Study Links Mental Illness to Heavy Cannabis Use

Cannabis, also known as marijuana, is a major addictive drug that leaves a great impact on the lives of those who have an addictive nature. A recent study conducted by researchers at the Center for Addiction and Mental Health claims that people with mental illness are more likely to use cannabis.

When compared to healthy adults, people with mental illness are seven times more likely to use cannabis weekly.

According to the study report, consumption of cannabis is a serious and harmful addiction, and is seen in nearly 203 million people. Though researchers have highlighted the link between cannabis usage and mental illness, they could not produce the exact numbers and prevalence of problems caused by the use of the drug.

"We know that people with mental illness consume more cannabis, perhaps partially as a way to self- medicate psychiatric symptoms, but this data showed us the degree of the correlation between cannabis use, misuse, and mental illness," Dr. Shaul Lev-ran, Adjunct Scientist at CAMH and Head of Addiction Medicine at the Sheba Medical Center, Israel, said in a press statement.

In this study, researchers examined data collected from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions that involved 43,000 participants. The researchers had a face-to-face interview with the participants, who belonged to the age group of 18 and above.

With the help of a questionnaire, they evaluated the use of cannabis and the incidence of mental illnesses that included depression, anxiety, alcohol and drug-related disorder, and personality disorder based on criteria set by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), according to a news release.

The participants with mental illnesses reported having cannabis weekly, and the rate of cannabis use was high in those with bipolar disorder, personality disorder and other disorders.

Nearly 4.4 percent of participants with mental illness reported the use of cannabis weekly in the past 12 months. Four percent of the participants had cannabis use disorder.

The researchers conclude that based on the weekly use of cannabis, people with mental illness had higher rates of cannabis use. And it can, in turn, worsen their mental illness.