Schizophrenia
Category
Behavioral, Psychiatric, Neurodevelopmental
REVIEWED BY
Our Biomedical Scientist
Reviewed based on
Literature Review & Clinical Trials
Last update
December 2020
What is Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a severe mental disorder that causes an abnormal interpretation and perception of reality that may lead to hallucinations, delusions, and highly distorted thinking and behavior that interfere with daily functioning.1
Symptoms
People with schizophrenia may experience various problems including difficulties in cognition (thinking), behavior, and emotions. The severity and type of symptoms may differ over time.
Symptoms of schizophrenia may include:
- Delusions
Example: False beliefs that are not based on reality e.g. the feeling that you are being followed or harassed, believing you have a unique ability/power/fame, or believing without reason that gestures/comments are directed to you - Hallucinations
Example: Commonly involving seeing or hearing things that do not exist. - Disorganized thinking
Example: Thinking and speech may be affected by the disorder. Answers to questions can be partially or completely unrelated. In rare situations, words may be put together in a nonsensical way (sometimes referred to as word salad). - Abnormal or disorganized motor behavior
Example: Resistance towards instructions, inappropriate and strange posture, lack of response, excessive movements, etc. - Negative symptoms
Example: Reduced/lack of ability to function and engage in everyday activities such as personal hygiene, social withdrawal, lack of emotions, etc.
Cause
Currently, the exact cause of schizophrenia is not yet known. However, researchers propose that the development of the disorder can be caused by a combination of brain chemistry, environmental factors, and genetics.
Studies have observed that there are differences in the brain structure and central nervous system among people suffering from schizophrenia, suggesting that schizophrenia is a brain disease.
Since there is uncertainty about the significance of these changes, other risk factors can play a role in the disorder development such as genetics, complications during pregnancy and birth (brain development can be affected due to toxin exposure, viruses, or malnutrition) or drug intake (psychoactive or psychotropic) during teen years or adulthood.1
The connection between Cannabinoids & Schizophrenia
Studies find that CBD and THC may have great therapeutic potential and may be used to help treat schizophrenia. CBD and THC are well-known cannabinoids, however, they do not have the same psychoactive effects. THC is psychoactive while CBD does not possess psychoactive effects. According to WHO guidelines, the cannabidiol CBD is generally well tolerated with a good safety profile.
Preclinical and clinical data propose the cannabinoids CBD, THC, and THCV may be used in the therapeutic treatment of schizophrenia as the mechanisms of the disorder may be linked to the endocannabinoid system.2
CBD may have therapeutic potential due to its antipsychotic effects, suggesting possibly better tolerability than current antipsychotic treatments.3
The literature discussion is an overview of the published results from scientific studies investigating if and how cannabinoids can be beneficial in the treatment of Psoriasis. The overview will be updated regularly to ensure the newest and most accurate information.
More studies needed to determine if endo- and phytocannabinoids are beneficial in the treatment of schizophrenia
A connection between psychosis and cannabis use was believed to exist for a long time. However, it can be difficult to understand how cannabis use and psychosis are linked together due to some challenges such as disease complexity and limitation in science to study such a connection. It was suggested that psychosis can be caused by cannabis, but at the same time, it was also suggested that cannabis use can be caused by psychosis. Also, the link between cannabis use and psychosis could be bidirectional.4
It was shown that Schizophrenia patients who often used cannabis before the disease onset were more inclined to develop schizophrenia compared to people that did not use cannabis or used it less frequently.5
Some markers and/or cognitive deficits related to schizophrenia could be counteracted with the help of cannabis (usually with high THC).6,7.
It was shown that there is a connection between impaired frontostriatal connectivity and schizophrenia. Improved connectivity of these areas was observed by oral administration of CBD (600 mg).8
Some studies find that psychosis is connected to anandamide imbalance.9
Clinical trials are research studies that examine new treatments and evaluate their effects on human health outcomes.
CBD is suggested to increase anandamide signaling and have antipsychotic properties
Some clinical trials found that CBD has antipsychotic, antidepressant, and antianxiety properties. 10,11
A recent review in humans found that CBD may have therapeutic effects in patients with psychosis.12
It is suggested that CBD increases Anandamide signaling (i.e. enhances the body’s own systems) in the body defense against the psychosis, in some cases even outperforming commercially available treatments.13
More knowledge about the connection between the ECS and psychosis is needed
Further highlighting the importance of better understanding the connection between the endocannabinoid system and psychosis is that THC has been used successfully to relieve psychotic symptoms for some patients not responding to conventional antipsychotics.11
- https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/schizophrenia/symptoms-causes/syc-20354443
- https://ghmedical.com/endocannabinoid-system/diseases/psychosis-and-schizophrenia
- Manseau, M.W., Goff, D.C., (2015). “Cannabinoids and Schizophrenia: Risks and Therapeutic Potential”. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26311150/
- Degenhardt, L., Et Al., (2018). “The associations between psychotic experiences and substance use and substance use disorders: findings from the World Health Organization World Mental Health surveys”. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29284197/
- Aas, M., Et Al., (2017). “Psychotic patients who used cannabis frequently before illness onset have higher genetic predisposition to schizophrenia than those who did not”. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28967348/
- Rentzsch, J., Et Al., (2017). “Opposing Effects of Cannabis Use on Late Auditory Repetition Suppression in Schizophrenia Patients and Healthy Control Subjects”. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29528297/
- Roser, P., Et Al.,(2019). “Impact of Chronic Cannabis Use on Auditory Mismatch Negativity Generation in Schizophrenia Patients”. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29506304/
- Grimm, O., Et Al., (2018). “Probing the endocannabinoid system in healthy volunteers: Cannabidiol alters fronto-striatal resting-state connectivity”. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29887287/
- Leweke, M.F., (2012). “Anandamide dysfunction in prodromal and established psychosis”. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22716147/
- Jiang, W., Et Al., (2005). “Cannabinoids promote embryonic and adult hippocampus neurogenesis and produce anxiolytic- and antidepressant-like effects”. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16224541/
- Schwarcz, G., Et Al., (2009). “Synthetic delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (dronabinol) can improve the symptoms of schizophrenia”. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19440079/
- Iseger, T.A., Bossong, M.G. (2015). “A systematic review of the antipsychotic properties of cannabidiol in humans”. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25667194/
- Leweke, F.M., Et Al., (2012). ”Cannabidiol enhances anandamide signaling and alleviates psychotic symptoms of schizophrenia”. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3316151/
CANNABINOIDS & RECEPTORS
Below you find the plant cannabinoids, cannabinoid receptors, and endocannabinoids that are associated with the potential therapy.
If you have any further information relevant to the connection between schizophrenia and cannabinoids or find any of the information inaccurate, outdated or incomplete please contact us here.
