The idea of marijuana causing a psychotic breakdown sounds like something out of the camp film classic “Reefer Madness,” but many experts argue it’s not that far-fetched. As legalization of recreational marijuana spreads across the United States, more people are showing up in ERs with psychotic symptoms after consuming too much pot, said Dr. Itai Danovitch, chairman of psychiatry and behavioral neurosciences at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles. “If somebody gets too high, they use more than intended, they can have psychotic symptoms. That typically resolves as the drug wears off,” Danovitch said. “After it’s worn off, there’s no subsequent psychosis. That’s just a direct effect of over-intoxication.” But some unlucky souls with a family history of mental illness might wind up with a full-fledged psychotic disorder that will require extended treatment, Danovitch noted. “That risk is concentrated among a minority of people who have an existing vulnerability to develop a psychotic disorder, a family history of psychosis,” Danovitch said. “There are environmental factors that influence whether somebody develops schizophrenia who has a risk. It appears cannabis probably is one of those factors.” Vaping a potent form of THC — the intoxicating ingredient in pot — prompted a psychotic episode last year in 24-year-old Madison McIntosh of Scottsdale, Ariz., according to USA Today. McIntosh appeared at the driving range where he worked on his day off,…  read on >

Like the mighty grizzly bear that hibernates in winter, many people spend more time sleeping during this cold, dark season, a new survey reveals. According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM), 34% of Americans say they sleep more in winter, compared with 10% who claim they sleep less during this time of year. In summer, these numbers are turned around, with 36% saying they sleep less and 9% saying they sleep more than usual. “The shorter days during the winter create a great, natural opportunity to spend more time sleeping,” Dr. Kelly Carden, president of the AASM, said in an academy news release. “Getting quality sleep of adequate duration can improve physical and mental health, overall performance and mitigate safety risks,” she added. Here are some tips for getting a good night’s sleep regardless of the season: Set a bedtime that allows you to get enough sleep. Avoid screens and electronics before bed. Exposure to light at night can disrupt the sleep cycle. Avoid caffeine after lunch and alcohol near bedtime — both can disrupt sleep. Relax before bed, by taking a warm bath, drinking tea, journaling or meditating. Make your bedroom comfortable. It should be cave-like — quiet, dark and a little cool. If you have sleep problems, see your doctor. More information For more on getting a good night’s sleep, head…  read on >

How teens see their family’s social status may play a part in their mental health and success at school, a new study suggests. Social status appears to be more important than what their parents do for a living, how much money they have or how educated they are, the researchers said. “The amount of financial resources children have access to is one of the most reliable predictors of their health and life chances,” said Candice Odgers, a professor of psychological science at the University of California, Irvine. “But these findings show that how young people see their family’s place in a hierarchical system also matters. Their perceptions of social status were an equally good, and often stronger, indicator of how well they were going to do with respect to mental health and social outcomes,” Odgers explained in a university news release. For the study, the researchers followed more than 2,200 twins born in England and Wales in 1994 and 1995. The children assessed their family’s social ranking at ages 12 and 18. By late adolescence, these beliefs were linked to how well the teen was doing, independent of the family’s income, health care, adequate nutrition and education. This pattern was not seen at age 12. The researchers also found that the twins’ views were not always the same. At 18, the twin who said the…  read on >

New research involving the DNA of 200,000 U.S. veterans suggests that there really is such a thing as a “worry gene.” Researchers have identified six genetic variants linked to anxiety — a discovery that may help explain why anxiety and depression often go hand in hand. “This is the richest set of results for the genetic basis of anxiety to date,” said study co-lead author Dr. Joel Gelernter, director of human genetics at Yale University in New Haven, Conn. “There has been no explanation for the comorbidity of anxiety and depression and other mental health disorders, but here we have found specific, shared genetic risks,” he said in a university news release. The researchers identified the six variants linked to anxiety by analyzing the genes of about 200,000 veterans. Five variants were found in European Americans, and one was found only in blacks, according to the report published Jan. 7 in the American Journal of Psychiatry. “While there have been many studies on the genetic basis of depression, far fewer have looked for variants linked to anxiety, disorders of which afflict as many as one in 10 Americans,” said study senior author Dr. Murray Stein. He’s a professor of psychiatry, family medicine and public health at the University of California, San Diego. One variant occurs in a gene involved in functioning of receptors for the…  read on >

Minimum wage laws can be a literal lifesaver for people who are struggling to get by, a new study suggests. The suicide rate declines among less-educated folks when the minimum wage is increased, researchers discovered. States experience as much as a 6% decrease in their suicide rates for every $1 increase in the minimum wage, said lead researcher John Kaufman, a doctoral student of epidemiology at Emory University, in Atlanta. A $1 increase in the federal minimum wage could have prevented 13,800 suicides among less-educated adults aged 18 to 64 during the peak in unemployment following the 2009 financial crash, researchers estimated. A $2 increase would have prevented 25,900 suicides between 2009 and 2015. This effect is solely among people with a high school education or less, Kaufman said, and it grows stronger when the unemployment rate is higher. “During periods of high unemployment, people are more willing to work at lower-wage jobs, and those lower-wage jobs are going to be the ones that have increased pay if there’s an increase in minimum wage,” Kaufman said. “Those jobs become more valuable both to the people working and to their dependents and their families, compared to times when the economy is doing well.” There’s broad support among Democratic presidential candidates for doubling the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15, including former Vice President Joe Biden…  read on >