Atypical course in severe catatonic schizophrenia in a cannabis-dependent male adolescent: a case report

Anders Håkansson, Björn Axel Johansson

Adolescents with psychoses usually have full recovery from their first psychotic episode, but the first relapse often arises within 2 years of the first episode. Cannabis-related psychoses are difficult to distinguish from schizophrenic psychoses. Here, we describe a particularly severe clinical case, with a first psychotic episode occurring after heavy cannabis smoking, an atypically long symptom-free duration, and a subsequent non-substance-related episode. A 17-year-old male adolescent of Middle-East origin presented with delusions and hallucinations after extensive cannabis smoking. His first psychotic episode, with paranoid delusions and hallucinations, progressed into severe catatonic symptoms. His symptoms were treated with electroconvulsive therapy and risperidone and he was transferred to a residential substance abuse treatment center. He remained drug-free and non-psychotic for 3.5 years. Given the temporal association with extensive cannabis use, and his full remission of symptoms lasting several years, a cannabis-induced psychosis-though atypically extended-could be suspected. However, after 3.5 years without psychiatric care, and in a drug-free state, our patient again presented with positive psychotic symptoms, possibly induced by a period of severe psychosocial stress. We here discuss whether a primary schizophrenic episode possibly induced by cannabis can increase the risk of subsequent non-drug-related schizophrenic episodes.