Triggering (Substance Abuse) - Cannabis?

PrincessVegeta_x · 03-07-2008, 07:42 PM

My brother is in prison for reasons I don't really want to go into, but the thing that is worrying me is this -

My mum and I have just been tidying my room and have discovered that my brother has ripped the front covers off my books. I was just wondering, do you put paper in cigarettes or spliffs, to like act as a filter?

He has also been stealing our stuff... to pay for drugs. We are certain about this. We are certain it's cannabis, the police found some in his room.

The thing is, he has a psychiatrist he sees in the prison and the psychiatrist rang my mum up yesterday to tell her that he saw my brother on Monday, and that my brother told him that he'd been hearing voices, seeing things that weren't really there and felt that people had been touching him.

I don't know much about cannabis, but the research I've done suggests that excessive over-use of the drug can lead to mental health problems like schizophrenia.

Is this true? I'm so confused...

Ami · 04-07-2008, 01:49 PM

Yeah, drug use can cause psychosis and exagurate hidden mental illnesses which is why people susceptible should leave drugs alone.

Im sorry about your brother hun, and i hope he gets well soon.

take care, sorry im not much use x

rockaroni · 04-07-2008, 05:57 PM

Drugs like cannabis I thought were more likely to bring forward symptoms that were underlying already, as opposed to just causing it from scratch. So chances are it might have happened anyway, but weed just brought it out. There's so mcuh contradicting research on the matter.

The ripping off of book covers are more than likely to make a roach, which kind of acts like a filter, but more so used to structure a joint and give you somewhere to hold onto, it doesn't filter any of the crap out of the smoke.

I'm sorry you've been put in this situation, and I hope he gets the medical attention he needs to get better. Take care x

Detour. Derail · 04-07-2008, 06:20 PM

Everything has been said really...the book covers will have been for the roach...but he could have used other stuff for it too.
Excessive drug use can cause mental health problems.
I'm sorry about your brother hun..
xxx

Le Almighty Kitten · 04-07-2008, 07:20 PM

Regards cannabis and schizophrenia and/or psychosis:

The risk of schizophrenia to a "normal" person is 1 in a 100.
A first degree relative of someone with the condition has a 1 in 10 risk.
Cannabis increases risk of the condition to 1 in 10.

Hope that helps.

someoneiusedtoknow · 03-08-2008, 11:53 AM

No studies have shown that weed causes schizophrenia. Media hype has lead everyone to believe this.

What has been shown is that excessive consumption can produce psychotic episodes in individuals who already have an underlying mental condition. If your brother was smoking weed, he might've been self-medicating with it to help distract from his existing condition and, now he doesn't have that crutch anymore, he's feeling the full extent of the original illness.

Dunno why he was roaching your book covers, never known anyone be desperate enough for that, but it seems an alright explanation.

beautiful&dying · 22-08-2008, 02:13 PM

[quote=Nil;975432]No studies have shown that weed causes schizophrenia. Media hype has lead everyone to believe this.[quote]

*agrees*
It's more about a media flurry to avoid people talking about the things that actually matter that are going on.
I'm sorry to hear about your brother though, I hope you are staying strong. Be brave.
xxxxxxxxx