Precision Mental Health Care for Cannabis Use Disorder: Utility of a bioSocial Cognitive Theory to Inform Treatment

Clinical management of cannabis withdrawal

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Cannabis withdrawal is a well-characterized phenomenon that occurs in approximately half of regular and dependent cannabis users after abrupt cessation or significant reductions in cannabis products that contain Δ⁹ -tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). This review describes the diagnosis, prevalence, course and management of cannabis withdrawal and highlights opportunities for future clinical research.

METHODS

Narrative review of literature.

RESULTS

Symptom onset typically occurs 24-48 hours after cessation and most symptoms generally peak at days 2-6, with some symptoms lasting up to 3 weeks or more in heavy cannabis users. The most common features of cannabis withdrawal are anxiety, irritability, anger or aggression, disturbed sleep/dreaming, depressed mood and loss of appetite. Less common physical symptoms include chills, headaches, physical tension, sweating and stomach pain. Despite limited empirical evidence, supportive counselling and psychoeducation are the first-line approaches in the management of cannabis withdrawal. There are no medications currently approved specifically for medically assisted withdrawal (MAW). Medications have been used to manage short-term symptoms (e.g. anxiety, sleep, nausea). A number of promising pharmacological agents have been examined in controlled trials, but these have been underpowered and positive findings not reliably replicated. Some (e.g. cannabis agonists) are used 'off-label' in clinical practice. Inpatient admission for MAW may be clinically indicated for patients who have significant comorbid mental health disorders and polysubstance use to avoid severe complications.

CONCLUSIONS

The clinical significance of cannabis withdrawal is that its symptoms may precipitate relapse to cannabis use. Complicated withdrawal may occur in people with concurrent mental health and polysubstance use.

Drug and alcohol practitioners' attitudes toward the use of standardized assessment

Despite their importance to evidence-based assessment, standardized assessments remain underutilized by mental health practitioners in practice. The underutilization has been attributed to a lack of appreciation of the importance of standardized assessments, lack of knowledge of standardized assessments, and practical barriers to implementation. This study sought to gather the first descriptive data on alcohol and other drug (AOD) practitioners' attitudes toward, and knowledge and self-reported use of, standardized assessments. Practical barriers to implementation in initial assessment and progress monitoring were also assessed. Ninety-nine Australian AOD practitioners recruited via newsletters of national representative bodies and practitioner networks completed an online survey. While practitioners' attitudes towards using standardized assessments for initial assessment and progress monitoring were generally positive and consistent with other populations of health practitioners, assessments remained underutilized in practice. Most AOD practitioners did not consider standardized assessments to be feasible to implement. The current findings highlight the importance of practical barriers, particularly organization-level barriers, in the underutilization of standardized assessments in AOD practice. Findings support an extension of dialogue surrounding evidence-based practice beyond treatment selection to include assessment practices at a more general level. The present study offers a starting point from which efforts to improve practitioner compliance with evidence-based best practices can be conceived, designed, and implemented.