Substance Use-Induced Psychosis Highly Correlated With Later Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder

As many as a third of all patients with substance use-induced psychosis may go on to develop schizophrenia or bipolar disorder within five years, according to areport published yesterday inAJP in Advance. The highest risk of conversion to either schizophrenia or bipolar disorder was for patients who experienced cannabis-induced psychosis, which had a conversion rate of 47.4%.The findings suggest the need for early identification and rapid treatment. “It is important to diagnose new cases of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder as soon as possible and to initiate treatment without delay, because prolonged psychosis without treatment is associated with a worse prognosis,” wrote Marie Stefanie Kejser Starzer, M.D., and colleagues at Copenhagen U niversity Hospital.Starzer and colleagues analyzed data from the Danish Psychiatric Central Research Register, which has registered all inpatient psychiatric treatment since 1969 and outpatient treatment since 1995.The study population consisted of 6,788 patients who received a diagnosis of substance-induced psychosis over a 20-year period and who did not have any previous record of treatment for schizophrenia spectrum disorders or bipolar disorder. Ten comparison subjects were selected for each case subject, matched on sex, year, and month of birth, and being alive at the date of the incident substance-induced psychosis of the corresponding case subject.The case subjects were followed up from incident substance-induced psychosis, and ...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: ajp in advance bipolar disorder cannabis conversion to schizophrenia Marie Stefanie Kejser Starzer self-harm substance use-induced psychosis Source Type: research