mental health crisis Archives - Amazing Health Advances

Marijuana and Schizophrenia?

The AHA! Team — Fri, 31 May 2024 05:31:56 +0000

Michael Greger M.D. FACLM via Nutrition Facts – The evidence linking cannabis use to psychotic disorders is considered strong enough to warrant a public health warning. “Even as proponents of [cannabis] legalization contend that smoked marijuana is a harmless natural substance that improves the quality of life, a growing body of evidence links it in a small but significant number of users to…the induction or aggravation of psychosis.” “Psychotic disorders are arguably the most serious of mental illnesses, the best known being schizophrenia.” “Schizophrenia, an illness that is characterized by delusions, hallucinations, and odd behavior, is among the top 10 leading causes of disability in the United States. It affects approximately 1% of the general population.” Can cannabis cause it? Schizophrenia… affects approximately 1% of the general population As I discuss in my video Does Marijuana Cause Schizophrenia?, over the last half-century, “nearly 2,000 studies have been published on this topic…and the pro-psychotic effects of cannabis have dominated media reporting about this drug. But how clear is the link?” Population studies have “consistently demonstrated a strong, positive, and dose-dependent association between cannabis use and the risk of psychotic disorders.” Indeed, studies have shown that the more cannabis people use, the more likely they are to be psychotic, as seen in a chart below and at 1:10 in my video. However, that doesn’t mean cannabis is the cause. It could just be a correlation or even a consequence of the disease. “The link between cannabis and psychosis is well established,” but it may be the case that patients with mental health problems self-medicate and “use cannabis to relieve their distress.” The link between cannabis and psychosis is well established… As you can see below and at 1:38 in my video, there isn’t only a link between cannabis and psychosis in snapshot-in-time cross-sectional studies, but in cohort studies as well, where people are followed over time. Research has shown that cannabis use often precedes psychosis, not the other way around. Now, it goes without saying that “the vast majority of people who use cannabis do not develop psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia, and many people diagnosed with such disorders have never used cannabis.” But, overall, these studies are considered to be “strong enough evidence to warrant a public health message that cannabis use can increase the risk of psychotic disorders.” There is another potential explanation: Even though cannabis use precedes schizophrenia, could it be that whichever genes drive schizophrenia also make it more likely you start smoking pot? The biggest strike against the cannabis-schizophrenia link is country-by-country ecological studies that don’t seem to show more disease in areas where there’s more use. And, overall, schizophrenia rates seem to have remained stable or even gone down worldwide since the 1960s, even though there’s been a big bump in cannabis use since then. If about 10 percent of schizophrenia cases are attributable to marijuana use and there’s been a fourfold increase in use, why hasn’t there been a 40 percent increase in the prevalence of schizophrenia? The problem with that argument is “there is little reliable evidence on the temporal [true] trends in the incidence of schizophrenia, so it is difficult to know whether this statement is true or not.” Perhaps it’s more of an issue with potency rather than just cannabis in general. Indeed, “the incidence of schizophrenia is higher in countries…where high-potency cannabis has taken over the market compared with countries…where more traditional forms of cannabis are smoked.” The bottom line is you don’t know until you put it to the test. You can’t just randomize kids to cannabis, but, in a way, Nature set up a natural experiment for us. There are genes that kids randomly get that can increase their likelihood of smoking pot. Do those kids then go on to have a higher risk of schizophrenia? Yes, research “findings strongly support” all of those population studies that suggest “cannabis plays a causal [cause-and-effect] role in the development of schizophrenia.” Okay, but by how much? Let’s break it down. Even if cannabis use doubles the risk, that would mean only going from a 7-in-1,000 chance of developing a psychosis to 14 in 1,000. So, going from a 1 in 140 chance to a 1 in 70 chance. It would be different if schizophrenia runs in your family, where a doubling of risk could mean going from a one-in-ten chance to one in five, but, on a population scale, it could take thousands of cannabis users quitting to prevent a single case of schizophrenia. So, from a public health standpoint, “addiction is a far more common problem.” Researchers “estimate that people who try cannabis are ninefold more likely to become addicted to it”—even though that itself is relatively rare—“than to develop psychosis in their lifetime.” I have an entire series of videos on cannabis, which I originally released in a webinar and downloadable digital DVD. Key Takeaways Although some proponents of cannabis legalization argue that marijuana is a “harmless natural substance that improves the quality of life,” it has been linked “in a small but significant number of users to…the induction or aggravation of psychosis.” Schizophrenia, a psychotic disorder characterized by hallucinations, odd behavior, and delusions, affects about 1 percent of the general population. Studies have found that the more cannabis people use, the more likely they are to be psychotic, but that could just be a correlation or even a consequence of the disease. Individuals with mental health problems may self-medicate and use cannabis to relieve distress, for example. Research has found that cannabis use often precedes psychosis, not the other way around. Overall, there appears to be “strong enough evidence to warrant a public health message that cannabis use can increase the risk of psychotic disorders.” There does not seem to be more disease in regions with greater cannabis use. Overall, schizophrenia rates appear to have remained stable or even declined worldwide since the 1960s, despite a large jump in cannabis use since then. Potency may be a bigger issue. In countries with higher potency cannabis, the incidence of schizophrenia is higher than in countries with “more traditional forms.” Some genes can increase our likelihood of using cannabis, and kids who randomly get them have been found to have a higher risk of schizophrenia. Research suggests that cannabis may have a cause-and-effect role in the development of that psychosis. Even if cannabis use doubles the risk, however, that would just mean a 1-in-70 chance of developing a psychosis without a family history of schizophrenia. From a public health standard, the far more common problem is addiction. To read the original article click here.

The post Marijuana and Schizophrenia? appeared first on Amazing Health Advances.

Beware of THESE 6 Adverse Health Effects Linked to Social Media Use

AHA Publisher — Fri, 29 Jan 2021 08:00:11 +0000

Sara Middleton via NaturalHealth365 – Rates of depression among American adults tripled during COVID-19, according to a recent survey published in JAMA Network Open. Given the absolute calamity of the past year, this news isn’t likely to surprise many people. But what might be surprising to hear is that the very social media platforms people use to stay informed (and stay in touch with their loved ones) could actually be worsening the mental health crisis. Excessive Social Media Consumption Has Severe Consequences, Especially for Young Adults, New Study Reveals A recent study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine concluded that too much social media is a net negative for a person’s mental and emotional well-being … and it doesn’t take long to have a deleterious effect, either. The study was conducted by researchers from the University of Arkansas, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System. The researchers asked 990 participants ages 18 to 30 how much time they spend on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Instagram, and Snapchat. At the same time, the participants filled out a questionnaire to help researchers detect depression. At a follow-up six months later, the participants filled out the questionnaire again and re-reported on their social media consumption. Analysis of the data revealed that young adults who were on social media for more than 300 minutes (5 hours) per day, even if they were not depressed at the start of the study, were 2.8 times as likely to be depressed six months later, compared to people who used social media for less than 2 hours per day. This research is corroborated by a similar study from China published in April of last year in PLOS One, which found that higher exposure to social media was associated with an increased risk of anxiety and mental health disorders. The bottom line: There are plenty of things going on right now in the world that may lead you to feel depressed. If you’ve been struggling with your mental health, don’t add to your pain by spending too much time on social media. Here Are Five Other Negative Effects of Too Much Scrolling (Plus Tips on How to Curb Your Social Media Habit) Tripling your risk of depression is bad enough, but additional research indicates that excessive social media use has also been linked to other negative health outcomes, including: Poor sleep Anxiety Loneliness Poor body image Decreased communication with family members If you have one or more social media accounts, now might be a good time to ask yourself if any of these issues sound familiar to you. If so, it’s never been a better time to cut back. How much is enough? This can be different from person to person, but one recent study from the Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology found that 30 minutes per day or less can start to lead to better health outcomes. To get your habits moving in the right direction, here are three things you can do: Delete your social media apps off your phone or at least remove them from your home screen Go “phone-free” in the bedroom and at the dinner table Turn off push notifications And for a bonus tip: it’s not just how much time you spend on social media, but how you use it — so consider unfollowing anyone who has content that is stressful or triggering for you to read. Ready to talk to someone? Call SAMHSA’s National Helpline, 1-800-662-HELP (4357), a free, confidential, 24-hour-a-day, 365-day-a-year, information service for individuals and family members facing mental and/or substance use disorders. Or, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255. Sources for this article include: ScienceDaily.com JAMANetwork.com UMN.edu Childmind.org Childmind.org RSPH.org.uk NIH.gov Guilfordjournals.com PLOS.org To read the original article click here. For more articles from NaturalHealth365 click here.

The post Beware of THESE 6 Adverse Health Effects Linked to Social Media Use appeared first on Amazing Health Advances.

Ohio County Sees ‘Catastrophic’ Rise in Opioid Deaths, Coroner Says COVID Is Culprit

AHA Publisher — Tue, 20 Oct 2020 07:00:30 +0000

Andrea Morris via CBN News – The coronavirus pandemic has impacted everyone in some way after descending upon civilization with full force, but the mental health crisis it has created has also been deadly. Franklin County, Ohio has seen a sharp increase in deaths from overdose since the start of COVID-19, prompting the local coroner to inform residents of these grim facts. Dr. Anahi Ortiz said the opioid epidemic affecting Franklin County has been “catastrophic” and it’s directly connected with the coronavirus. “By the first six months of 2020, current data shows that we saw a 73.4 percent increase in overdose fatalities in Franklin County,” Dr. Ortiz pointed out. “I think the anxiety and depression that has come from COVID-19 has exacerbated addiction in a number of ways,” she added. “Thinking about families who already have the anxiety and isolation from COVID-19 and their loved one has just died from addiction, that’s just a tremendous burden to bear.” Dr. Ortiz explained that 85% of the overdose deaths were fentanyl-related. “Then you have folks who perhaps because they became unemployed, etc., may have not been able to buy their usual, and then when they do get some money, they start using again, and they start at the same doses they were taking previously, and that’s when they die,” Ortiz added. She noted that Franklin County has launched training events where locals learn how to use an opioid-reversal medication called Narcan as officials have worked to help residents receive treatment and resources. Ultimately, patients must understand the associated risks when taking opioid-related medications, and that knowledge could help prevent some addiction before it begins. CBN News previously reported on other mental instabilities linked to the coronavirus pandemic, such as the rise in suicide, anxiety, and depression. In August, the CDC released a report revealing that 25.5 percent of Americans age 18 to 24 had seriously considered suicide with the past 30 days. For adults ages 25 to 44, that percentage was 16 percent. Anxiety and depression among younger adults, women, and the poor have been the highest. Data collected by the Census Bureau showed that a third of Americans were exhibiting signs of anxiety, depression, or both. If you’re dealing with mental health issues during the pandemic like suicidal thoughts, addiction, and depression, support groups and helplines are available to assist you. CBNtelephone counselors are available to pray with you at 1-800-700-7000. The Suicide Prevention Hotline can be reached by calling 1-800-273-8255. The National Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health America can be contacted by clicking here. To read the original article click here. For more articles from CBN News click here.

The post Ohio County Sees ‘Catastrophic’ Rise in Opioid Deaths, Coroner Says COVID Is Culprit appeared first on Amazing Health Advances.