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Originally Posted by !@#$%!
So the authors of this study think that cannabis use is not the main causal factor for the incidence of schizophrenia, but seems to precipitate the onset of psychotic symptoms / paranoia for vulnerable persons. So if you have a high vulnerability for schizophrenia the abuse of cannabis will most likely lead to severe paranoia and a worse outcome!
The co-occurrence of substance abuse and schizophrenia is one of the worst problems in psychiatry! It is very difficult to offer a good treatment approach for this group of patients. Special treatment programs are available for schizophrenic patients with cannabis dependence or other types of substance abuse.
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although some of the more extreme symptoms of bi-polar (what i was diagnosed with) are very similar to those of schizophrenia, etiologically they are thought to be very different.
that's not to say that some of these statements are not also true of bipolar disorder... particularly this one
The cannabis use precipitates schizophrenia in vulnerable persons.
...i figure sooner or later something would have set me off even if i was drug free, but i guess i'll never really know because
Patients with psychotic disorders are more liable to abuse cannabis
...i also think that regardless of what they tell you in AA/NA, there is a huge difference between use and abuse. ie smoking up 4 or 5 times everyday is very different than smoking every other saturday night or so.