Depression and aniexty

[420MissHighTimes420]

So I've had post traumatic stress disorder and I went on Zoloft, and it wansn't strong enough so I went on Prozac and it helped, but I stopped taking it because I was sick of being on so many meds (I was on Streterra aswell but I stopped that aswell)
I smoke everyday like 2+ times a day, and I feel like it helps my depression (and sometimes my anxiety, but sometimes it will make that worse) while I'm high but after wards I feel like shit, it's like pot fixes me, but unfortunatly I can't be high all the time. My shrink tells me that even though when I'm high it helps, that smoking so much will actually make my depression worse. Is this true? Should I stop toking?

And can you get perscribed to thc for depression?

Thank you any advice is appriciated.

[make it legal]

I'm really not sure. It doesn't make it worse for me at all, in fact it's the opposite. It makes me feel generally better, even when I'm not high.

[Matt the Funk]

You can get a recc here in socal for depression and anxiety. I read somewhere that it actually doesn't worsen depression. But who knows, could have been a false statement.

[420MissHighTimes420]

You can get a recc here in socal for depression and anxiety. I read somewhere that it actually doesn't worsen depression. But who knows, could have been a false statement.

Yeah I hate it there is so much bullshit online and even in books ... I never know what to belive anymore it drives me nuts. Everytime I find something I find something that says the oppisite... So I figured I'd ask you all what you feel like.

[thcbongman]

I been battling depression and anxiety for years.

Really you don't need of those prescriptions and stuff. Part of it is in your mind. You have to overcome your fears by facing them.

The other side of the equation is to eat right, exercise, meditate, and keep yourself occupied. If you stuff yourself down with a bag of chips and a few cheeseburgers, and don't do anything afterwards you are going to feel like shit.

[420MissHighTimes420]

I been battling depression and anxiety for years.

Really you don't need of those prescriptions and stuff. Part of it is in your mind. You have to overcome your fears by facing them.

The other side of the equation is to eat right, exercise, meditate, and keep yourself occupied. If you stuff yourself down with a bag of chips and a few cheeseburgers, and don't do anything afterwards you are going to feel like shit.

You are so right ... I know that exercizing releases endorphines so I should do it more ... I do eat right, although I wish something would cure the munchies!

The only problem with facing my fears for me is the from my PTSD all I did was think about what happened to me over and over agian it played in my mind to the point where I would almost black out to everything else and basically be trapped in that memory ... That thankfully stopped although I still have reoccuing nightmares (it was three years ago)
I just try not to think about the things I fear when it comes to my depression ... Like not woring about my past or caring too much what people think about me. I feel like I need to just let shit go and move on.

[thcbongman]

One thing you have to realize what mistakes you made in the past is done. You can't ever forget them no matter how much you try. Rather, these events are now insignificant in the point of your life right now. How you react to the past will define your future. Let these roots makes you the best person you can be.

The other thing is to let yourself be you. Don't let others define you, define yourself. This is when you start tasting happiness. Everyone has a degree of self-consiciousness. You have to keep pushing your boundaries, each and everyday.

Wake up and have breakfast, live another day in this world of beauty and suffering. That's life.

[420MissHighTimes420]

One thing you have to realize what mistakes you made in the past is done. You can't ever forget them no matter how much you try. Rather, these events are now insignificant in the point of your life right now. How you react to the past will define your future. Let these roots makes you the best person you can be.

The other thing is to let yourself be you. Don't let others define you, define yourself. This is when you start tasting happiness. Everyone has a degree of self-consiciousness. You have to keep pushing your boundaries, each and everyday.

Wake up and have breakfast, live another day in this world of beauty and suffering. That's life.

Thank you for that advice that was very well said ... I want to give you one of those reputation point thingys but I don't know how to just know it's there haha and I really like that you said that you can't let others define you. I need to remeber that, I always need validation from others to feel good about myself and that needs to stop.

[thcbongman]

Your welcome, I'm always here to help out my fellow cannabis.com members, as they would help me when I need advice.

One Love.

[birdgirl73]

420MissHighTimes, have you ever heard of a technique called Eye Movement Desensitization Response (EMDR) for PTSD? It's worked very well for a couple of people I know. Clinical psychologists have been using it for well over 10 years now with good response. You might look into that!

[Headin2KONA]

I was prescribed my card for anxiety and depression in the bay area, CA...be careful with quitting your meds and pot at the same time though if you do...I came off my SSRI's and quit pot / cigarettes all at the same time and had a panic attack, and since then i've dealt with that..but what i've come to realize is that it really is all inside your head..I've found breatheing correctly fixed my panic attack problem, and when it comes to anxiety and depression you just have to ignore it, think about other stuff..stay positive and fight through it..the more you do the better you get at handling it until you forget what it even feels like...

I say go off your meds, stay positive, keep smoking..try edibles..it stays in your system longer and will help with the feeling shitty...other than that definitely try eating right and working out..I hit the gym everyday and it works miracles..

[realgood]

A daily dose of Omega 3's (fish oil, flax seed) is also very beneficial in combination with exercise. Best wishes :) Fish Oil Eases Depression (http://www.webmd.com/depression/news/20021018/fish-oil-eases-depression)

[onequickmove]

Yeah I hate it there is so much bullshit online and even in books ... I never know what to belive anymore it drives me nuts. Everytime I find something I find something that says the oppisite... So I figured I'd ask you all what you feel like.

i think you already know how it makes you feel; if it makes you better or worse or whatever, you know; we can't tell you that weed should make you less depressed if you already know that it doesn't help; i'm not sure what you want us to say?

btw: there are a LOT of potential causes of depression, and weed can't cure everything

if i were you i'd pursue a medical recc. anyway since you are smoking; try your doc and if that doesn't fly, then try a specialist if you're in a med state; it seems you certainly would qualify

[ukmonkey]

I wouldn't reccomend weed as a treatment for any form of mental disorder, like any psychoactive i'm very sorry to say will probably invigorate the problem. :-(

[peaceandlove420]

Do not use for depression. I love mary jane but this is the straight up truth.
My friends dad is a phd in phsycotherapy, 20 years experience (15 to get the degree alone I beleive), and he has colleuges who are the top researches on the effects of marijuana in california.

My friends, dads, colleauge (i know hard to follow, the expert on cannabis) said that they are seeing an unpresedented amount of teenagers and young adults coming in with depression and mental illness.

Thc, like mushrooms and other physcoactives, can induce and worsen depression and mental illness. You may feel your self medicating, but in the long run heavy amounts of thc in the brain can, *can* be a problem.

My friends dad, phd 20 years experience, says he has tons of depressed marijuana users who are depressed when they stop smoking and have mild disorders of mental illness, this varies greaty to to genetics and backround.

marijuana is not a bad thing, they actually both agree, they are both for the legalization and reform, but even they are stumped to see this "unprecedented amount of young poeple with depression and mental disorders arising" they say its "astounding".

Your brain developes until your 25 years old, they both STRONGLY advise against *heavy* *daily* *constant* marijuana use at least until then.

No matter how benign you feel cannabis is, altering your brain while its still developing is never good. Cannabis is for adults.

This is where they think the problems lie, when your brain is developiong, constant heavy amounts of thc can cause disorders, depression etc etc. Even I have noticed horrible depression when I quit (I am 18). It goes away, but I notice when i quit I go up and down, mood swings, easily angered,

this is known as bipolar disorder. I don't have it, but the therapist said (after every question I answered) that it was 100 bipolar if I was like that all the time.

My sources, Phscologist 20 years experience, PHD (highest degree)

his colleuge, who specializes in all fields marijuana, who's one of the top in the state of california (sorry cannot disclose names).

.

[peaceandlove420]

In addition, there is an unprecedented number of hospital visits due to someone smoking too much cannabis (mainly , probably only kids).

This can even be seen on the site, if your a regular here you know what I am talking about.

How many posts have you seen of "I smoked too much" or "I am too high "im tripping out" "Am I gonna die"

mj is potent these days. Not necesarily a bad thing for adults, i personally have some medical right now, but its not for the kidies imo. I smoke everday and one bong load launches me into some of the highest places Ive been.

[mrdevious]

Dude, while I agree that long-term marijuana use may have long-term effects, your PhD friend may still be flawed in his interpretation. I've heard this very thing, exactly this in fact, from plenty of anti-cannabis proponents. But the fact is, the methodology is deeply flawed. As you said yourself, there are tonnes of kids coming in with mental problems, particularily depression, and they smoke marijuana. The interpretive flaw here is that they're basically saying "these kids are depressed, these kids smoke marijuana, therefor marijuana made them depressed."

They're linking 2 common characteristics then creating the association before even validating the theory. Using marijuana and being depressed can mean marijuana made you depressed... but for how many? What about kids who are depressed in the first place, and thus use marijuana to alleviate their symptoms? What about mentally ill kids who smoke it to feel better? Most people who develope mental illnesses later in life have precurser psychological conditions that are not yet strong enough to be given a clinical title. It's only logical that anybody with some sort of psychological issue is going to be under chronic stress, and thus grasp on to something that alleviates this stress.

Scientists may know a lot of facts, and they may know more about biological mechanisms than most of us, but everybody is subject to logical flaws in their reasoning. It's this very kind of backward reasoning that is finally seeing a backlash from a society fed up with being lied to.

[Headin2KONA]

I think what you're trying to say is causation.

[peaceandlove420]

I am not saying it causes anything. I am saying it has the potential to worsen *pre existing* problems. mainly depression and mental disorders.

[horror business]

The world we live in is the cause of all these depressed young people. I'm one of them. I don't care whether you support this or not, but I am a daily smoker. I go through at least an ounce every week.

Before I started smoking, I hated everything. I hated how the population gets lied to on a daily basis. I hated the fact that diseases exist. I hated the persecutions of all the people who stood for what they believed in, and tried exposing the truth. I was depressed. I did not want to kill myself, but I did not see the point in living. I didn't plan on killing myself or have suicidal thoughts, I just assumed I'd live in this world, miserable, until I died naturally.

I was nihilistic. I didn't see the point in anything. I was intelligent, but did not apply myself in school, as I was no longer treated with respect from teachers, like I was when I was in the gifted classes. At school I was bored all the time. Most of my friends bored me.

To occupy my time, I would research subjects that interested me, such as animals, conspiracy theories, and listen and write music. Still, I was bored. I knew if I applied myself in school, and got a job, and made money I could live a wealthy life, but I knew from experience of being wealthy in the past, and then just being middle class, that no matter what, I still saw how corrupt the earth was, and really wanted no part of it.

Then I got high. Then, I was experiencing life all over again. Suddenly, everything was exciting. From that point on, I realized the point of life. (my view at least). We are all going to die, our time is short, instead of worrying about non-important things, and war, and everything, we should just enjoy the time that we have.

Smoking cannabis helped me enjoy my time. I was happy, knowing that I knew how corrupt the world is for once. I no longer felt miserable knowing I lived in a corrupt world. I felt lucky that I realized it, and was having fun being high.

Well, whenever the high would wear off, I'd be back to the regular world. Wondering why, about a lot of things. Why spend my time doing the things I do being miserable and nihilistic when I could do the things I do, while high? It was a personal choice. Proof that it's an effective medicine. I started out depressed. Took cannabis=no depression. Stop cannabis- depression returns. The "withdraws" were just reminders of how I felt before I started. I wanted to smoke. I felt I was doing something positive for myself.

Not a day has gone by, since 8 days last summer (a vacation) that I have not gotten high. If I wake up, and wait to smoke, I do notice that I get irritable and annoyed. I start getting depressed. etc...

But, cannabis withdraw is not the cause, because I was feeling that way, BEFORE I even started smoking in the first place. Cannabis is my medicine. I'm living proof on the effects of cannabis on my mental health.

Peace,
horror business :rasta:

[horror business]

I found this, while browsing through NORML's store. It looks like it would be useful (perhaps mandatory) for anyone interested in the wide variety of uses for medical marijuana.

https://secure.norml.org/catalog/BOK004.html

[peaceandlove420]

I am very happy to see this, I am on your sides as I am a daily smoker as well.

[420MissHighTimes420]

All such wonderful advice, thank you all.

[JackdaWack]

I actually for the first time went to go see a therapist about my issues. Apparently i have OCD and depression. I have never found pot to help out at a whole. Its just a way to self medicate the problem temporarily. Most of the time when ur high u just lay back and chill, but the after effects are worse when ur burnt out or ur sober. I never found pot to help me in a way i want it to, because ultimately it does effect your serotonin levels.