Cannabis and Mental Health: What a New Study Suggests

Cannabis is more accepted than ever, but that does not mean it is mentally neutral.

A 2025 study in Nature Mental Health found an important difference between cannabis use and cannabis use disorder. The researchers reported that cannabis use disorder had a much stronger relationship with psychiatric conditions than cannabis use alone, including depression, anxiety, PTSD symptoms, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and ADHD. They also found evidence that some of these relationships may run in both directions.

Cannabis use is not the same as cannabis use disorder

That distinction matters.

Using cannabis at some point is not the same as developing a pattern of use that becomes hard to control, starts affecting functioning, or becomes part of a worsening mental health cycle. In this study, cannabis use disorder showed stronger genetic overlap with psychiatric disorders than cannabis use alone. The strongest links were seen with ADHD, major depressive disorder, PTSD-related symptoms, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder.

The relationship may go both ways

One of the more important findings was that cannabis use disorder and several psychiatric conditions appeared to influence one another. The authors found bidirectional relationships between cannabis use disorder and conditions such as major depression, anxiety, PTSD symptoms, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and ADHD. In plain language, mental health struggles may increase the risk of developing cannabis use disorder, and cannabis use disorder may also increase psychiatric risk over time.

Why this matters

Cannabis is often framed as a way to relax, sleep, or cope. But this paper adds to growing evidence that when cannabis use becomes more compulsive or impairing, the mental health risks may be greater than many people realize. The authors also concluded that they did not find support for the idea that genetically predicted cannabis use or dependence has beneficial effects on psychiatric risk.

They went further, suggesting that some public claims about cannabis as a psychiatric treatment have moved faster than the evidence. In the case of PTSD, the paper raised the possibility that cannabis may worsen symptoms rather than treat them.

What athletes, parents, and coaches should take from this

This is not a moral argument. It is a mental health one.

The right question is not simply whether cannabis is “good” or “bad.” The better question is whether it is becoming part of a pattern that is affecting mood, sleep, focus, motivation, relationships, or emotional stability.

If cannabis is being used to cope with anxiety, depression, trauma symptoms, or performance stress, that may be a sign that more support is needed — not shame, but support.

Bottom line

This study suggests that cannabis use disorder is much more strongly tied to psychiatric risk than cannabis use alone, and that the relationship may be bidirectional: psychiatric symptoms may increase risk for problematic cannabis use, and problematic cannabis use may worsen mental health over time.

If someone is struggling, the goal is clarity, early help, and better options.