Study: Can cannabis help people living with bipolar disorder?
Cannabis Health News

New research presented this week suggests that cannabis could have certain benefits for people living with bipolar disorder. Experts looking for new treatments for common mood disorders and mental health problems have been investigating the antidepressant and anxiolytic properties of drugs such as psilocybin and cannabis.  One of the papers presented at Neuroscience 2022, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience and the world’s largest source of emerging news about brain science and health, suggests that cannabis could have ‘uniquely beneficial effects’ in patients with bipolar disorder. Mood disorders are among the most frequently diagnosed mental illnesses worldwide.  Current drug treatments for these disorders, such as serotonin modulators and benzodiazepines, are slow to take effect, and when they do, they often bestow unwanted side effects. Additionally, many people with depression don’t respond at all to these medications. Up to 2% of the population experience a lifetime prevalence of bipolar and recent research suggests as many as 5% of people could be on the bipolar spectrum. Cannabis use is highly prevalent in people with bipolar disorder. Many report problems with motivation and cognitive functioning and that they use cannabis to cope. READ MORE: Medical cannabis and mental health – everything you need to know In this new study, researchers explored the effect cannabis had on goal-directed behaviours and cognitive function. They found that chronic cannabis use was associated with improvement in some cognitive functions in people with bipolar disorder.  It was also associated with a reduction of risky decision making and increased motivation in those with bipolar disorder, but not healthy participants. While long-term negative effects such as on mood stability are possible, chronic cannabis use may have uniquely beneficial effects in people with bipolar disorder, potentially by reducing dopaminergic activity in the brain. The authors of the study concluded:…

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