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Chapter 23 - Cannabis and the Long-term Course of Psychosis

from Part VII - Cannabinoids and Schizophrenia: Aetiopathology and Treatment Implications

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 May 2023

By
Tabea Schoeler
Edited by
Deepak Cyril D'Souza ,
David Castle  and
Sir Robin Murray
Deepak Cyril D'Souza
Affiliation:
Staff Psychiatrist, VA Connecticut Healthcare System; Professor of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine
David Castle
Affiliation:
University of Tasmania, Australia
Sir Robin Murray
Affiliation:
Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist, Psychosis Service at the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust; Professor of Psychiatric Research at the Institute of Psychiatry
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Summary

Cannabis use is highly prevalent among individuals presenting with their first episode psychosis (FEP), and a substantial proportion of individuals continue to use cannabis following the onset of the illness. Longitudinal research following up FEP patients has now started to explore in more detail the impact of cannabis use on long-term prognosis of psychosis, implicating continued cannabis use as a risk factor for an unfavourable illness course of psychosis. Since cannabis use is one factor amenable to treatment, it constitutes an attractive interventional target for early intervention. As such, a nuanced understanding of how exposure to cannabis affects the long-term course of psychosis is paramount, to help clinicians and carers to formulate the best possible treatment choices for individuals with a first episode psychosis. This chapter will focus in more detail on questions concerning the impact of cannabis use on the illness course of psychosis, including an overview of its effects on clinical and functional outcome dimensions, an assessment of causality, and a discussion on the interplay between cannabis use and other factors implicated in long-term prognosis of psychosis.

Keywords

cannabissubstance userelapseprognosis of psychosispsychiatric epidemiologyfirst episode psychosis
Type
Chapter
Information
Marijuana and Madness , pp. 240 - 245
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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References

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  • Cannabis and the Long-term Course of Psychosis
  • Edited by Deepak Cyril D'Souza, Staff Psychiatrist, VA Connecticut Healthcare System; Professor of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, David Castle, University of Tasmania, Australia, Sir Robin Murray, Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist, Psychosis Service at the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust; Professor of Psychiatric Research at the Institute of Psychiatry
  • Book: Marijuana and Madness
  • Online publication: 12 May 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108943246.024
Available formats
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Save book to Dropbox

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  • Cannabis and the Long-term Course of Psychosis
  • Edited by Deepak Cyril D'Souza, Staff Psychiatrist, VA Connecticut Healthcare System; Professor of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, David Castle, University of Tasmania, Australia, Sir Robin Murray, Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist, Psychosis Service at the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust; Professor of Psychiatric Research at the Institute of Psychiatry
  • Book: Marijuana and Madness
  • Online publication: 12 May 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108943246.024
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Cannabis and the Long-term Course of Psychosis
  • Edited by Deepak Cyril D'Souza, Staff Psychiatrist, VA Connecticut Healthcare System; Professor of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, David Castle, University of Tasmania, Australia, Sir Robin Murray, Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist, Psychosis Service at the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust; Professor of Psychiatric Research at the Institute of Psychiatry
  • Book: Marijuana and Madness
  • Online publication: 12 May 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108943246.024
Available formats
×