Heavy teenage cannabis use linked with anxiety disorders
(Medical Xpress) -- Teenagers who smoke cannabis weekly or more are twice as likely as non-users to have an anxiety disorder in their late 20s, even if they stop using, a study of 2000 Victorian teenagers has found.
Those who used frequently in their teens and continued to use on a daily basis at the age of 29 were three times as likely to have an anxiety disorder compared with non- or infrequent users. Those who used minimally in their teens but became daily users in their late 20s were two and a half times as likely to have an anxiety disorder.
But the really striking finding say the authors is the persistent association between frequent teenage cannabis use and adult anxiety disorders up to a decade after cannabis use has ceased.
The relationship between cannabis use and anxiety disorders was present even after the researchers took into account other possible explanations such as mental health problems in their teens or other drug use in their twenties.
The findings, published online in Addiction are based on secondary analyses of a landmark study of nearly 2000 Victorian secondary school students - the 2000 stories cohort, led by Professor George Patton of the Centre for Adolescent Health at the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute in Melbourne. The students have been followed up and interviewed over 13 years, starting in 1992. They were interviewed at six six-monthly intervals during their teens and then again when they were aged 20-21, 24-25, and 29.
Lead author of the analysis, Professor Louisa Degenhardt from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre at the University of New South Wales, said that most studies looking at cannabis use and mental health outcomes focus on adolescence and early adulthood. What we are seeing is a persistent association with anxiety disorders over a much longer period.
Given that anxiety is the most prevalent mental health disorder in the Australian population, affecting over 14 per cent of adults in any 12 month period, we need to investigate the findings further because it is highly possible that early cannabis use causes enduring mental health risks.
Professor Patton, lead investigator of the 2000 stories cohort, said that the findings could be explained by lasting changes to brain function caused by introducing cannabis at a time when the brain is developing rapidly. Equally it could be that the very factors which predispose people to use cannabis early also predispose them to common mental health problems.
We know from animal studies that introducing cannabis during puberty brings about long lasting changes in behaviour which persist even after administration of cannabis is stopped. These findings suggest that a similar thing may be happening, said Professor Patton.
During the teen years the parts of the brain that are involved in managing emotions are still developing rapidly and it is highly possible that heavy cannabis use at this sensitive point could have long lasting effects.
However the authors write that they cannot rule out the possibility that the factors that predispose people to use cannabis early also put them at risk for common mental disorders.
These common factors might include biological, personality, social and environmental factors, or a combination of these factors. This is a plausible hypothesis because social disadvantage is more common among persons who are problematic substance users and who meet criteria for common mental disorders, they write.
More information: onlinelibrary.wile… .04015.x/pdf
Journal reference:
Addiction
Provided by
University of New South Wales
-
Cannabis link to other drugs
Jul 19, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Mental problems twice as likely for cannabis users: report
Oct 04, 2010 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Cannabis and adolescence
Dec 17, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
-
New research links cannabis use and psychotic experiences
Aug 19, 2010 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Early cannabis users three times more likely to have psychotic symptoms
Feb 27, 2010 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Motion perception revisited: High Phi effect challenges established motion perception assumptions
Apr 23, 2013 |
3 / 5 (2) |
2
-
Anything you can do I can do better: Neuromolecular foundations of the superiority illusion (Update)
Apr 02, 2013 |
4.5 / 5 (11) |
5
-
The visual system as economist: Neural resource allocation in visual adaptation
Mar 30, 2013 |
5 / 5 (2) |
9
-
Separate lives: Neuronal and organismal lifespans decoupled
Mar 27, 2013 |
4.9 / 5 (8) |
0
-
Sizing things up: The evolutionary neurobiology of scale invariance
Feb 28, 2013 |
4.8 / 5 (10) |
14
-
Calculating on-axis elements of a solenoid
3 hours ago
-
latitude & longitude & air pressure
5 hours ago
-
Differences of Classical Mechanics when learned with Calc vs algebra?
8 hours ago
-
what is the distance traveled
12 hours ago
-
Image of a Convex Lens Cut in Half Horizontally
16 hours ago
-
Ray tracing throught optical system of thick lenses
16 hours ago
- More from Physics Forums - Classical Physics
More news stories
Beer-industry advertising guidelines: Rating panels may help industry assess itself
In order to avoid exposing vulnerable groups such as children and young adults to alcohol advertising, industry groups have developed their own self-regulation guidelines. However, these guidelines have been criticized for ...
Addiction
May 17, 2013 |
not rated yet |
0
College women exceed NIAAA drinking guidelines more frequently than college men
In order to avoid harms associated with alcohol consumption, in 2009 the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism issued guidelines that define low-risk drinking. These guidelines differ for men and women: no more ...
Addiction
May 17, 2013 |
not rated yet |
0
|
Individuals who drink heavily and smoke may show 'early aging' of the brain
Treatment for alcohol use disorders works best if the patient actively understands and incorporates the interventions provided in the clinic. Multiple factors can influence both the type and degree of neurocognitive abnormalities ...
Addiction
May 17, 2013 |
not rated yet |
0
|
Researchers analyze how Spanish smoking relapse booklets are distributed
Researchers from Moffitt Cancer Center and the University of South Florida have evaluated how Florida health care and social service agencies distribute "Libres para Siempre", a Spanish smoking relapse prevention booklet ...
Addiction
May 17, 2013 |
not rated yet |
0
No significant change seen in overall smokeless tobacco use among US youths
Tobacco use remains the leading preventable cause of death and disease in the United States. Declines in smoking among youths were observed from the late 1990s. "However, limited information exists on trends in smokeless ...
Addiction
May 14, 2013 |
not rated yet |
0
Rate of bicycle-related fatalities significantly lower in states with helmet laws
Existing research shows that bicyclists who wear helmets have an 88 percent lower risk of brain injury, but researchers at Boston Children's Hospital found that simply having bicycle helmet laws in place showed a 20 percent ...
Slowing the aging process—only with antibiotics
Swiss scientists reveal the mechanism responsible for aging hidden deep within mitochondria—and dramatically slow it down in worms by administering antibiotics to the young.
Researchers complete largest genetic sequencing study of human disease
Researchers from Queen Mary, University of London have led the largest sequencing study of human disease to date, investigating the genetic basis of six autoimmune diseases.
Brain can be trained in compassion, study shows
Until now, little was scientifically known about the human potential to cultivate compassion—the emotional state of caring for people who are suffering in a way that motivates altruistic behavior.
Having both migraines, depression may mean smaller brain
(HealthDay)—Migraines and depression can each cause a great deal of suffering, but new research indicates the combination of the two may be linked to something else entirely—a smaller brain.
Novel approach for influenza vaccination shows promise in early animal testing
A new approach for immunizing against influenza elicited a more potent immune response and broader protection than the currently licensed seasonal influenza vaccines when tested in mice and ferrets. The vaccine ...
Aug 08, 2012
Rank: 1.5 / 5 (2)
Aug 08, 2012
Rank: 3.7 / 5 (3)
All good reasons to be anxious, and all can be solved with education and law reform.
LEGALIZE.
Aug 08, 2012
Rank: 2.3 / 5 (3)
as anyone can tell you---people with high anxiety are drawn towards cannabis use because it's an anti-anxiety drug, just like benzo diazepans.
i bet they didn't release their research yet on how people who were formerly benzo users, tend to have anxiety later in life. it's because they always had it.
Aug 13, 2012
Rank: 1 / 5 (1)
Aug 13, 2012
Rank: 1 / 5 (1)
Bob...if you took the cannabis at 20...and had no anxiety attacks until 29...How did you know at 20 you had anxiety attacks? Or that they were coming?
I mean...if you already had anxiety attacks at 20, taking the heavy doses of cannabis would NOT have made you better if attacks got worse at 29...you would be worthless for the experiment!
So no point in talking cannabis use to someone already messed up..!
What about Bob?
Great movie...
word-
Aug 13, 2012
Rank: 1 / 5 (1)
"...But the really striking finding say the authors is the persistent association between frequent teenage cannabis use and adult anxiety disorders up to a decade after cannabis use has ceased.
Read more at: http://medicalxpr...html#jCp
Dude...they QUIT the cannabis for ten years...! The anxiety you declare must have been present...somehow was endurable for TEN years without Cannabis...what happened?
You said people are drawn to it who need it...what pushed the 'quit-for-ten-years-button? High Unemployment? Wha?
word-
Aug 13, 2012
Rank: 1 / 5 (1)
wha? Why? Because we won the war on drugs?!?
Try again Sherlock...
word-
Aug 13, 2012
Rank: 1 / 5 (1)
pot causes anxiety? money and religion causes more anxiety than anything.