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Authors

Taschner KL

Title

[Psychopathology and differential diagnosis of so-called Cannabis psychoses].

Language

German

Source

Fortschritte der Neurologie-Psychiatrie

Date

1983 Jul

Issue

51(7)

Pages

235-48

Abstract

From 237 patients examined for drug-induced psychoses, 50 cannabis psychoses were examined according to the criterion "main cause of addiction" and 107 were examined according to the criterion "consumption during the last three months before hospitalization". The cannabis psychoses were compared to the other drug-induced psychoses as well as to a control group consisting of 219 schizophrenic patients. General agreement was found with the other drug-induced psychoses as well as with the group of schizophrenic patients. The variation from the symptomatology of the schizophrenics is generally common to both the cannabis psychoses and the other drug-induced psychoses. Judging by the results of our investigations, it must be concluded that there is no disease "cannabis psychosis" in its own right, just as the disease "drug-induced psychosis" also does not exist in its own right. While there is a certain slight drug-specific psychopathological undertone, it does not entitle us to speak of a syndromatic or indeed a nosological entity. The psychopathological cross section does not permit a differentiation in the individual psychoses groups mentioned, although this has often been attempted in the literature. That there are no relevant psychopathological differences between cannabis psychoses and endogenous schizophrenia could, for one, be based on the fact that we are observing the final stage of one and the same underlying pathological process. In this case both syndromes would in practice be endogenous psychoses, with the cause not being known in one case. The psychopathologic similarity of these two psychoses forms could, however, also be based on the assumption that cannabis psychoses are triggered schizophrenias, so that we could in both cases be dealing with one and the same disease. We see the solution to the problem of diagnosing symptomatic psychoses, and in particular cannabis psychoses, in making a diagnosis that takes the etiology into consideration in addition to the syndrome diagnosis.

Authors

Mathers DC, Ghodse AH, Caan AW, Scott SA

Title

Cannabis use in a large sample of acute psychiatric admissions.

Source

British Journal of Addiction

Date

1991 Jun

Issue

86(6)

Pages

779-84

Abstract

A sample of 908 patients drawn from two London Psychiatric Hospitals is described in terms of age, sex, self-reported drug and alcohol history, drug urinalysis results and initial psychiatric diagnosis. Some (34.5%) of respondents admitted to using cannabis at least once in their lifetime and 13% of those tested had urines positive for cannabis on admission. Cannabis use is commoner in young males. These is a higher likelihood that an initial diagnosis of 'psychosis' will be made at admission if patients either report use of cannabis or present a urine sample positive for cannabis.

Id Code

91059143

Authors

Lewis G, Croft-Jeffreys C, David A

Title

Are British psychiatrists racist? [see comments]. CM - Comment in: Br J Psychiatry 1990 Dec;157:936-7, Comment in: Br J Psychiatry 1991 Jan;158:135, Comment in: Br J Psychiatry 1991 Feb;158:289-90

Source

British Journal of Psychiatry

Date

1990 Sep

Issue

157

Pages

410-5

Abstract

Out of a sample of 220 British psychiatrists, 139 completed a questionnaire regarding a case vignette of psychotic illness. The sex and 'race' of the vignette were varied and the responses compared. The Afro-Caribbean case was regarded as that of an illness of shorter duration, and requiring less neuroleptics than the white case. Respondents judged the Afro-Caribbean case as potentially more violent and thought criminal proceedings were more appropriate. The female vignette was perceived as less violent, less criminal, and less likely to need neuroleptics. Cannabis psychosis and acute reactive psychosis tended to be diagnosed more often and schizophrenia less often in Afro-Caribbean cases, refuting the claim that psychiatrists tend to overdiagnose schizophrenia in this group. Such 'race thinking' (a form of stereotyping which is distinct from ideological racism) could lead to inappropriate management.

Id Code

94356351

Authors

Thomas H

Title

Psychiatric symptoms in cannabis users [see comments]. [Review] CM - Comment in: Br J Psychiatry 1993 Nov;163:698

Source

British Journal of Psychiatry

Date

1993 Aug

Issue

163

Pages

141-9

Abstract

The usual phenomena of cannabis intoxication include experiences which in a non-intoxicated state would be considered as psychiatric symptoms. These can be distinguished from adverse reactions to cannabis, the commonest of which is an acute anxiety state. Acute psychotic episodes can also follow ingestion of the drug but are infrequent. These can be classified as acute confusional states and episodes occurring in clear consciousness. Neither presentation consistently shows enough specific features to warrant the diagnosis of 'cannabis psychosis' as a distinct clinical entity. The evidence that cannabis has a causative role in chronic psychotic or affective disorders is not convincing, although the drug may modify the course of an already established illness. Further controlled studies would be required to clarify the aetiological significance of the drug in these conditions.

References

90

Id Code

88061263

Authors

Schneier FR, Siris SG

Title

A review of psychoactive substance use and abuse in schizophrenia. Patterns of drug choice. [Review]

Source

Journal of Nervous & Mental Disease

Date

1987 Nov

Issue

175(11)

Pages

641-52

Abstract

We reviewed studies measuring unsupervised use of psychoactive substances in schizophrenic and control populations and organized the results by substance class. Despite much variation in their methodologies, these studies broadly agreed that schizophrenic groups' use of amphetamines and cocaine, cannabis, hallucinogens, inhalants, caffeine, and tobacco was significantly greater than or equal to use by control groups consisting of other psychiatric patients or normal subjects. Schizophrenic groups' use of alcohol, opiates, and sedative-hypnotics was significantly less than or equal to use by control groups. We discuss the implications of this nonrandom pattern of drug choice for the hypothesis of substance abuse as a form of self-medication in schizophrenia. [References: 93]

Id Code

95078211

Authors

McGuire PK, Jones P, Harvey I, Bebbington P, Toone B, Lewis S, Murray RM

Title

Cannabis and acute psychosis.

Source

Schizophrenia Research

Date

1994 Sep

Issue

13(2)

Pages

161-7

Abstract

The Present State Examination was used to assess the psychopathology of 23 psychotic patients who were cannabis positive on urinary screening, and 46 matched drug-free controls. Cases and controls were indistinguishable in terms of psychopathology, DSMIII diagnoses, onset of recent illness, the proportion of first admissions, ethnicity, and socio-economic class, differing only in their histories of substance use. These data suggest that psychosis which develops or recurs in the context of cannabis use does not have a characteristic psychopathology or mode of onset, and is not restricted to a particular ethnic or socio-demographic group. There is thus little evidence to support the validity of 'cannabis psychosis' as a diagnostic entity.

Id Code

92180676

Authors

Peralta V, Cuesta MJ

Title

Influence of cannabis abuse on schizophrenic psychopathology.

Source

Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica

Date

1992 Feb

Issue

85(2)

Pages

127-30

Abstract

A study was carried out on a group of 95 schizophrenic patients (DSM-III-R criteria) under the age of 35, 23 of whom were cannabis abusers in the past year. The objective of the study was to evaluate the effect of cannabis on positive and negative schizophrenic symptoms, evaluated using Andreasen's Scales for the Assessment of Positive and Negative Symptoms (SAPS and SANS). There were no statistically significant differences between the groups on the SAPS; the group of cannabis abusers had higher scores except for the delusions subscale. On the SANS nonabusers scored higher, with a significant difference on the alogia subscale. The results suggest that the consumption of cannabis by schizophrenic patients could attenuate negative symptoms, which would support the self-medication hypothesis of cannabis abuse.

Authors

- Gruber AJ, Pope HG Jr, Brown ME

Title

- Do patients use marijuana as an antidepressant?

Language

- Eng

Date

- 1996

Issue

- 1062-6417

Source

- Depression

Pages

- 77-80

Country

- UNITED STATES

Abstract

- Several lines of evidence suggest that cannabis may have antidepressant effects. However, methodologic limitations in available studies make the results difficult to interpret. We review this literature and present five cases in which the evidence seems particularly clear that marijuana produced a direct antidepressant effect. If true, these observations argue that many patients may use marijuana to "self-treat" depressive symptoms.

Research Institute

- Biological Psychiatry Laboratory, McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts 02178, USA.

References

- 34

Source

- Depression 1996;4(2):77-80