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A comment on Schizophrenia linked to marijuana use disorder is on the rise, study finds. Parent comment

Re:Schizophrenia linked to marijuana use disorder is on the ... by heavyset_go on Thursday July 22, 2021 @04:04PM (#27923620)
People with schizophrenia-related disorders are likely to use substances to deal with the negative symptoms[1] of the disorders.

For example, there is a high correlation between having schizophrenia and consuming nicotine[2]:

> A strong association between schizophrenia and tobacco smoking has been shown in worldwide studies. Smoking is especially high in those diagnosed with schizophrenia, with estimates ranging from 80 to 90% being regular smokers, as compared to 20% of the general population. Those who smoke tend to smoke heavily, and additionally smoke cigarettes with high nicotine content.

I'd argue that nicotine use isn't a cause of schizophrenia, but an effect, as nicotine is reported to alleviate some people's schizophrenia symptoms.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizophrenia#Negative_symptom...

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizophrenia#Prognosis

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Schizophrenia linked to marijuana use disorder is on the ... by eurasiantiger on Thursday July 22, 2021 @06:21PM (#27925061)
This is meaningless, since it conflates tobacco smoking with pure nicotine. In reality, tobacco smoke contains dozens if not hundreds of different psychoactive chemicals, and certain ones acting as monoamine oxidase inhibitors contribute heavily to tobacco dependence.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Schizophrenia linked to marijuana use disorder is on the ... by thatcat on Thursday July 22, 2021 @09:26PM (#27926280)
Maoi in tobacco smoke is the suspected active ingredient
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Schizophrenia linked to marijuana use disorder is on the ... by cloverich on Friday July 23, 2021 @06:43PM (#27936459)
Nicotine also alleviates the (substantial) side effects from commonly used medications from what I remember. I think your point is generally true, but in the case of Marijuana I do remember as it being specifically a precipitant of an episode. Schizophrenics aren't awlays in a psychotic state in the same way manic depressives aren't always in a manic / depressive state. I believe the general perception is that pot would cause a person to become psychotic more often / earlier but not be outright causitive if that makes sense.
[ Parent | on HN ]