BJPsych Open
August 25, 2026
Edward Chesney, Millie Lloyd, Sébastien Brodeur et al.
BACKGROUND: Cannabis use is common in people with psychosis and is associated with poor outcomes. AIMS: To assess insight into cannabis use disorder, perceptions about how cannabis use influences mental health and the desire to change cannabis use among people with psychotic disorders. METHOD: Adults with a psychotic disorder and comorbid cannabis use disorder were asked about the impact of...
Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews
June 3, 2026
Isabella Goodwin, Dominic Oliver, Edward Chesney et al.
Global shifts towards the liberalisation of cannabis policies have increased the potency of cannabis products, alongside their accessibility, diversity, and the number of inexperienced cannabis consumers. There is a lack of systematic evidence on the subjective effects of cannabis' main psychoactive compound, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). We systematically reviewed and meta-analysed data from...
Schizophrenia Bulletin
April 1, 2026
Andrés Estradé, Paolo La‐torraca‐vittori, Cecilia M Esposito et al.
Background: Research on basic self-disorders (BSD) has expanded since the introduction of the Examination of Anomalous Self-Experience (EASE). Although originally formulated as characterizing schizophrenia spectrum disorders, EASE-defined BSD have been reported in other psychiatric conditions and in individuals at clinical high-risk for psychosis (CHR-P), raising questions about their...
Neuropsychopharmacology
November 2025
Edward Chesney, Dominic Oliver, Ananya Sarma et al.
In patients with schizophrenia, cannabis use exacerbates symptoms and can lead to a relapse of psychosis. Some experimental studies in healthy volunteers suggest that pre-treatment with cannabidiol (CBD) may reduce these effects, but others do not. Here, we investigated whether pre-treatment with CBD ameliorates the acute adverse effects of cannabis in patients with schizophrenia. Participants...
The British Journal of Psychiatry
December 3, 2024
Edward Chesney, Thomas J. Reilly, Fraser Scott et al.
Background Abrupt cessation of heavy cannabis use can cause a withdrawal syndrome characterised by irritability, anxiety, insomnia, reduced appetite and restlessness. Recent reports have also described people in whom cannabis withdrawal immediately preceded the acute onset of psychosis. Aims To identify cases of psychosis associated with cannabis withdrawal. Method We completed a systematic...
Addiction
February 2024
Dominic Oliver, Amir Englund, Edward Chesney et al.
To test how attentional bias and explicit liking are influenced by delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and whether these effects are moderated by cannabidiol (CBD). Double-blind, randomised, within-subjects cross-over study. NIHR Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Facility at King's College Hospital, London, United Kingdom. Forty-six infrequent cannabis users (cannabis use <1 per week). Across...
Frontiers in Psychiatry
2024
Xinyi Liang, Maria-Mihaela Avram, Toni Gibbs-Dean et al.
Cannabis users present an important group for investigating putative mechanisms underlying psychosis, as cannabis-use is associated with an increased risk of psychosis. Recent work suggests that alterations in belief-updating under uncertainty underlie psychosis. We therefore compared belief updating under uncertainty between cannabis and non-cannabis users. 49 regular cannabis users and 52...
Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research
December 9, 2022
Lucy Chester, Amir Englund, Edward Chesney et al.
20 citations
Background: The effects of cannabis are thought to be mediated by interactions between its constituents and the endocannabinoid system. Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) binds to central cannabinoid receptors, while cannabidiol (CBD) may influence endocannabinoid function without directly acting on cannabinoid receptors. We examined the effects of THC coadministered with different doses of CBD...