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 Researchers examined data collected from a total of almost 729,000
people aged 12 years and older between 2005 and 2017, including any
prior-month cannabis use and any depression experienced over the
previous year.
By the final year of the study, about 19% of people with depression
reported at least some cannabis use, compared with 8.7% of
individuals without a recent history of depression. In 2005, about
10.2% of people with depression and 5.7% of individuals without
depression used the drug.
The proportion of people with depression who perceived cannabis use
as risky behavior also fell from 41% to 17% during the study period,
compared with a decline from 52% to 33% among those without
depression, according to the report in the journal Addiction.
"This perception of risk is decreasing more rapidly among those with
depression," said Renee Goodwin of Columbia University in New York
City, the study's senior author.
"Those with depression who perceive little or no risk associated
with use have a much higher prevalence of cannabis use, relative to
those who perceive higher associated risks," Goodwin said by email.
Current cannabis use was highest among people 18 to 25 years old
with depression, at almost 30%, the study found. Usage was also
common among people with depression who were male, black or
unmarried, at around 23% for each group.
The study wasn't designed to determine whether or how depression
might influence how often people use cannabis, or how they think
about the risk of regular use of the drug.
One limitation of the study is that researchers relied on study
participants to truthfully report any cannabis use or depression
symptoms; they didn't have lab tests for drug use or medical records
to confirm a mental health diagnosis.
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Researchers were also unable to account for whether cannabis
legalization might have impacted the proportion of people who used
the drug or how participants thought about its safety, the study
team notes.
"There is some thinking that drug use is a form of self-medication
of depression, or attempted self-medication of depressive symptoms,"
Goodwin said.
Over the course of the study period, most U.S. states legalized
medicinal or recreational cannabis use, or both, and it's also
possible that this contributed to a reduced perception of risk,
Goodwin added.
"There is anecdotal evidence that some folks perceive cannabis as
less risky than psychiatric medicines and with legalization,
(cannabis) may be less expensive and more available and associated
with less stigma," Goodwin said.
People need to understand, however, that cannabis may actually be
riskier for people with depression.
"There is no evidence to suggest that cannabis use will ease
depression symptoms, except temporarily, and there are data to
suggest that cannabis use may worsen or prolong depression," Goodwin
said. "Historically, patients in treatment/recovery from depression
are advised to avoid cannabis use."
SOURCE: https://bit.ly/2sZPLUB Addiction, online December 4, 2019.
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