tremors
in those with Parkinson's disease.
It's eased pain in people with multiple sclerosis, it manages nausea and weight-loss
in people with glaucoma
and research has shown promising results for PTSD.
However,
you can build a tolerance to medical marijuana causing one
to continuously increase your dosage to relieve pain.
In addition.
It's not widely available in all countries as every country
has different laws regulating its use.
Recreational marijuana usage is controversial.
In Canada is legal to use and is reduced the
black market network of cannabis distribution,
increasing consumer safety and utilizing taxpayer money for other uses.
However, recreational usage has negative impacts,
such as it's long-lasting effect on the brain and increased risk for mental health issues.
Let's drive into the age demographics of cannabis usage.
As shown in this graph
we can see that the majority of cannabis users are
below the age of 44 with the highest rate of
cannabis consumption in the age group of 25 to 34
and the lowest rate of cannabis consumers above the age
of 65.
But what's really interesting is that a literature review conducted
from the year 2000 to 2017,
saw that the highest increase in cannabis use was observed
in the older adult population,
50 years,
or older,
and specifically those 65 years or older had the greatest
increase in marijuana.
Some correlates of cannabis
use in the older age group,
were listed in the study and included being male, unmarried,
having various chronic diseases and psychological stress,
as well as the use of other substances such as
alcohol, tobacco and illicit drugs.
One question that often comes to mind when thinking about
cannabis usage.
It's how does frequent marijuana use
increase the development of mental disorders,
such a psychosis, schizophrenia, depression
and bipolar disorder?
And is there even a link between cannabis and these
mental health illnesses?
Well,
for starters, cannabis is prevalent in 50% of psychosis cases.
THC has been linked with causing positive psychosis symptoms
and neurocognitive changes,
by altering the prefrontal cortex and reducing synaptic density.
In addition, psychoactive effects in marijuana varies, depending
on the amount of THC consumed.
Also, it is suggested that endogenous cannabinoids,
the ones made by our own bodies,
have protective effects against the psychoactive impacts of THC.
A study looking at risk factors of psychosis development in
cannabis users, suggest that adolescents between the ages of 15
to 18 and more psychosis episodes compared to control subjects.
Maternal cannabis use, or using cannabis
while pregnant may also contribute to psychosis in the child
during later stages of their life.
Cannabis and schizophrenia, a mental disorder where people receive reality
through hallucinations, delusions and disorganized thinking. Studies suggests that marijuana
exposure might be one in factor that interacts with many
other factors to become possible causative agent in schizophrenia.
However,
there is no causal relationship between the two. Similar to
psychosis, adolescent
exposure to cannabis is associated with a higher risk of
developing schizophrenia, compared to adult cannabis usage.
Overall,
more research needs to be conducted to examine the complex
relationship, between cognition, cannabis and schizophrenia.
Several longitudinal studies show that cannabis placed individuals at a
moderate risk of developing depression.
Unfortunately,
they were unable to determine if it caused depression.
Also, cannabis with associated with increased risk of school,
dropout and unemployment,
which may indirectly cause depression.
THC has psychoactive effects which regulate mood and has been
associated with increased anxiety symptoms.
Several studies concluded that cannabis can place individuals at
a small risk of developing anxiety.
However,
similar to cannabis,
use and depression,
there's little evidence to suggest that cannabis causes anxiety.
Several studies show high rates of co-occurance of cannabis
and bipolar disorders.
Cannabis has shown to worsen manic symptoms in those with
pre-existing, bipolar disorder and might also contribute to the genesis of
manic type symptoms in those with no pre-existing
bipolar disorder.
If you or someone you know
is addicted to marijuana, there are
many treatment options available. First,
it's important to educate yourself on the risks and dangers
of cannabis.
See a therapist, or join community programs to meet people who are
going through similar experiences.
Thanks for watching.
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See you next time.