Skip to main content
MMedVellum
MCQsExamsAtlas
DashboardPricing
MMedVellum

The exam atlas that feels like a flagship product — evidence-graded topics and exam tools for MBBS and fellowship preparation. Built to scale to fifty specialties. Educational content only — not medical advice.

llms.txt·psychiatry LLM catalog · sitemap

Atlas

  • Specialty atlas
  • MBBS / Core medicine
  • Dermatology
  • ICU Fellowship (CICM)
  • Anaesthesia
  • Emergency Medicine
  • Psychiatry Fellowship

Study & account

  • MCQ practice
  • Practice alias
  • Exam tools
  • Dashboard
  • Pricing
  • Sign in

© 2026 MedVellum. For education only — not a substitute for clinical judgement.

Clinical Atlas Prestige · Evidence-first

Psych VivasAddiction psychiatry — cannabis and psychosis

Psych Vivas · Addiction psychiatry — cannabis and psychosis

Cannabis use and psychosis — structured clinical viva

Fellowship viva on cannabis–psychosis: potency/dose–response, adolescent risk, dual care, SIP conversion, CBD evidence limits, and family communication.

clinical
On this page & tools

Target exams

FRANZCPMRCPsychABPNMD-DNB

Target exams

FRANZCPMRCPsychABPNMD-DNB
Prompt
You are the psychiatry registrar in the early intervention clinic. A 20-year-old man presents with first-episode psychosis and daily high-THC cannabis use since mid-teens. His father asks: (1) Did cannabis cause this? (2) If he stops, will it all go away? (3) Why treat with tablets if it is just drugs? (4) Is CBD better than antipsychotics? Discuss epidemiology, causality limits, SIP vs primary psychosis, conversion risk, dual formulation, CUD treatment, and medication rationale.

Interpretation

Reveal interpretation

"Did cannabis cause this?" Answer with calibrated causality: strong, consistent associations with dose–response and high-potency patterns; adolescent onset elevates risk; not every user develops psychosis; genetics and other factors co-travel. Name Moore/Marconi/Di Forti/EU-GEI level teaching without claiming 100% single-cause certainty. [1]

"If he stops, will it all go away?" Maybe for pure intoxication/some SIP — but conversion to schizophrenia or bipolar after substance-induced psychosis is clinically important in register data, so plan follow-up either way. Continued use after onset raises relapse risk. [2][4]

"Why tablets if just drugs?" Because frank psychosis is impairing and dangerous; antipsychotics target the dopamine final common pathway of positive symptoms; do not withhold medication for UDS positivity. Parallel CUD psychosocial care (MI/CBT/CM) treats the addiction axis. Dual formulation, not either/or. [4]

"Is CBD better?" McGuire RCT supports adjunctive CBD signal in schizophrenia research settings — not first-line monotherapy, not retail oil equivalence, not a CUD cure. [3]

Assessment spine for the examiner. Risk, collateral, potency/frequency/age of onset, CUD criteria, organic exclusion, baselines before antipsychotic, stages of change, capacity/legal principles under local law. [1]

Key points

Potency and frequency

Daily high-THC use is the risk pattern examiners reward naming.

SIP needs follow-up

Conversion risk is not trivial; discharge plans must include review.

Parallel dual care

Treat psychosis and CUD together; CBD is adjunctive research evidence only.
[1] [2] [3]

References

  1. [1]Di Forti M, Quattrone D, Freeman TP, et al. The contribution of cannabis use to variation in the incidence of psychotic disorder across Europe (EU-GEI): a multicentre case-control study Lancet Psychiatry, 2019.PMID 30902669
  2. [2]Starzer MSK, Nordentoft M, Hjorthøj C Rates and Predictors of Conversion to Schizophrenia or Bipolar Disorder Following Substance-Induced Psychosis Am J Psychiatry, 2018.PMID 29179576
  3. [3]McGuire P, Robson P, Cubala WJ, et al. Cannabidiol (CBD) as an Adjunctive Therapy in Schizophrenia: A Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial Am J Psychiatry, 2018.PMID 29241357
  4. [4]Schoeler T, Petros N, Di Forti M, et al. Effects of continuation, frequency, and type of cannabis use on relapse in the first 2 years after onset of psychosis: an observational study Lancet Psychiatry, 2016.PMID 27567467