Here is the trouble. We are seeing a ton of connections between these things. Hallucinations, feeling paranoid, persecuted, irritable, feelings of grandiosity. Does weed really cause these problems or does it just “uncover” something that was there from the beginning?
The thing is that adolescents actually are probably more prone to problems than adults. Makes sense right? They experience different and more immature emotional experiences and the cannabis will interfere with their cognitive learning and social / personal development.
The problem is that we don’t really know why schizophrenia or bipolar is triggered in some and not in others. Many drugs out there will patients “look like” schizophrenia but some will actually trigger the problem or “uncover it”.
Remember, we should never ever make a diagnosis while a person is ON a drug whether marijuana or meth or anything else. Drugs can make you look exactly like these disorders. The only way to really see thru the fog is to get clean, get diagnosed, get treated properly (or not) and move in with your life!.
That’s what I am here for. It is my job and hope to help patients get clear of these devastating drugs and “fix” their other diagnosis and hopefully get the correct treatment done. I see so many patients who have been given wrong diagnoses that then follow them through life incorrectly just because no one picked up on the fact that they were diagnosed while using substances.
Stay alive
Andreas J. Edrich MD FASAM ADM “the addiction doc”