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My father was a mental health social worker. He worked with youths, mainly teens. In his experience the vast majority of teens that ended up in his hospital had
by xupybd 3y ago
My father was a mental health social worker. He worked with youths, mainly teens. In his experience the vast majority of teens that ended up in his hospital had some drug fueled episode that led to their mental health crisis.
He told me that he didn't think the drugs caused the mental illness but we're often the trigger. That is these kids already had a mental illness that had not started to present symptoms until it was triggered.
My father was not opposed to drug use. He had a history of recreational drug use and many of his life long friends are heavy marijuana users. So I don't think this observation came from an anti drug bias.
- sjc02060 3y agoIs that to assume these kids would've got mentally ill anyway, just later down the line?
- kayodelycaon 3y agoI think that's a safe assumption. Things like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder tend to get worse with time.
- denton-scratch 3y agoThat might be what parent is assuming. My view is that (a) they're already mentally ill; and (b) the psychedelic can trigger severe episodes that wouldn't otherwise have happened. I don't know how cannabis works for people with bipolar. Laing used to interpret all psychotic disorders as the same thing. I'm not sure that's right. It seems to me that the different types of bipolar are suffficiently distinct that it's unsafe to declare them variants of the same condition. And I'm pretty sure they're not on a continuum with schizophrenia. I don't know; I'm neither a doctor nor a therapist. It's just that a surprising proportion of the people I've known well have turned out to have some kind of psychotic disorder. Perhaps they're attracted to me, or me to them. Either way, perhaps I could be used as a kind of diagnostic sign.
- xupybd 3y agoI suspect so. My Father was only observing what he saw. He wasn't researching the cause. The key take away for me was that he was working with young people. I suspect these people may have ended up in mental health care but much later in life. If this were true you'd expect less of the later in life diagnoses to be drug related. I have no data on that.
- andrewedstrom 3y agoNot according to the article. > “The study estimated that 15% of schizophrenia cases in men could be averted if they avoided cannabis use disorder”
- seabrookmx 3y agoThis aligns with my anecdata. My (now diagnosed schitzophrenic) brother was always "off" but his first major episode was triggered by magic mushrooms, which nearly ended in his death (he was trying to cut a demon from his stomache with a hunting knife). If drugs are a match, the underlying mental health issues are gasoline.
- progmetaldev 3y agoI'm very much for individual freedom when it comes to drug use, assuming you aren't hurting others. I think in the push for cannabis legalization, many people have forgotten that cannabis is a psychedelic drug. While it's not the same as LSD or psilocybin, it can definitely change perception and thinking. In 1996 I had a psychotic episode from LSD, and developed generalized anxiety disorder and panic disorder. I always had a bit of anxiety, but it exacerbated the problem. Cannabis can trigger a bad panic attack for me, dependent on the strength and strain (probably more likely the different cannabinoids present). Cannabis can also make me very calm and give my mind a kind of "reset" that helps to destress and allows me to reflect on my current anxiety. I firmly believe that psychedelics are triggers and not the cause of mental disorders. As has been commonly said, set and setting are large contributing factors, even for cannabis use.
- Mike_12345 3y ago> I firmly believe that psychedelics are triggers and not the cause of mental disorders If a neurotoxic drug such as cannabis causes psychosis in someone who would otherwise never have become psychotic without the drug, then whether you call it a cause or a trigger is quibbling over semantics.
- xupybd 3y agoThat's an interesting question. Could someone have a serious mental health disorder that would never manifest without certain triggers. I'm not qualified to guess but I suspect it would be possible. Then if it's possible the rate that it happens would be important. If it's rare then it might not be important in the discussion of causes of mental health problems.
- Mike_12345 3y agoIsn't that the entire point of the article and study that we are commenting on?
- xupybd 3y ago
- emsy 3y agoAt least for schizophrenia, the data backs it up. The rates are unbelivebly stable, regardless of drug use (which varies much more per country or over time than the rates of schizophrenia).