Smoking and Mental Illnesses

I was wondering how many other people out there have been diagnosed with 1 or more mental illnesses or conditions. I know that I've been clinically depressed since 2000, and just this year got diagnosed as both bipolar and adult ADD. I know how the doctors and my parents tell me not to mix my meds with alcohol or drugs but I actually find that the weed helps me relax (combatting ADD) and it can alleviate depression too. Anyone else have similar stories? Or have there been bad consequences when you mixed prescription meds and pot?

i'm a bipolar(recently diagnosed too),and been deperessed since 2000 too.it's true tahat weed helps being relaxed adn numb,but if you smoke too much you can get more depressed.my advice is to smoke every 2 days or,better,to smoke only on weekends

Hey, Terpalum, 25 posts into your existence, here at Cannabis.com, you've got it out of me. I've been diagnosed with Dementia secondary to Brain Trauma. Don't worry, I don't remember a thing.

My life went from a fully-functional, athlete to a vegetable in a bed. By the time I realized what happened, I was being flown to a rehabilitation hospital, made a recovery that changed my stay at the hospital from a scheduled 7-month stay to less than 2, and two months and a week after my "trauma(car accident)", I found myself with friends and smoked weed. I wasn't on prescription drugs. I drank alcohol at the New Year's Eve party and woke up with the worst hangover ever. I felt like I was drinking with a hangover after my first beer.

I've had one incident involving prescription drugs and marijuana. Moderation is the key.

We're so quick to label things as disorders and illnesses. Kind of like how there was no such thing as Acid Reflux Disease 30 years ago. Though now I'm sure at least 6 companies make a medication for this raging epidemic.

So, don't be so quick to indulge your idiosyncrasies and get a second opinion before starting a regimen of anti-psychotics or anti-depressants. Both can have dramatic impacts that can go unseen for years.

Regret for wasted time is more wasted time.

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Originally Posted by lemonboy

We're so quick to label things as disorders and illnesses. Kind of like how there was no such thing as Acid Reflux Disease 30 years ago. Though now I'm sure at least 6 companies make a medication for this raging epidemic.

So, don't be so quick to indulge your idiosyncrasies and get a second opinion before starting a regimen of anti-psychotics or anti-depressants. Both can have dramatic impacts that can go unseen for years.

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i agree. i'm often faced with the tendency to point out dis-eases in my head and relate them to mental illness. i usually put on a good song and the feeling goes away. these feelings are natural and for them are natural cures. others have the tendency to dwell deeper and deeper into their problem, thus making it worse.the fact is depression, attention disorders, anxiety, paranoia, etc. are all easily cured. i suggest you research natural cures instead of possibly creating a worse problem by taking medication. remember, pharmaceutical companies do not profit from curing people. i love late night television.

here are some reference sites for you:

http://www.new-health.biz/articles/article8.htm

http://www.islamonline.net/english/S...rticle16.shtml

sort of got off-topic there.

smoking marijuana can lead to greater depression, for it sedates you, and stimulates brain activity and that isn't always good for depression, but it would allow you to uproot the problem and get rid of it. i suppose it's all on how you are when your high?

In response to lemonboy and Ganj's posts:

While it's true, there does exist a certain degree of "over-medication" in society these days, with all sorts of conditions that did not "exist" thirty years ago, there are reasons for this.

1. Certain conditions have been reclassfied and renamed and newer, more effective medications are now available, as opposed to older remedies that may not have worked as well.

2. Drug companies DO profit from curing people. In fact, drug companies are like any other company, they have to put out a product that WORKS in order to sell as much of it as possible to make a profit. No company can realistically make money with a product that doesn' do what it supposed to.

HOWEVER..that is the real paradox, because with the emphasis on making money, the products that "WORK" may not work as well as they are supposed to and they are marketed and doled out to the population in order to make sales. But of course there are problems, like side-effects, recalls etc.

This is not a perfect system, the medical advances or driven by competition by drug companies to put out a better pill than the other, not because of some inherent desire to cure people.

So what it means is that, unless you have no other choice, you should try and stay off medications unless your life really depends on it

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Originally Posted by motahead

In response to lemonboy and Ganj's posts:

While it's true, there does exist a certain degree of "over-medication" in society these days, with all sorts of conditions that did not "exist" thirty years ago, there are reasons for this.

1. Certain conditions have been reclassfied and renamed and newer, more effective medications are now available, as opposed to older remedies that may not have worked as well.

2. Drug companies DO profit from curing people. In fact, drug companies are like any other company, they have to put out a product that WORKS in order to sell as much of it as possible to make a profit. No company can realistically make money with a product that doesn' do what it supposed to.

HOWEVER..that is the real paradox, because with the emphasis on making money, the products that "WORK" may not work as well as they are supposed to and they are marketed and doled out to the population in order to make sales. But of course there are problems, like side-effects, recalls etc.

This is not a perfect system, the medical advances or driven by competition by drug companies to put out a better pill than the other, not because of some inherent desire to cure people.

So what it means is that, unless you have no other choice, you should try and stay off medications unless your life really depends on it

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couldnt have said it better myself.

Thats why I think some meds can be worse than recreationals because the company puts profits before people(thanks to the capitalistic society). I'd trust my dealer over a pharmacuetical company anyday.

i never get depressed when i smoke on a regular basis.

when i was a sober person before smoking, i used to have episodes of seclusion, and the inability to get all the bad shit out of my mind. i'd always dwell on negative thoughts and be depressed for days at a time. not sure if it's connected, but most likely... i'm never like that anymore now. it's easier to move on.