Study Debunks Myths About Cannabis and Psychosis

[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]W[/dropcap]hile cannabis has a history of being associated with aggravating symptoms of psychosis, a new study shows promise that a component of cannabis can actually help alleviate psychosis-related symptoms in young people.

The British study, which was funded by the Medical Research Council, expanded on previous research that had shown that cannabidiol (CBD) worked in opposition of the psychoactive tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which has been linked to the development of psychosis. The study included patients who showed symptoms of psychosis but had not been diagnosed, with half taking CBD, and the other half taking a placebo. They performed memory tasks while undergoing a MRI scan. While all patients with psychosis symptoms showed abnormal brain activity, those who had taken CBD had less severe activity, suggesting CBD may be able to help the brain return to normal activity levels. The next step for the researchers is to see if CBD can be used for young people who are at risk of developing psychosis.

“One of the reasons CBD is exciting is because it is very well tolerated compared to the other anti-psychotics we have available,” said Dr. Sagnik Bhattacharyya from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King’s College in London, England.  “One of the main advantages of cannabidiol is that it is safe and seems to be very well tolerated, making it in some ways an ideal treatment. If successful, this trial will provide definitive proof of cannabidiol’s role as an antipsychotic treatment and pave the way for use in the clinic.”

“There is an urgent need for a safe treatment for young people at risk of psychosis,” he said. Current anti-psychotic medications have a range of side effects including weight gain, low blood pressure, low white-cell count and seizures. About three percent of the U.S. population will experience psychosis at some point in their life, and 100,000 adolescents and young adults will first experience psychosis each year.

“The mainstay of current treatment for people with psychosis are drugs that were first discovered in the 1950s and unfortunately do not work for everyone,” said Bhattacharyya. “Our results have started unraveling the brain mechanisms of a new drug that works in a completely different way to traditional anti-psychotics.”