PATIENT CARE STUDY ON MENTAL AND BEHAVIOURAL DISORDER SECONDARY TO CANNABIS ABUSE

PATIENT CARE STUDY ON MENTAL AND BEHAVIOURAL  DISORDER SECONDARY TO CANNABIS ABUSE 
CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

Mental disorder is a psychological pattern or anomaly, potentially reflected in behavior, that is generally associated with distress or disability and which is not considered part of normal development of a person’s culture. Mental disorders are generally defined by a combination of how a person feels acts, thinks or perceives. 

This may be associated with particular regions of functions of the brain or other parts of the nervous system. The recognition and understanding of mental health conditions have changed 

over time and across cultures and there are still variations in definition, assessment and classification, although standard guideline criteria are widely used. The causes of mental disorders are varied and in some cases unclear, and theories may incorporate findings from a range of fields. Clinical treatments are provided by various mental health professionals. Psychotherapy and psychiatric medication are 

two major treatment options, as are social interventions, peer support and self help and several other therapies like electroconvulsive therapy etc (google.org/mental disorder). 

The Word Health Organization (WHO) notes that mental disorder “comprise a broad range of problems, with different symptoms, but that each is “generally characterized by some combination of abnormalthoughts, emotions, behavior and relationships with others”. Examples of such 

disorders include schizophrenia, depression, mental retardation and disorders due to drug abuse. Behavioral disorders are thus considered a sub category of mental disorders. Common behavioral disorder include anorexia, insomnia and various sexual dysfunction (Word Health Organization @google.org). Mental and behavioral disorder associated with cannabis falls into the 

classification of International Classification of Diseases (ICD) 10th edition under F10 – F19 to be specific. This disorder deals with the pattern and manner of the individual behavior which may come in the form of acute intoxication. It is a psychological behavior abnormality that occurs in an individual and is thought to cause distress or severe deviation from the expected normal developmental or cultural norms (google.org/mental disorder 2010).