Medical cannabinoids as a treatment for mental health: helpful or hazardous?

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Systematic review of 54 RCTs found limited evidence for cannabinoids treating mental health conditions. Most robust findings for cannabis use disorder, but overall quality low.

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Shared genetic patterns found across 14 psychiatric disorders

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Psychiatric disorders share genetic variants that cluster into five main factors. Understanding shared biology could improve treatment, but more diverse genetic data urgently needed.

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Cannabis legalisation: what can we learn about psychosis risk from the great Canadian (quasi) experiment?

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What happens to psychosis risk when cannabis becomes easier to access? According to this Canadian study, the risk goes up. Shuichi Suetani explores what we can learn from one of the countries leading the way in drug policy reform.

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Cannabis use disorder associated with increased risk of both psychotic and nonpsychotic unipolar depression and bipolar disorder

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Jack Wilson critiques a recent Danish longitudinal study published in JAMA Psychiatry, which suggests that cannabis use disorder is independently associated with bipolar disorder and unipolar depression.

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Complex trauma and complex problems: evidence from a cohort study

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Oluwaseun Oluwaranti reviews a cohort study which finds that participants exposed to complex trauma had more severe mental health problems and poorer cognitive function at 18 years of age.

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Can we predict how people will adjust after victimisation? Progress towards an individualised risk calculator for psychopathology

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In her debut blog, Jessica Armitage reviews a recent cohort study, which suggests that it may be possible to predict risk of psychopathology in victimised children.

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CBT and motivational interviewing: best bet for cannabis cessation? #CannabisMatters

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Mark Monaghan writes his debut Mental Elf blog about a systematic review on psychological and psychosocial interventions for cannabis cessation in adults. Part of our #CannabisMatters series, this review suggests that CBT and Motivational Interviewing may improve outcomes in a self-selected population of cannabis users.

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Psychosocial interventions for cannabis use disorder #CannabisMatters

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Ian Hamilton presents the findings of a recent Cochrane review, which finds that despite the large number of cannabis users seeking treatment, we still know relatively little about the best psychosocial interventions for cannabis use disorder.

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