Twenty cases of cannabis psychosis were compared with a control group of 20 patients with ‘acute schizophrenic episode’ on a number of demographic, clinical, illness-related and outcome variables in a case-control study design using a retrospective chart review. The two groups were comparable on demographic, past and family histories of mental illness, premorbid personality, psychomotor activity, Schneiderian first-rank symptoms and mild cognitive deficits. The cases, in contrast to the control group, had a psychosis of shorter duration characterized by reactive and congruent affect, relative absence of schizophrenic formal thought disorder and a predominantly polymorphic clinical picture. Relapse was always preceded by cannabis use. This study suggests that, in spite of certain overlaps, ‘cannabis psychosis’ may still be considered nosologically distinct from schizophrenia in India. The implication of the study is that the role of cannabis in any acute psychosis should be investigated carefully so as to prevent an overdiagnosis of schizophrenia.

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It is early July 2020, and it has only been a few months since the first report of COVID-19. Coronavirus disorder 2019 has probably become the single most important determining factor in the lives of people. With more than ten million people having been tested positive for Covid 19 and more than half a million lives having been lost across the world, the human race is increasingly helpless. [1] Nearer home, in India, the numbers continue to rise too. The numbers of people affected by Covid 19 in July 2020 is above six lacs and about nineteen thousand lives have been lost. [2] But these numbers do not even begin to explain the underlying untold agony of many who have recovered or have survived. The ripples of social and economic effects which have just about begun threaten to be a tsunami too.With a tragedy of such grave proportions becoming a shared reality, it is only common sense that our minds are likely to be affected too. While, there has been a recent acknowledgment that the pandemic is likely to affect the mental health of people, as yet the realization that mental health impacts of COVID-19 are a looming crisis has not yet dawned. [3] This article tries to deconstruct and predict the nature of mental health impact secondary to COVID-19 in India. the mental health needs and resources In IndIa In Pre-coVId-19 tImesTo better understand the context of how COVID-19 would affect mental health in India, it will be useful to consider the pre-COVID-19 reality of mental health needs and resources in India.A recent survey reported that one in every seven people in India is in need of mental health services. This survey focused on disorders as diagnosed using ICD-10 criteria. It was reported that in 2017, there were 197.3 million people with mental disorders in India, comprising 14.3% of the total population of the country. Mental disorders contributed 4.7% of the total disability-adjusted life years in India in 2017 as compared to 2.5% (2.0-3.1) in 1990. [4] The young are being affected more, and there is also a rising trend of substance use and suicide in the population.

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