Men are more prone to "cannabis psychosis" than women
- A 35-year study shows that men are more prone to mental disorders due to cannabis smoking.
- However, the real reason why this is the case is not yet known.
A recent study shows gender differences.
Although many positive and medically beneficial discoveries about cannabis have been made and confirmed, concerns remain about the lasting effects of cannabis on the brain.
In the 1980s, researchers conducted an experiment to study cannabis use in approximately 45,000 men aged 18 years. The 35-year study regularly looked at men's marijuana intake, especially in smokers whose tests confirmed some type of mental disorder.
The results were interesting. Men who smoked marijuana were diagnosed 2.4 times more often as schizophrenics than those who did not smoke marijuana. Men who smoked cannabis regularly, which was defined more than 50 times in 15 years, were six times more likely to develop schizophrenia than an occasional smoker.
This was the first revolutionary discovery to show a link between mental illness and cannabis consumption.
There were a total of 9 studies that tested the theory that marijuana was related to psychosis. Now, thanks to Advances in Dual Diagnosis, which ran for 11 years, research suggests that men are at greater risk of cannabis psychosis than women.
Dr. Paul Galdas and Dr. Holly Essex, the lead researcher in this study, said the ratio is 2: 1 men to women, but is likely to increase to 4: 1.
Ian Hamilton commented on a recent study in which he said: “Significant gender differences in the rate of cannabis psychosis are mysterious.
It is possible that mental health services and specialized drug treatment, which have a disproportionate number of men, identify and treat more men with a combined mental health and cannabis problem. "
What exactly is cannabis psychosis?
Cannabis psychosis changes a person's mental stability after using marijuana. Psychosis, by definition, means a serious mental illness that makes you believe things that are not true.
According to the Center for Addiction and Mental Health, cannabis psychosis after smoking marijuana can be experienced by several types of negative emotions, such as anxiety, depression, and other mental disorders.
So why does cannabis psychosis affect men more than women?
Unfortunately, scientists are still unsure why men are being punished more. A small number of studies say that these differences are made by gender, however we are still in the process of understanding how gender affects the outcomes of cannabis psychosis.
Men seem to be more lively smokers than women. Some argue that smoking marijuana was and still is a social stigma for women, leading to fewer smokers. It is also a basic idea that younger men are more likely to engage in high-risk behaviors, including the desire to try illegal substances. Others speculate that men use marijuana as a method of leveling, while women tend to rely on social interactions to find the help they need.
These assumptions may be useful for speculating on why cannabis is more prevalent in men than in women, purely on the basis of statistics.
At present, we still do not have enough evidence to determine why men are more prone to cannabis psychosis than women, but according to Mr Hamilton, it seems clear that "gender matters".
Sources: article , image: nouvelles.umontreal.ca; fortune.com