Essay Sample about Cannabis Effects on Mental Health

Usage of cannabis all over the world has taken a toll in the last few years. In fact, even many states in the United States of America have also decided to legalize its usage. Even though it's usage is slowly but surely becoming a regular and legal thing, it still does not fail to be noted that cannabis also has some effects. At some point, it is even more apparent that maybe making cannabis legal might be more of a problem to the users compared to leaving it illegal as before. Cannabis has for a long time been linked to irrational users who at the end of the day like to let loose and feel good. Because of the effects, it has on the users, and how they feel about its usage, most of the users always end up feeling so much hooked on it. However, what they fail to understand are the problems they are getting themselves into as they choose this kind of drug use. With the different types of cannabis, the effects usually differ. A recent study has brought out that a lot of mental health patients prefer to use cannabis. This is quite challenging because as people with a mental health condition, usage of the same weakens their chances of getting better. In fact, these findings are a significant reason as to why we are going to expound more and find out why this is the case. To get the best results of the findings, we have to get the subjects indeed and try to find out from them.

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Recent studies found out that many mentally ill patients were hooked to the use of cannabis. To get to the root reason as to why this is so, a lot of studies was conducted whereby it was found out that using cannabis with mental problems has a positive effect on the user. Furthermore, most of the patients tend to relieve their depressions and stress by using cannabis. It is because of these findings that I was compelled to dig deeper and find out the effects of this usage on the patients. The participants in this study were mainly cannabis users who had mental problems. Using these patients was most useful because it was easy to study the problem with the users at hand. For most of the patients suffering from depression and anxiety, they mostly opened up to preferring usage of cannabis to solve their problems. According to them, when depressed, cannabis usually helped them to get lighter moments and cheer up. When anxious, cannabis helped them to cool down their nerves. It is because of this that most of them got addicted and are frequent users of the same. For them, the best drug to take care of their problem would be cannabis because they have been able to see the sound effects of the same. In as much as this seems to be working well for them, it is still fair that they are brought to the light about the real effects of dependence on cannabis.

Cannabis has been seen to have healing abilities. In fact, it is because of this fact that some states and countries have begun legalizing its usage. Many mentally ill patients have also been linked to excessive cannabis usage. Once cannabis is smoked, it is directly taken into the bloodstream where it is transported to the brain. In the brain, it binds in some receptor cells where it produces nerve impulses. The receptors that are sparked are the ones that determine the number of factors such as emotion, memory, concentration and time perception. Many people with mental health disorders tend to have a problem with these factors. For them, it is tough for the brain to perfectly combined the events with the reactions. It is because of this that most of them find themselves feeling alone and bored. For them to have perfect interactions, they have to make sure that they get some means to cheer up. At this point, cannabis comes out as a remedy for them and therefore, they tend to get hooked on using it. Some people tend to believe that marijuana is not very addictive. However, findings have it that use of cannabis over time can make a person developmental issues. Furthermore, those with mental problems are also seen to prefer using it to solve their problems. Even though many of them have been using it, it still does not help save their situations. Instead, dependency on the drug keeps on growing for them.

Long-term usage of cannabis brings in a long-term condition known as schizophrenia. Depression and schizophrenia are mostly conditions that are linked to cannabis usage. However, what clearly defined the difference between the two is the amount used over time. Teenage cannabis users were also highlighted to be more vulnerable to this conditions because of the brain growth at their tender ages. Using cannabis at this stage would only serve to mess up with the neural pruning which would then have a significant effect on the long-term outcomes. The brain is one complex organ that can be easily manipulated by a lot of things. It is because of this that cannabis is entirely related to the effects staged by it. Smoking pot does not only alter the standard brain functions but also engages the user in many different chains of reactions. Because the drug changes the brain functions, some of the medical experts, especially in the United States of America have found a way to make cannabis medically important. The number of citizens with sleep-related problems is quite high. To help reduce this number, experts have made use of marijuana which is known to induce sleepiness to the user. By getting to the brain, the drug can alter the mental functions and allow the patient who previously had sleep problems to now had the opportunity to have some rest.

Psychoses, a condition where one feels and sees things that may not be real is also another condition related to cannabis usage. Furthermore, schizophrenia is also another condition that can be grouped under psychoses. Usage of cannabis to the patients with a history of these illnesses makes one also fall victim of the same. Depressed patients tend to believe that cannabis alleviates their problems. However, this is not entirely true because the study has proven that cannabis use for the depressed patients may also increase the depression. In fact, many of the cannabis users are mostly linked to disorders. However, this entirely depends on the users and other factors such as the age. Most of the cannabis users at a tender age are at more likely risk of getting mental disorders in their heydays. This is mainly because of the age difference and the active nature of their brains. In fact, most of these users are most likely to experience a lot of challenges even in their social life. Heavy smokers at tender ages are most likely to be more into conflicts and irrational behavior. The precise study also indicates that these effects are also most likely to affect the females more than the males. For most of the users, the impact of the same come at a later age where most of the patients suffering from depression alluded to the fact that they indeed did use cannabis during their younger days. This, therefore, proves that cannabis is highly connected to mental disorders.

Even though the study brings out the effects of cannabis on the mental prowess of the people, some believe that this is not entirely true. According to them, they think that marijuana helps patients with mental disorders. For them, they try to bring out the fact that cannabis is more of a helper and not a destroyer. Some patients agree to the fact that using marijuana in their depressed state helps clear the depression issues. This is partly true for some patients. However, this is not permanent because it slowly builds up and somehow takes them back to their depressed state at the end of the day. Feeding these patients with cannabis worsens the situation at the end of the day because of the addictive nature that sees them having to live with it. This increases their chances of getting the condition schizophrenia. This is quite a significant risk.

Therefore, looking at the statistics and the way the patients and frequent users have been able to explain the effects of the usage over time, it is clear that cannabis and mental disorders are related. Furthermore, it is even disturbing to realize that the addictive nature of the same has gotten these patients hooked on it. In fact, with the way the drug has effects to the later ages, it makes it hard for the users at a tender age to feel the impact. According to experts, usage of the same increases their chances of getting psychoses, and this is quite challenging. The condition worsens the state of the user where they now start majoring in hallucinations and other linked issues.

References

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Beer, MD. (2007). Cannabis and Mental Health. Journal of Psychiatric Intensive Care. Cambridge.org

Haney, M., & Evins, A. E. (2016). Does cannabis cause, exacerbate or ameliorate Psychiatric disorders? An oversimplified debate discussed. Neuropsychopharmacology, 41(2), 393-401. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/npp.2015.251 Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/1747343903?accountid=8268Neuhaus, C. (2011). Cannabis and Mental Health. Content.grin.com

Scoot, L. A., Roxburgh, A., Bruno, R., Matthews, A., & Burns, L. (n.d.). The impact of comorbid cannabis and methamphetamine use on mental health among regular ecstasy users. This appears to be an article from the journal "Addictive Behaviors" (2012) Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306460312001608?via=ihub.