Prevalence of anxiety and depression among engineering students consuming cannabis

OBJECTIVE: Drug abuse is common among patients with mental disorder. The use of cannabis is likely to be associated with mental-health issues. The aim of this study is to investigate the prevalence of anxiety and depression among cannabis user in engineering college and associated demographic factors. METHODS: In this study, 100 cannabis-consuming engineering students of (XXX) were selected by snowball sampling. After confirmation of cannabis use and individual selection according to DSM-5 criteria, Beck anxiety and depression inventories were used to access prevalence and severity of anxiety and depression among the participants. Demographic information such as age, gender, education and town of residence were also filled in a research questionnaire for analysis. RESULTS: The overall frequency of people with anxiety in the population of cannabis users was 60% and the overall frequency of people with depression was 33%. The frequency of cannabis users was highest in the age range of 24–25, in men and participants with diploma. The prevalence and severity of anxiety and depression was not significantly associated with age, gender, education and town of residence among the participants, p > 0.05. CONCLUSION: Due to the higher frequency of anxiety and depression disorders in cannabis users in this study compared to the general population, cannabis use is likely to be associated with anxiety and depression.