Marijuana Use and Mental Health. Is there an Association Between Marijuana Use and Poor Mental Health?
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Marijuana Use and Mental Health. Is there an Association Between Marijuana Use and Poor Mental Health?
Part A: Research Project
Summary of literature
Bahorik et al. (2017) provide that more than sixteen million people in the United States face depressive symptoms (six percent). It has been leading to disability among the population. Various researches have been carried, indicating that depressive symptoms cause an increased level of substance abuse among the population, worsening the disabilities caused by depression. In this regard, marijuana is one of the commonly abused drugs for those with depression problems. There has been an understudy of if the use of marijuana can be a significant barrier for improving the lives of the population with depression problems. Childs, Lutz & de Wit (2017) also carried a study they provided that the use of marijuana among users can enable them to relax/relieve the emotional problem. However, a few studies have been carried to show the stress-relieving effects of the drugs/cannabinoid agonist. In this regard, the study provided how delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, also called THC, an active ingredient in cannabis, can deal with healthy young adults
‘ emotional problems.
Substance drug abuse and mental problems like depression have been a significant issue in the healthcare system. There is an increased number of people with mental problems in the United States and worldwide. These statistics indicate a need to create an understanding among the public to know how the depressive problems caused by drugs like marijuana are a significant health issue and provide measures that need to be taken to prevent the mental problems like depressive problems. Besides, the study is significant in providing information about the risks of developing a mental health condition.
Research Question and Hypotheses
The research question is, “is there a significant association between marijuana use and poor mental health?”
H1: There is a significant relationship between the use of marijuana and poor mental health
H0: There is no significant relationship between the use of marijuana and poor mental health
Variables
Bahorik et al. (2017) had two measures- marijuana use and other substances, which refers to the number of days that the patients had been using marijuana and other substances like alcohol in the one-month baseline time. The study was carried for six months, as there was a follow up of the patients for this particular period. Other drugs considered include cocaine, stimulants, amphetamine, opioids, sedatives, and heroin. The patients who had been using marijuana were required to state their views concerning the drug’s use for thirty days baseline period for medical purposes. The study’s second variable is the symptom and functioning recovery outcomes, where the PHQ—9 level was determined two weeks before the commencement of the interview. Higher scores indicated depressive symptoms, implying that in a range of 0-27, a score of 5 is an indication of mild depressive symptoms.
Child, Lutz, & de Wit (2017) also used various variables. The first one is subjective distress, where one was to provide his or her views concerning the state of stress affecting his or her life. The responses include I am insecure, I am tensed, and I am stressed, or I am extremely worried. Other respondents could also provide if they were not experiencing stress; they were required to state “not at all). The second one includes pre and post appraisals, which involve measuring task performance when there was THC administration before and after task completion. The other important variable was the physiological factors that include measuring the heartbeat rate and blood pressure, as these are known to change during THC administration. Further, subjective drug effects where there was ARCI (Addiction Research Center Inventory) determine how drugs affected study participants before assessing tasks. Third, TSST performance was another variable, which refers to the number of pauses greater than five, and the length of times the participants paused.
Research Design
Bahorik et al. (2017) used a longitudinal study design, which is usually useful when examining the changes that occur among individuals for a period of time. In this regard, the three hundred and seven participants were followed for more than six months. The researchers made observations and collected data from the participants determining the correlation between variables. The data was collected without involving external exposures.
Child, Lutz, & de Wit (2017) clinical experimental study design examines patterns/predictors of drug use and its impact on symptom/functional outcomes. The carried study was standard research, as it used TSST. In this regard, the participants were involved in two treatment types compared to mood changes, anxiety and subjective distress. There was 7.5 mg of THC administration to one group and 12.5mg of THC to another group in this regard. The first group received a lower dosage of THC, whereas the other received higher doses of THC. They then observed results to conclude how the two doses affected study participants.
Findings
The findings provided by Child, Lutz, & de Wit (2017) provides that a low dose of 7.5mg of the ingredient mitigates the emotional effects among the daily users of the drug. Using the TSST test, the study determined that 7.5 mg reduced one’s time to experience emotional response for the stressing factors. These are consistent with the commonly stated view that the use of cannabis can reduce stressing issues because they relieve anxious feelings and reduce tension. On the contrary, using higher doses of 12.5 mg of the ingredient caused anxiety among the users, even though the anxious feelings were little. Besides, it caused subjective distress and moody behaviors among users before the experiment was being carried. These findings are consistent with the previous studies that had been carried out that THC has significant effects on mood, subjective distress, anxiety. Besides, the study results are in results with the findings that the use of THC can cause mood swings. The use of small doses of THC causes a reduction in the mind’s reactivity to negative stimuli. Besides, it lowers the reactivity of the amygdala among the people that do not use it daily. The amygdala and cingulate reactivity have a significant relationship with anxious feelings and fear in clinical studies. The regions also have an increased level of CBI receptors, which may alter people’s emotional responses. The use of small amounts of THC influences mood without having a significant impact on performance. However, it is a different situation when there has been the use of a high dose of THC, which causes changes in mood, anxiety, and subjective distress, impairing task performance.
The findings of Bahorik et al. (2017) revealed that patients using marijuana had less improvement in terms of their depressive symptoms and the brain’s functioning. There is no evidence to suggest that marijuana affected the physical health functioning of daily users and non-users. Besides, the people who used marijuana were young adults and had reduced chances of getting married. There was an increased use of marijuana within one month of baseline; after this, there was a decline even though the drug’s use varied from one patient to another. Patients that were experiencing a high rate of depression had a high chance of using the drug. Besides, those who were fifty years of age and above were at an increased risk of using the substance. The increased use of marijuana affected the ability of the mind to function. Medical marijuana uses also affects the physical health of an individual. The study’s findings have also indicated a reduced level of recovery among patients with mental issues. In this regard, marijuana can affect mentally ill patients, creating the need to promote education among patients.
Part B: Literature Review
Bahorik et al. (2017) provide that depression is a significant health challenge in the United States. Besides, it is of the leading causes of disability among the populations. In this regard, studies have indicated that depression leads to substance use problems, worsening the disability caused by depression. Besides, depression has been associated with increased alcohol intake and raises issues related to the use of marijuana. However, the clinical effects of patients using marijuana have not been adequately studied. It has been caused by the public health burden caused by depression problems or alcohol use. However, evidence has been provided that marijuana may be hindering the recovery of patients. Clinical studies have also indicated an increased effect of depression on patients who use marijuana, and thus, they could be exhibiting worse symptoms. It is an illustration confirming the null hypothesis that the use of marijuana may have a significant relationship with depression, as it determines recovery outcomes among people with depressive symptoms.
Variation in clinical, marijuana use, and demographic characteristics have a critical role in determining a patient’s recovery. Depression among patients using drugs like marijuana will worse. Most marijuana users are younger, divorced, never married, and male individuals. The use of drugs like marijuana may make one have anxious feelings, have relapsed, and have low functioning of the systems because they impair the brain functioning. However, it is unknown if these findings present will be recurring in the life of an individual who has depression. The article examines six months patterns of marijuana consumption and how it has a significant impact on functional recovery and symptoms for three hundred and seven patients with depression. The study identified the longitudinal patterns of those using the drug and provided demographic/clinical factors predicting if one would be a marijuana user. Third, it offered a significant relationship between the use of marijuana, depression, anxiety, and brain operations during the six-month follow-up period.
Child, Lutz, & de Wit (2017) looked at THC’s effects on the emotional response to acute psychosocial stressing problems. The authors provide documentation that people use drugs to get subjective experiences when they use them. Besides, it is cited that the primary motive for the use of the drug is to relieve stress or to ensure a relaxation state because they reduce tension when taken. However, a few studies have been conducted to illustrate how cannabis causes a calming effect clearly. The study has been carried to indicate how THC, the drug’s active component, can cause anxiety among users, making one have anxiogenic effects. Hence, the authors evaluated the belief that the use of cannabis can be useful in relieving stress because of the THC ingredient found in the drug. They assessed the effects of drugs on the emotional response to psychosocial stress among the people who do not use cannabis daily.
The users of the drug have provided various reasons motivating them to use it. These induce a change of mood, relaxation and deal with wariness or stress. Besides, cannabis has been used for social and recreational purposes, a reason why various drugs are being considered illegal in the United States. The individual in parties and social activities has been using cannabis as a recreational drug. Besides, some groups have used it for conformity, stating that it makes others not to kid them. The drug has also been used to expand their awareness, become creative, and be enlightened. However, the common reason for cannabis is relaxation and coping with stressful factors in an individual life. It is a reason that is reported with the use of cannabis compared to other drugs. The use of cannabis to cope with stress is common among daily users compared to those who do not use it daily. In this regard, seventy-two percent of daily users use it for stress relief than 53% of the non-users in relaxing and relieving tension. There has been the provision of information about the drug’s ability to ensure a calming effect; however, only a few studies have measured the effects in controlled trials.
Studies have also examined THC’s impact on behavior response, causing aversive stimulus. In experiments carried in labs showed that THC of 0.075 to 1 mg per kg could reduce anxious behaviors among animals involved in the study. In this regard, they increased in coping abilities when forced on a stressful activity like a forced swim. When non-daily users of the drug have been used in clinical trials, 15 mg of THC lowered recognition of threatening faces. The use of 7.5 mg of THC reduced the amygdala responses to threatening faces and anterior cingulate responses to emotional responses. When 9 mg of the ingredient is also used, it reduced the brain function’s region capacity. These also affect the functions of the amygdala. The cingulate and amygdala region cause anxiety and fear among study participants. These regions have CBI receptors, which regulate the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, also known as HPAA. In this regard, it affects the ability of the region to respond to stress. Besides, the use of cannabis can dampen the neural and behavioral response to aversive stimuli.
In this study, the authors examined how THC affects emotional response using the Trier Social Stress Test, TSST. In this regard, standard lab tests of stress were analyzed using the test, which is a standard procedure in increasing subjective stress, breathing rate, blood pressure, and cortisol. The test has an increased level of sensitivity to anxiolytic drugs. The researchers involved healthy people (both males and females). They were given 7.5-12.5 of THC before being involved in the experiment. There was the determination of the subjective distress, anticipatory/retrospective task ratings, heartbeat rate, b.p., and cortisol control in the mouth. The hypothesis provided by researchers was to determine emotional responses caused by the use of TSST. Also, there was a determination of how the ingredient affects the cortisol and cardiovascular responses. When used, the THC increases the cardiovascular response rate while also inhibiting the activity of the HPAA. Besides, the ingredient attenuates the cortisol response to the tries social stress test.
References
Bahorik, A. L., Leibowitz, A., Sterling, S. A., Travis, A., Weisner, C., & Satre, D. D. (2017). Patterns of marijuana use among psychiatry patients with depression and its impact on recovery. Journal of affective disorders, 213, 168-171.
Childs, E., Lutz, J. A., & de Wit, H. (2017). Dose-related effects of delta-9-THC on emotional responses to acute psychosocial stress. Drug and alcohol dependence, 177, 136-144.