Sam’s father was sitting on a leather sofa in our clinical interview room. He ended up teaching his son’s long bones to break his son. SAM (the name was changed to protect confidentiality), and at the time, 17 years old began to use a 9th grade friend and marijuana casually. He “reached out” in other substances (Zanax, ecstasy), but cannabis was the most consistent.
Sam’s father tended to agree to his son when he and his wife said that he had used a considerable amount of cannabis at college and said, “Don’t worry, it’s just a pot!” 。 They begged him to buy it from a cannabis store, rather than getting it on the street.
In California, where I work as a researcher and clinician who is studying link between cannabis and mental illness, it is not difficult to obtain a medical marijuana card, even for teenagers.
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Sam started high school as a pretty good student with some friends. As time went on, he started using cannabis every day. He was in a variety of ways, and at first he was with a party friend and more and more. His parents noticed more and more strange actions. He covered the camera with a laptop, and then put cardboard on the window of his room. He stopped the shower. They sometimes heard that he was tweeting himself in his room, and he began to refuse to go to school. Contrary to his will, his parents took him to a rehabilitation facility for teens. In a three -week program, he completely abstained cannabis, but his mental illness was worse, not better. To recover Sam, it was not enough to stop.
By the time his family came to our clinic, he had a permanent delusion for more than six months. Sam was completely convinced that the government was chasing him and always monitoring him. It took hours for my parents to persuade them to get in the car that day. I don’t know if cannabis caused Sam’s mental illness, but it was impressive that his symptoms did not disappear when he stopped using it. It is possible that cannabis has changed his brain chemistry.
What people need to know is that cannabis is like Not simply the same As a original plant used in the 1960s and 1980s, and recently 10 years ago. These new shares of cannabis are very powerful, are more addictive and potentially dangerous, and we are trying to understand what they do to develop adolescent brain. Masu. As a scientist and parent, it is recommended that young people should avoid using cannabis at least in their mid -20s, but we recognize that this may not be the most realistic advice. It is very important to recognize what different beasts are and the risks of the major mental health issues when a teenage young man is trying to use cannabis today.
All cannabis products include a mixture of Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannavinol (THC), a drunk component of corpus plant, and a Cannabiiar (CBD), which may have the characteristics of anxiety. In the 1990s, typical joint marijuana contained about 5 % of THC.
However, genetic modification greatly improved the effect of THC. From 1995 to 2015, the average cannabis plant content has increased 212 %, not just joints and pot brownies. With the legalization and commercialization of cannabis, there is almost no restriction on the THC level of products such as rapidly acting vape pen and edible products. A teenage younger who can buy Sam today is not like his parents used at university.
The risk of mental illness rises with higher effects of THC, starts using the previous one and use it more frequently. A Canadian research team, which has studied over 11,000 teens, has found that the risk of developing mental disorders has increased 11 times compared to non -users. In light of such difficult data, some researchers are starting to play alarms. But we are struggling to deliver this information to those who need to hear it, that is, parents, educators, and members of the Diet.
And although there is no clear consensus for cannabis to cause mental illness, the research I mentioned indicates that two things are often designed and carefully analyzed. 。
Another big question we are trying to answer: Why is the risk of mental illness increasing in teens? Researchers in my field believe that it is related to the deep redistribution wiring that occurs in the adolescent brain following the early 20s. It is usually when mental illness begins. The same molecules of the brain that act with the THC (known as the end -kan navinoid system) play an important role in the development of the brain. And from both animals and humans, the way of exposure in the early stage can respond to brain cells, or neurons that we have experienced, and how they speak to each other to remember those experiences. Evidence that you can do it is increasing.
So how do you talk to your children about today’s cannabis? When the family comes to our clinic for young people who have the risk of psychiatric illness, we ask the children about the reasons why children use cannabis, what their reasons are, and their feelings. Ask them why they stop using them and whether they can stop as needed. And why not stop for a few days? The answer helps to evaluate whether the teens have cannabis poisoning.
Some teens say they can stop. But other people are not happy. For them, we take the “harm reduction” approach. In other words, it is recommended to avoid advanced products, and instead select a product with a high CBD and THC ratio.
If you have a teenager at home, or if you have a teenager immediately, they may be exposed to schools, parties, nearby parties, and many cannabis in many forms. It is not too early to have that conversation. Some of them make sure you have a good “cannabis literacy” and do not believe in listening to your friends or seeing them on social media, but looking for a reputable source. To encourage children. The National Research Institute on drug abuse is a good start. It helps to set clear rules and boundaries for the use of cannabis, to help you agree, and to establish what the results are to break those rules. Parents need to encourage clear and unviritable communication and encourage children to share questions and concerns.
For SAM, we recommended continuous mental treatment and family therapy. Given that the family lives with chronic mental illness, it has been found that it is helpful to navigate issues with very different expectations for his son. If your child begins to experience symptoms and unusual behaviors that you are worried about, you will be isolated from others, talk to yourself, or hear that there are no other people. Look at the treatment. Your family doctor or child pediatrician can provide an introduction to experts for evaluation and treatment.
Like a very many things that our children are now exposed, the scenery that has changed drastically and its availability, no one in our information agree in the information. is. The best thing we can do is to try out the notified retroactive consent (and our child’s consent).
This is an article on opinions and analysis, and the views expressed by the author and the author are not always Scientific American.
