Cannabis and mental health
Factsheet for young
people
Introduction
Lots of young people want to know about drugs.
Often, people around you are enjoying them, and you may wonder how
it will make you feel. You may even feel under pressure to use
drugs in order to fit in, or be “cool”. You may have heard that
cannabis is no worse than cigarettes, or that it is harmless.
What is cannabis?
The cannabis plant is a member of the nettle
family that have grown wild throughout the world for
centuries. People have used it for lots of reasons other than
the popular “chilling” effect. It comes in two main forms:
- resin, which is a brown black lump also known as bhang, ganja
or hashish, and
- herbal cannabis, which is made up of the dried leaves and
flowering tops, and is known as grass, marijuana, spliff, weed,
etc.
Skunk cannabis is made from a cannabis plant
that has more active chemicals in it (THC), and the effect on your
brain is stronger. Because street cannabis varies so much in
strength, you will not be able to tell exactly how it will make you
feel at any particular time.
What does it do to you?
When you smoke cannabis, the active compounds
reach your brain quickly through your bloodstream. It then
binds/sticks to a special receptor in your brain. This causes your
nerve cells to release different chemicals, and causes the effects
that you feel. These effects can be enjoyable or unpleasant. Often
the bad effects take longer to appear than the pleasant ones.
- Good/pleasant effects: You may feel relaxed and talkative, and
colours or music may seem more intense.
- Unpleasant effects: Feeling sick/panicky, feeling paranoid or
hearing voices, feeling depressed and unmotivated.
Unfortunately, by the time you realise that
cannabis might be doing you harm, you may find it difficult to stop
using it.
The effects on your mental health
Using cannabis triggers mental health problems
in people who seemed to be well before, or it can worsen any mental
health problems you already have. Research has shown that
people who are already at risk of developing mental health
problems, such as depression or schizophrenia (e.g. because
somebody else in the family has it), are more likely to start
showing symptoms if they use cannabis regularly. The younger you
are when you start using it, the more you may be at risk. This is
because your brain is still developing and can be more easily
damaged by the active chemicals in cannabis.
If you stop using cannabis once you have
started to show symptoms of mental illness, such as depression,
paranoia or hearing voices, these symptoms may go away.
Unfortunately, not everyone will get better
just by stopping smoking. If you go on using cannabis, the symptoms
can get worse. It can also make any treatment that your doctor
might prescribe for you, work less well. Your illness may come back
more quickly and more often if you continue to use once you get
well again.
Some people with mental health problems find
that using cannabis makes them feel a bit better for a while.
Unfortunately this does not last, and it does nothing to treat the
illness. In fact, it may delay you from getting help you need and
the illness may get worse in the longer term.
What can you do?
If you are at all worried about the effect
that cannabis might be having on your mental health, talk to
somebody about it. This could be friends and family, or any
professional that you are in contact with, such as:
- doctor or nurse
- teacher or school/college counsellor
- youth counsellor
- social worker
There are lots of people who can help you
decide whether you do have a problem, and what you can do about it.
However, if you don’t talk about it, you are unlikely to get
help.
Mental health problem generally do get better
if you treat them quickly.
Things that you can do in the meantime to help
yourself include:
- Having a day without cannabis
- Avoiding bulk buying
- Avoiding people, places and activities that you associate with
cannabis use
- Not using it if you are feeling low in yourself
- STOPPING if you get hallucinations and seeking help.
Further information
There are useful websites if you want to know
more about the effects of cannabis and other drugs on your mental
health.
References
Arendt, M. et al (2005):
Cannabis-induced psychosis and subsequent schizophrenia-spectrum
disorders: follow-up study of 535 incident cases. British
Journal of Psychiatry, 187:510-515.
Fergusson, D. M., Poulton, R., Smith,
P. F. et al (2006): Cannabis and psychosis, British
medical Journal 332:172-175.
Patton, G.C., Coffey, C., Carlin,
J.B., et al. (2002). Cannabis use and mental health in
young people: cohort study, British Medical Journal,
325, 1195-1198.
The Royal College of Psychiatrists
(2006): Leaflet on Cannabis and Mental Health, Series
editor: Dr Philip Timms.
With grateful thanks to Dr
Stephanie Cress and Dr Lisetta Lovett. Series Editor: The Child and
Family Public Education Board chaired by Dr Margaret Bamforth.
© [August 2008] Royal College of Psychiatrists. This leaflet may
be downloaded, printed out, photocopied and distributed free of
charge as long as the Royal College of Psychiatrists is properly
credited and no profit is gained from its use. Permission to
reproduce it in any other way must be obtained from the Head of Publications. The College
does not allow reposting of its leaflets on other sites, but allows
them to be linked to directly.
For a catalogue of public education materials or copies of our
leaflets contact:
The Royal College of Psychiatritsts is a charity registered in
England and Wales (228636) and in Scotland (SCO38369
Please note that we are unable to offer advice on individual cases. Please see our FAQ for advice on getting help.
Please answer the following questions and press 'submit' to send your answers OR
E-mail your responses to dhart@rcpsych.ac.uk
On each line, click on the mark which most closely reflects how you feel about
the statement in the left hand column.
Your answers will help us to make this leaflet more useful - please try to rate
every item.
Did you look at this leaflet because you are a (maximum of 2 categories
please):
Age group (please tick correct box)