Cannabis & Psychotherapy: Should You Mix The Two? New Findings On Anxiety Treatment

More people are turning to cannabis to ease their stress and anxiety, and a growing body of evidence indicates that its use can alleviate symptoms such as worried feelings, irritability and sleeping problems, to name a few.

However, frequent and long-term use of cannabis can potentially lead to some individuals developing various conditions such as physical dependence and cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS).

Moreover, it can significantly affect the psychotherapeutic treatment of those suffering from anxiety and related disorders such as trauma- and stress-related disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorder, new research has shown.

The study, published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, explains how those using cannabis more frequently showed poorer treatment outcomes of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) than those who didn’t use it.

Researchers also investigated how often patients who opt for cognitive-behavioral therapy use marijuana and if it affects the therapy outcome.

Out of 253 participants who sought anxiety treatment, 73 reported frequent use of cannabis, 45 patients said they consume it infrequently, while 135 participants identified as non-users.

Those who use cannabis more frequently showed less improvement in anxiety (or related) disorder symptoms following the treatment, as opposed to those who identified as non-users. Participants who reported consuming cannabis occasionally showed similar results as the group of non-users.

“Cannabis use frequency was associated with poorer cognitive-behavioral therapy outcomes for anxiety and related disorders, however, these individuals still made notable treatment gains,” the researchers explained. “Cannabis-related problems were not a significant predictor of cognitive-behavioral therapy outcomes.”

The study, titled “Does cannabis use impact cognitive behavioral therapy outcomes for anxiety and related disorders? A preliminary examination,” was authored by research leader Melise J. Ouellette along with Karen Rowa, Duncan H. Cameron, Ashleigh Elcock, Noam Soreni, Elizabeth J. Pawluk and Randi E. McCabe.

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