does marijuana cause schizophrenia?

Question

I heard that if your family has a history of mental problems and you do marijuana you will get schizophrenia. I have OCD and a few other people in my family do (2nd and 3rd cousins and my mom used to) but my grandpa takes Prozac for anxiety and I take it too. But no one in my family has ever had schizophrenia. So by "mental problems" do they mean if your family has any type of mental problems or does it only mean schizophrenia?

Answer 1

To make an inference on the association of any particular substance with a specific mental disorder is a formidable task. There hasn't been any formal scientific epidemiological study on the association of THC with any particular mental disorder including schizophrenia. Abuse of psychoactive substances (including alcohol) is known to trigger psychodynamic reactions in predisposed individuals; one may argue that it is not the substance itself triggering these mechanisms but the abuse; and what triggers the abuse is the already existing psychopathology....

In conclusion, the statement that "marijuana causes schizophrenia" is overtly simplistic and not supported by scientific evidence (as you already mentioned "you heard that..." which shows that this is not based on evidence but rather on anecdotal reports which cannot be considered scientifically valid)...

Answer 2

I remember reading recently that there were some studies that showed that marijuana use could be one of those environmental insults that brings on schizophrenia in a susceptible person. I think these studies were out of Great Britain and Australia. Schizophrenia is a genetic disorder, but a lot of people have the genes for it and never develop the illness. It's thought that some kind of thing (how big a thing is needed depends on the person) has to bring it on. Soooooo if you have no genes for schizophrenia, you could smoke pot every day for years and never get it (ok, nobody is sure about anything in this world, so I sure wouldn't do that! And you can get lung cancer, too). But if you have the genes for schizophrenia, and no one knows if they do because it is a very complicated illness, then you could get through life without coming down with it. But if you smoke pot as a young person, then you may well come down with it. That may be just the type of environmental insult your brain is waiting for to spring this horrible mental illness on you. Or some other thing could happen, like your best friend dies, and that brings it on. You're best off minimizing the risks that you can control. I figure, you're best off not screwing around with your brain. When you're a young person, your brain is developing, especially so up until age 25. Why damage your brain with foreign substances when they aren't a needed treatment for something that is wrong with you? Find other fun things to do, don't make stuff worse. And don't be sure that there has never been anyone in your family with schizophrenia. These things have been covered up. People were shoved away in institutions and everyone told the person died and when the people in the institutions died, they were buried in graves with no name, just a number. So nobody can say with confidence that it doesn't run in the family. If you want to know more, you will have to google this topic and read what the research says. I do think the government demonizes pot and makes things up, but you will have to google the topic and decide for yourself. I'd tell people not to smoke it when they are young, for sure.

PS it could be that people coming down with schizophrenia were predisposed to want to use pot because they were getting sick, and it is devilishly hard to distinguish between self-medicating a condition that is just developing, versus using a drug and coming down with it due to the drug use. The guy who claims he is a doc pointed this out.

Answer 3

No, schizophrenia is not caused by marijuana. It is a chemical imbalance within the brain. Your grandpa's reason for taking Prozac is because of depression, not schizophrenia. Your OCD is also a chemical imbalance, but it's not the same thing as schizophrenia. That being said, you should never, ever take any kind of mind altering drugs, including marijuana. Be well, take care, bless your heart.

Answer 4

There is no connection between smoking marijuana and developing schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is caused by a genetic abnormality that causes a chemical imbalance in the brain.... BUT BUT BUT -- smoking marijuana is never a good thing; it may not give you schizophrenia but it WILL screw up your life and create other problems for you.

Answer 5

Yes.Marijuana can cause schizophrenia but not in every case.

Answer 6

Not true at all, if that were true everyone who was around in the 60's would be schizophrenic. Could be that your family is predisposed to getting these types of things but I really don't think marijuana had anything to do with it.

Answer 7

Nobody knows the exact cause of schizophrenia. It has some genetic predisposition. But pot smoking does not cause it.

Answer 8

Wait, did you hear that? Yes I did. What do you suppose that means, are they on to us? Perhaps, but be patient, young Skywalker. Young Skywalker, what does that mean? That means shut up and let me answer the question. What question? The one about split personalities. Oh, what about this joint? What joint? The joint you're holding in your hand. Oh, that joint. Give that to the other guy.

Answer 9

Nope... I smoked pot as a teen and I'm normal ( at least I think I am or at least my inner voice tells me I am)

Answer 10

I don't know. I'll smoke a joint and then ask the purple gorilla sitting on my bed.