NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Smoking marijuana and playing some video games may seem like a chill night for some — but both hobbies have been linked with psychosis in a variety of studies.
Fox News’ Alexis McAdams reported on this link during an “America Reports” segment on Thursday, citing NIH data that found young men who use marijuana are at the highest risk of developing psychotic illnesses like schizophrenia.
McAdams applied this information to the recent violence across America, including the mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis. The gunman, Robin Westman, reportedly worked at a pot shop and told his friends “he smoked it all the time.”
HEAVY CANNABIS USE COULD POSE THIS THREAT TO THE BRAIN
Officials have also confirmed that Johsua Jahn, the Dallas ICE shooter, was a heavy pot smoker, as his friends have shared that he was “obsessed with sitting at home, smoking weed, playing video games.”
McAdams said, “[Jahn] reportedly logged more than 10,000 hours of gaming, and there were a lot of shooting games, so he was sitting there all the time playing all those violent games at home.”
Investigators have reported to Fox News that Tyler Robinson, the suspect in the assassination of Charlie Kirk, logged nearly 5,000 hours of solo gameplay before he allegedly opened fire.
As the Trump administration considers reclassifying marijuana as a Schedule III drug, touting the medicinal benefits of CBD, the question looms of how pot and gaming could impact the mental health of Americans.
CANNABIS USE RISES AMONG PREGNANT WOMEN DESPITE SERIOUS FETAL RISKS
A June 2023 study, published in the journal Psychopathology, examined the link between gaming disorder (an addictive behavioral disorder) and psychotic disorders.
Excessive gaming may act as a trigger for psychotic episodes in some patients, according to multiple case reports. The sudden disruption of gaming habits could also trigger psychosis.
The researchers noted that there is a significant lack of research on how these two disorders interact.
A similar study from 2023, published in BMC Psychiatry, found that insomnia and cyberbullying are key mechanisms in this link between gaming and psychotic disorders.
The researchers concluded that prevention of sleep deprivation and cyberbullying can reduce the risk.
USING MARIJUANA TO COPE WITH STRESS OR TRAUMA MAY BACKFIRE, STUDIES WARN
Another study, published in Frontiers in Psychiatry in 2024, concluded that adolescents and young adults engage in “problematic gaming” much faster than adults.
Adolescents and young adults also shared similar psychiatric comorbidities, including autism, ADHD and problematic gambling.
More recent research has highlighted an increased risk of psychosis in certain marijuana users.
A study published in JAMA Psychiatry in April found that cannabis use disorder is associated with heightened dopamine activity in the same brain pathway involved in psychosis, which could explain why cannabis increases the risk of psychosis.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Another study from September 2025 compared psychotic symptoms, dissociation and alexithymia (difficulty identifying and expressing emotions) among non-cannabis users, natural cannabis users and synthetic cannabinoid users.
The results, published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, found that synthetic users had more severe psychotic symptoms, high dissociative symptoms with little improvement over time, and limited recovery from alexithymia.
Natural cannabis users showed elevated dissociation with some improvement. The non-users had higher negative symptoms at the start, but these improved progressively over a six-month period.
The researchers concluded that synthetic cannabinoids are associated with “more severe and persistent psychotic symptoms and emotional dysregulation compared to natural cannabis.”
“These findings underscore the need for targeted interventions addressing emotional regulation and salience processing in cannabis-related psychosis,” the authors wrote.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER
Both gaming and cannabis use have a more severe impact on the psychosis of younger individuals, research has shown.
For example, a 2022 NIH-published study found that general substance use in kids under 17 years of age posed a greater risk of psychotic-like experiences.
“Developing early detection and intervention for both substance use and psychotic-like experiences may reduce long-term adverse outcomes,” the researchers concluded.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, psychotherapist Jonathan Alpert confirmed that both marijuana use and heavy gaming can “tax the brain in similar ways.”
“Cannabis has been linked in studies to a heightened risk for psychosis, especially in younger people or those with a family history of mental illness,” he said. “Gaming, when it becomes excessive, can disrupt sleep, increase social isolation, and create a cycle of stress and withdrawal.”
“When these habits occur together, the risks can multiply. Poor sleep, altered brain chemistry, and detachment from real-world coping skills can converge to increase vulnerability to paranoia, distorted thinking or even psychotic episodes,” Alpert added.
For more Health articles, visit www.foxnews.com/health
The psychotherapist emphasized that the lifestyle around these habits — like late nights, poor diet, lack of exercise and limited face-to-face interaction — is “often overlooked.”
“All of this compounds the strain on the brain,” he said. “The result is higher risk for psychosis and also weakened overall mental health.”
“Not that every gamer or cannabis user is at risk, but this cocktail of behaviors creates an unhealthy lifestyle that leaves people far more vulnerable to serious consequences.”
Health News Today on Fox News
Read the full article .
