1. Bagi mereka yang terperangkap dengan minda ‘short-cut’ lalu merasakan ganja adalah jalan penyelesaian bagi stress atau tekanan mental, saya kongsikan beberapa dapatan dari kajian yang menunjukkan dengan jelas kaitan penggunaan ganja dan masalah mental.
2. Kajian oleh Adreasson et al, melibatkan 45 570 sampel dikalangan rakyat Sweden menunjukkan penggunaan ganja dikalangan remaja meningkatkan risiko penyakit skizofrenia* (Adreasson et al, 1987). Kajian ini juga menunjukkan tempoh penggunaan berkait dengan tahap keterukan gejala psikosis yang akan dialami. Bagi yang memahami konsep penyelidikan, kajian prospektif melibatkan saiz sampel sebesar ini sememangnya dipandang tinggi dari sudut keabsahannya.
3. Sementara itu kajian di New Zealand menunjukkan individu yang mengambil ganja lebih dari tiga kali pada usia sebelum 18 tahun akan mengalami gejala psikosis sebelum usia 30 tahun (Arsenault, 2002).
4. Kajian di Amerika oleh Bavasso (2001) pula menunjukkan kaitan antara penggunaan ganja dan kemurungan (depression). Beliau mengikuti 1920 sampel selama 15 tahun dan mendapati mereka yang menggunakan ganja adalah empat kali lebih ramai menghidap kemurungan. Mereka juga mempunyai risiko membunuh diri lebih tinggi. Kajian di Australia juga menunjukkan pola yang sama pada gejala anxiety (kerisauan yang melampau).
5. Jadi mengapa ada pakar perubatan yang bersetuju dengan penggunaan ganja bagi merawat sesetengah pesakit mental seperti PTSD, chronic pain, anxiety?
6. Ini kerana kesan cannabinoids pada cannabinoid reseptor di bahagian otak manusia yang dilaporkan boleh mengurangkan gejala stress. Namun ianya tidak berhenti di situ. Ini kerana penggunaan berterusan ganja akan menyebabkan reseptor ini menjadi kurang sensitif lalu mengurangkan kesannya.
7. Akibatnya, pengguna akan meningkatkan penggunaan sekaligus menyebabkan bermulanya kitaran ketagihan. Pengawalan penggunaan menjadi sukar dan akhirnya masalah ketagihan itu akan membawa risiko pelbagai masalah mental yang lain.
8. Banyak lagi pendedahan mengenai masalah yang dihadapi oleh Negara-negara yang menghalalkan ganja dari sudut perubatan. Antaranya boleh dibaca menerusi penulisan Wilkinson dan D’Souza (2014) yang dimuatkan di the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA).
10. Barat sudah mula sedar dari kebodohan mereka dan kini berusaha gigih menyelesaikan masalah yang mereka sendiri cipta, jangan pula kita ingin meminjam kebodohan yang mereka tinggalkan.
11. Saya setuju stress dan tekanan psikologi semakin meningkat dalam masyarakat, itu yang kami lihat sehari-hari dalam bidang psikiatri. Namun ganja tidak termasuk dalam kamus penyelesaiannya.
Rujukan
Andreasson S, Allebeck P, Engstrom A, Rydberg U. Cannabis and schizophrenia. A longitudinal study of Swedish conscripts. Lancet 1987; 2: 1483–1486.
Van Os J, Bak M, Hanssen M, Bijl RV, de Graaf R, Verdoux H Cannabis use and psychosis: A longitudinal population-based study. Am J Epidemiol 2002; 156: 319–327
Arseneault L, Cannon M, Poulton R, Murray R, Caspi A, Moffit TE . Cannabis use in adolescence and risk for adult psychosis: longitudinal prospective study. BMJ 2002; 325: 1212–1213
Bovasso GB . Cannabis abuse as a risk factor for depressive symptoms. Am J Psychiatry 2001; 158: 2033–2037
Wilkinson, S. T., & D’Souza, D. C. (2014). Problems with the medicalization of marijuana. Jama, 311(23), 2377-2378.
*Skizofrenia – penyakit mental dimana mereka yang mengalaminya mengalami gangguan seperti halusinasi (seperti gangguan suara), delusi (seperti paranoia) serta menganggu fungsi sosial dan kehidupan. Penyakit yang tidak rawat berisiko menjadi teruk serta menganggu fungsi kehidupan secara keseluruhan.
#psychoinfodrrz
Dr. Rozanizam Zakaria
Pegawai perubatan sarjana psikiatri HUSM
I-Medik cawangan Kelantan
1. Bagi mereka yang masih mempunyai trauma dan berfikiran cetek dengan menganggap ganja itu sbgai dadah, disini saya ingin kongsikan beberapa dapatan dari kajian yang menunjukkan dengan jelas kaitan penggunaan ganja dan masalah mental. Harap2 peminat golongan Melayu Islam didalam ini faham bahasa inggeris kerana fakta yg saya akan tunjukkan adalah didalam bahasa inggeris
2. A study published in 2004 determined that cannabis can help counter psychosis; another study published last year found that cannabidiol (CBD) can help improve cognitive function in schizophrenic individuals.
Accordingly, a number of researchers seem to have experienced a change of heart, and are looking to investigate the potential role of cannabis in schizophrenia therapy. A group of Brazilian researchers, led by Raquel Levin and Fernanda F. Peres, published a study last month in the journal Frontiers in Pharmacology that sheds further light on the matter, investigating an assortment of cannabinoid treatments. ( http://www.medicaljane.com/2014/03/02/brazilian-study-cannabis-therapy-may-help-treat-schizophrenia/ )
3. A medicine made from chemicals found in marijuana has now entered human trials as a treatment for schizophrenia.
GW Pharmaceuticals announced on Monday that it has started Phase 2 clinical trials on a drug made from the marijuana compound cannabidiol (CBD).
The company, which holds the only license for growing cannabis in the UK, says the new drug features “purified CBD” as its active ingredient. Early findings show promise for improving symptoms of schizophrenia and suggest the drug can reduce the side effects of current antipsychotics when used together. ( http://www.leafscience.com/2014/03/18/drug-made-cannabis-treat-schizophrenia/)
4. Leading psychiatrist and mental health advocate Patrick McGorry told The Age, that one part of the drug was showing promise as an anti-psychotic medicine.
The director of Orygen Youth Health Research Centre and 2010 Australian of the year said while tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in cannabis was widely thought to be dangerous and increase the risk of psychosis in about 10 per cent to 20 per cent of people, another component – cannabidiol (CBD) – appeared to relieve psychosis, depression and anxiety.
(http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2735555/Now-marijuana-used-TREAT-PREVENT-schizophrenia.html)
5. New research from Harvard Medical School, in a comparison between families with a history of schizophrenia and those without, finds little support for marijuana use as a cause of schizophrenia.
“The results of the current study suggest that having an increased familial morbid risk for schizophrenia may be the underlying basis for schizophrenia in cannabis users and not cannabis use by itself,” note the researchers.
(http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/12/10/harvard-marijuana-doesnt-cause-schizophrenia/63148.html)
6. In regards to… cannabis use and the development of mental health problems, the best analogy for where the science is on this issue, is the chicken and egg question. Research in this area shows a correlation between cannabis use and psychosis. This means that the two situations are related, but it does not mean that one situation causes the other. We know that people who have symptoms of psychosis are more likely to use marijuana, but we don’t know which comes first, marijuana use or psychotic symptoms…
It is also important to note that the mental disorder of psychosis is extremely rare, with about 3 in every 100 people experiencing a psychotic episode in their lifetime. The onset of psychosis, or similar disease processes like schizophrenia, usually begin in an individual’s late teens to early twenties. This generally also happens to be around the same time when individuals have their first exposure to cannabis. The fact that these two time periods overlap is one of the reasons why it is so difficult to know which comes first.
There are several theories that attempt to explain the relationship between cannabis use and mental illness…:
The vulnerability theory: stating that cannabis use leads to the development of psychosis in people who have a family history of psychotic episodes.
The contributing cause theory: stating that cannabis use is one of many factors which leads to the development of psychosis.
The self-medication theory: stating that individuals who have psychotic experiences, use cannabis to self-medicate in advance of being formally diagnosed with a psychotic disorder.
Overall, the body of scientific literature has not been able to provide a definitive answer as to whether cannabis use causes psychosis. Compelling arguments and data have been provided to suggest that those with a predisposition for mental illness can exacerbate those symptoms by using cannabis, however some fundamental questions remain. Namely, if there is a direct link between cannabis use and psychosis, it should follow that the number of diagnoses of psychosis should rise with the increasing prevalence of cannabis use in society. This phenomenon has not been established
( The Drug Policy Alliance (DPA), in an article by Malik Burnett, MD, Policy Manager at DPA, and Amanda Reiman, PhD, Manager of Marijuana Law and Policy at DPA, titled “Does Marijuana Use Cause Psychosis?,” posted on the DPA website on Aug. 28, 2014:)
7. There are several ways to explain the link between cannabis use and psychosis, and a causal relationship has not yet been firmly established. Current evidence supports that cannabis is a ‘component cause’ of chronic psychosis, meaning although neither necessary nor sufficient, cannabis use at a young age increases the likelihood of developing schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders. The overall magnitude of risk appears to be modest, and cannabis use is only 1 of myriad factors that increase the risk of psychosis. Furthermore, most cannabis users do not develop psychosis. However, the risk associated with cannabis occurs during a vulnerable time of development and is modifiable
(Joseph M. Pierre, MD, Co-Chief of the Schizophrenia Treatment Unit at the Veterans Administration (VA) West Los Angeles Healthcare Center, wrote in his Sep. 2011 article “Cannabis, Synthetic Cannabinoids, and Psychosis Risk: What the Evidence Says” in Current Psychiatry:)
8. The results of the current study suggest that having an increased familial morbid risk for schizophrenia may be the underlying basis for schizophrenia in cannabis users and not cannabis use by itself…
This study aimed to determine whether people who use cannabis during adolescence have a greater risk for developing schizophrenia because they have an increased familial risk for the illness, and thus have a genetic predisposition for developing it regardless of cannabis use. If this is the case, we would expect to find a significantly higher morbid risk for schizophrenia in the relatives of people who develop schizophrenia compared to the relatives of non-schizophrenia controls, regardless of whether they do or do not use cannabis. The results of the current study, both when analyzed using morbid risk and family frequency calculations, suggest that having an increased familial risk for schizophrenia is the underlying basis for schizophrenia in these samples and not the cannabis use. While cannabis may have an effect on the age of onset of schizophrenia it is unlikely to be the cause of illness
(Lynn E. DeLisi, MD, Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, et al., stated in their article titled “A Controlled Family Study of Cannabis Users with and without Psychosis,” published online by Schizophrenia Research on Dec. 2, 2013:)
9. Based on literature suggesting a) an elevated risk of developing schizophrenia/psychosis among cannabis users, b) a substantial rise in cannabis use in the UK from the mid-1970s onwards and c) an assumed elevated risk of 20 years, this model would predict a corresponding increase in schizophrenia/psychosis during our study period [1996-2005]…
The results of this study indicate that the incidence and prevalence of diagnoses of schizophrenia and psychoses in general practice did not increase between 1996 and 2005…
This study does not therefore support the specific causal link between cannabis use and the incidence of psychotic disorders..
(Martin Frisher, PhD, Senior Lecturer in Health Services Research at Keele University, et al., stated the following in their Sep. 2009 article titled “Assessing the Impact of Cannabis Use on Trends in Diagnosed Schizophrenia in the United Kingdom from 1996 to 2005,” published in Schizophrenia Research)
10 Despite the enormous popularity of cannabis in the 1960s and 1970s in numerous Western cultures, rates of psychotic disorders haven’t increased since then in any of these societies. Individuals suffering from mental illness such as schizophrenia tend to use all intoxicants – particularly alcohol and tobacco – at greater rates than the general population. Not surprisingly, many of these individuals also use cannabis
(Paul Armentano, Senior Policy Analyst at the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), stated in an Aug. 2, 2007 press release titled “NORML Responds to New Rash of Pot and Mental Health Claims)
11 There have been reports of psychotic ‘breakdowns’ occurring with rare frequency after marijuana has been smoked, but the causal relationship is in question.
The psychotic episodes are generally self-limiting and seem to occur in individuals with a history of psychiatric problems
(Oakley Ray, PhD, Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Pharmacology at Vanderbilt University, and Charles Ksir, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Psychopharmacology and Drug Policy at the University of Wyoming, wrote in their 2004 textbook Drugs, Society and Human Behavior)
12. Given that the incidence of schizophrenia declined substantially in Western societies in the 1970s, at the same time cannabis use was rising, it seems highly unlikely that marijuana causes schizophrenia in otherwise healthy people….
Cannabis psychosis is self-limiting, disappearing in a few days with or without medical treatment. Toxic psychosis probably occurs more commonly in individuals with preexisting psychiatric disorders….
Marijuana temporarily alters mood, thought, emotions, and perception, sometimes quite dramatically. None of marijuana’s effects cause people to behave in any particular manner. In the midst of a toxic psychosis, people may become agitated and frightened. In response to acute panic, people may become withdrawn and inactive. Neither of these states eliminates the social and moral restraints that guide human behavior
(Lynn Zimmer, PhD, late Professor Emeritus at Queens College, noted in her 1997 book Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts)
#legaliseganjamovement
Rastafari Snoop, PhD, School Of Medical, Oxford University
Opis Boy jabatan psikiatri HUSM
I-Medik cawangan UK
Bagaimana dengan catatan ibnu sina? dalam kitab beliau Al- kanun fit tibb . ?/ Beliau sudah menyatakan bahawa ganja ada banyak khasiat. Jadi isma rujuk mana? UNVERIFIED SOURCE OR A SOURCE FROM FATHER OF EARLY MODERN MEDICINE?