Cannabis Psychosis: Examining the Evidence for a Distinctive Psychopathology in a Systematic and Narrative Review

Abstract

This study should be interpreted with great caution and conclusions should not be generalized. These findings do not suggest that "cannabis psychosis" does not exist, only that from a psychopathological perspective it may not be qualitatively any different from other forms of psychosis. Future research in this area needs to focus on clarifying the definition or description of "cannabis psychosis" and the use of standardized robust experimental and/or observational designs to eliminate heterogeneity that may lead to inconclusive results.

Psicosis inducida por cannabis: características clínicas y su diferenciación con la esquizofrenia con y sin consumo de cannabis asociado

“…litativamente diferente de otras formas de psicosis (Baldacchino et al, 2012). Los datos del presente manuscrito apoyarían esta conclusión, no objetivándose diferencias clínicas relevantes que ayuden a establecer una entidad diferenciada de otras psicosis.…”

“…Se observó la presencia de menos síntomas negativos en los cuadros inducidos, pero no había diferencias entre los dos grupos de pacientes con esquizofrenia. Uno de los hallazgos referidos de forma más constante en la literatura es la presencia de menos síntomas negativos en consumidores de cannabis y de drogas en general (Baldacchino et al, 2012). De cualquier forma, no es habitual considerar si son inducidos o esquizofrenias o el tiempo de evolución del cuadro.…”

Drug induced psychiatric disorder-A mini review

“…Natural drugs such as mescaline which is derived from peyote cactus and synthetic drugs such as lysergic acid diethylenediamine are also potential triggers of psychotic disorders (Fantegrossi et al, 2008;Nichols, 2016). Cannabinoids derived from the cannabis plant are also classiied under hallucinogens (Baldacchino et al, 2012). Pathophysiology of cannabis psychosis may include confusion, disorientation, amnesia, depersonalization, delusions, hallucinations and paranoia (Budney et al, 2008).…”

Response to Miller (2017): Communicating the role of cannabis in the risk of developing psychosis

“…What level of exposure in terms of frequency, dose and duration should be factored in? These, among many other questions, would be useful to investigate, as would the working criteria that clinicians actually use to determine such a diagnosis [6].…”