UK-Managing cannabis usein people with severe mental illness

[Win]

Managing cannabis use in people with severe mental illness: what can be done?{dagger}
Zerrin Atakan

Zerrin Atakan worked as Lead Consultant in the National Psychosis Unit at the Maudsley & Bethlem Royal Hospitals in London until August 2007, when she retired from National Health Service duties. She currently holds an honorary contract at the Institute of Psychiatry in London, where she is doing research on the effects of cannabis compounds on brain functioning and development of an intervention model for cannabis-using patients with psychosis. As a consultant psychiatrist she gained extensive expertise treating severe mental illness. She has advised the Home Office, voluntary mental health organisations and local councils on cannabis use, and written for cannabis websites to inform young people about the effects of the drug on mental health.

Correspondence: Correspondence Dr Zerrin Atakan, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK. Email: Zerrin. Atakan@iop.kcl.ac.uk

Nearly half of people with severe mental illness use cannabis sometime in their lives and during their illness. Its use can have multiple and severe consequences for the course of the illness. Despite the significance of the problem, managing cannabis use in this group is a recently developing topic and is still in its infancy. This article reviews the current state of knowledge on the management of people with severe mental illness who continue to use cannabis, specifically focusing on different models of service provision, and psychological and pharmacological interventions.

http://apt.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/abstract/15/1/65

[Win]

The full article you have to pay for.

Win