

It can cause a person to be flat or unemotional and, in extreme cases, even catatonic. Psychosis can also cause affect to be less than it should. The changes can be exaggerated, such as when a person becomes highly agitated, angry, or irritable. This can cause a person to react, behave, or express emotions in ways that seem inappropriate. Affect, or the experience of emotions, can be disturbed by psychosis. Speech can be garbled or jump around to so many different things that it is difficult to understand what they are saying. To an observer, this psychosis symptom makes it seem as if a person is speaking nonsense. It can become very difficult to think clearly or to focus on anything during a psychotic episode. Disordered and chaotic thought processes as well as persistent and disturbing thoughts are common characteristics of psychosis. De-realization occurs when a person believes the things and people around them aren’t real. One type, depersonalization, makes a person feel they’re outside of their own body. Dissociation is a sense that one is not connected to the real world in some way. Hallucinations may also involve other senses, including touch and smell. These can be auditory, such as hearing voices, or they can be visual, causing images and scenes that aren’t really there. Psychosis also often causes hallucinations, which are sensations that a person believes are real but don’t actually exist.

Another common delusion is one of grandiosity, that a person can do more or is capable of more than they really are.

With marijuana-induced psychosis, paranoia and suspicion of other people are common delusions. A person who is delusional continues to have these beliefs even without any evidence they are true and even when there is clear evidence that they are false. Symptoms that cannabis-induced psychosis causes include: The symptoms must be severe enough to cause impairment in a person’s ability to function, and they cannot be better explained by another mental illness, like schizophrenia.
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The diagnostic manual states that the condition causes psychotic symptoms either during use of marijuana, during withdrawal from it, or within one month after using it. It can be diagnosed using the criteria listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. If medical or mental health care can be given during an early stage of psychosis it may be possible to help the individual feel safe and secure in the event symptoms get worse.Ĭannabis-induced psychosis is a real mental health condition, although it is one that typically does not persist. Psychosis can be distressing and can in some cases cause someone to be at risk of harming themselves or others.

It is important to be aware of the possibility and to seek medical attention if necessary. Someone who is experiencing these signs while using marijuana could be vulnerable to experiencing a more severe psychotic episode. Difficulty thinking clearly or concentrating.Inappropriately strong emotional reactions.Some of the characteristics and early warning signs include: This is called pre-psychosis or early psychosis. But everyone’s experience is unique and there may be warning signs that someone is beginning to develop psychotic symptoms. When marijuana use triggers psychosis the symptoms often set in quickly and without much warning. It is also well known that someone with a mental illness is more likely to use marijuana, probably as a way to self-medicate. It is not known if marijuana use contributes to the development of schizophrenia, but evidence does suggest that it can trigger episodes in someone who has schizophrenia or it may cause the onset of the illness in someone predisposed to it. There is a connection between marijuana use and psychotic conditions like schizophrenia. This is more likely in a person who has an underlying mental illness. While cannabis-induced psychosis is usually acute, for some people the psychotic episode may be more chronic. Treatment usually involves placing the person in a calm environment and administering antipsychotic medication. Some people may need emergency treatment, as the symptoms can be very distressing. This means it begins suddenly and stops once the drug has left the individual’s system. In most cases when it does occur, the psychosis is acute. Marijuana may trigger an episode of psychosis, although this reaction is not very common. While psychosis is most often associated with other mental illnesses, substances can also trigger it.
