A systematic review and meta-analysis found associations between cannabis use and bipolar disorder onset, clinical features, and outcomes.
Psychiatrists, bipolar disorder patients, mood disorder researchers, and cannabis users with mood symptoms.
Bipolar associationCannabis use associated with bipolar disorder onset, manic symptoms, and clinical course
What the researchers found
Cannabis use was associated with bipolar disorder, with evidence suggesting effects on the onset of first episodes, manic symptoms, and overall clinical course, extending the cannabis-psychosis literature to bipolar spectrum disorders.
Why it matters
While cannabis has been extensively linked to schizophrenia, its relationship with bipolar disorder has received less attention despite bipolar disorder being common and potentially influenced by substance use.
The numbers in context
Systematic review and meta-analysis examining the repercussion of cannabis use on first episode onset and clinical features of bipolar disorder.
How the study worked
Systematic review and meta-analysis of studies examining the relationship between cannabis use and bipolar disorder.
Who was studied
Individuals with bipolar disorder examined for cannabis use patterns and associations.
What this study cannot tell us
Heterogeneity across included studies; observational designs predominate; confounding by shared genetic risk factors is difficult to control; direction of causation unclear.
How to read the evidence
Systematic review with meta-analysis provides strong synthesis of available evidence; underlying studies are observational.
When this study was published
Recent meta-analysis addressing an understudied cannabis-mental health relationship.
The bigger picture
This meta-analysis extends cannabis-mental health research beyond psychosis to bipolar spectrum disorders, suggesting that cannabiss effects on mood regulation may be broader than previously focused on.
Replication
Fills a gap in the cannabis-mental health literature; extends well-established psychosis findings to bipolar spectrum.
Funding
Not specified
Conflicts of interest
Not specified
Questions still open
- Does cannabis trigger mania specifically?
- Is there a dose-response relationship?
- Do cannabis-using bipolar patients have a distinct clinical profile?
Read the original research
Cannabis use and its relationship with bipolar disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Industrial psychiatry journal, 32(2), 202-214
Citation
Maggu, Gaurav; Choudhary, Swati; Jaishy, Rajon; Chaudhury, Suprakash; Saldanha, Daniel; Borasi, Manish. (2023). Cannabis use and its relationship with bipolar disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis.. Industrial psychiatry journal, 32(2), 202-214. https://doi.org/10.4103/ipj.ipj_43_23