Good for Anxiety & Depression? Or causes it?

[mckenna]

As one who has suffered from depression off and on for years... which is no fun, I have found mj to help, as well as with anxiety as it is a relaxant (in my opinion).

But many people say that no, it only causes the anxiety & depression... maybe not what you feel at that moment but that's the long term effects.

What do ya' think? All I know is I've been taking meds off and on for years and they just don't do the trick sometimes!!!!

mckenna Reviewed by mckenna on 06-19-2004. Good for Anxiety & Depression? Or causes it? As one who has suffered from depression off and on for years... :( which is no fun, I have found mj to help, as well as with anxiety as it is a relaxant (in my opinion). But many people say that no, it only causes the anxiety & depression... maybe not what you feel at that moment but that's the long term effects. What do ya' think? All I know is I've been taking meds off and on for years and they just don't do the trick sometimes!!!! Rating: 5

[Dingo]

hey there mckenna I to have suffered from depression.. and yes its not a fun thing, and can be quite hard to get through, I'm glad cannabis works for you as a antidepressant, and helps with anxiety. - for me its terrible for both anxiety and depression, I mean sure when your high its all good! but when ya not your back in reality. I think if your depressed the best thing you can do is not take prescribed medicine, see a phycologist, ingage in lots physical exericise, socialise and take homeopathic medicine. I hope was a decent post and made sense cause i'm really very stoned :P

[socks]

Im so sorry to hear about you suffering from depression. I hope my experience helps you to make a decision

I've been depressed for a long time and have tried many different medications my doctor has prescribed. Up until a few yrs ago my happy clappy face couldnt cover up the way i really felt anymore and so since thn i've hit rock bottom.
I now suffer from agoraphobia, Social Anxiety Disorder, OCD, GAD...the list goes on. Its been since this time that i decided to start helping myself because the medications were failing to work.

Since then i've become a regular smoker of pot and as with my moods, the way i feel towards my smoking and cannabis changes from day to day, but i have never said that it has worsened any of my conditions. It has helped by calming me down and giving me a chance to breath.

Although at one stage i found i became very dependent on t drug for eating, sleeping and even just getting out of bed, through other self help methods i've been able to bring a better balance of it into my life. Sometimes i feel as tho theres so much going on in my mind that i can never hold a thought for longer than a second, once i've had a smoke i find it easier to think, and use some of this time to work on my inner self.

I've heard people say that cannabis only pushes things to the back of ur mind, at one point this was true to me but i think the key to it...as with everything in life, is to get the balance right and do whatever is right for yourself.

I've started reading this book; Beat Depression and Reclaim Your Life, By Alexandra Massey
It reminds me how to work on the inside and although i havent read much i've found it to be a great help.

Take Care xxx

[maryjanemama]

Hi, guys, my name is MaryJane and I, too, am nutty..sorry, no I suffer from a severe depression disorder and a mood disorder. The slightest thing can send me into panic mode but cannabis, in moderation, helps. The problem is when I start smoking too much in one day. If I smoke a little bit, once or twice a day, I'm fine. But, most of the time, I get into the habit of smoking every 2 hours or so. I do find that I feel worse if I smoke too much and then, if I run out, I find life almost impossible!


I have to smoke in moderation to feel better because I've tried all sorts of meds and nothing works. Sometimes I take time off from smoking, just to clear my mind. I've only smoked 4 times in the past 2 weeks and things have been cool. Last night, though, I decided to buy more and I'll pick some up later. Now, I just have to remember not to suck it all down and smoke just a bit!

[mckenna]

Hi Dingo,

Thanks for posting. :-) You say that you think that smoking is not good for depression & yet you still smoke? Do you mean that when you are depressed it will make things worse, but once you're ok then it's ok? (does that make sense? lol)

Socks,

I know exactly what you mean in that it calms you down and gives you a chance to breathe!! I find it very difficult to relax on a day-to-day basis & my mind seems like an endless merry-go-round at times! Smoking always seemed to help that... gives me a chance to slowwwww down.

On the other hand I can see where I got "too" attached to it.... and it was the first thing I wanted to do when I walked in the door after work & I think I would have done it 24/7 could I have!!!!

And nutty MaryJane... lol... welcome to the elite club :-P
You hit the nail on the head in that I believe it's all ok in moderation & does help to some extent!!!!

The reason I started thinking about this recently is this.......

I was taking 2 types of meds for the past year or so. When I went for my appt this year my insurance had changed & they don't cover one of them. So we upped the one and quit the second.....

I haven't smoked this year..... well except for once!!!! (no wonder I'm going nuts... lol) when I was visiting a friend. But now that it's been a good 6 weeks or so w/out the other med... I find myself wanting to smoke all the time!!! It just strikes me as weird in that I haven't been smoking nor craving it until recently.

My psychologist says it's very common for her to see people quit smoking once they find a medication that works for them..... or they go to counselling for a while & get things straightened out because then there's no longer that "need". So she definitely says that the adult smokers she sees are smoking because they are STRESSED and it helps....... for the most part. ;-)

[Dingo]

I no longer suffer from depression. I think if your truelly depressed its not good to depend on cannabis for relief.

[Dingo]

forgot to mention.. sometimes depression can be confused with stress. I think mkenna you are more stressed then depressed, having to slow down sounds more like stress then depression. - maybe a combination of the two?

[mckenna]

hey Dingo,
Yep! W/the help of meds I don't suffer from depression like I used to.
Depression & anxiety often go together...... or one will lead to the other, vice versa.
I just find it difficult to unwind sometimes....
gotta gooooo gotta gooooo gotta goooooo! That's how I feel all the time. Which is why I love mj so much!!! But I thought I'd lay off for a while to get my shit together. :-)

[rnf232s]

i tend to think that smoking helps calm me out. i have bi-polar and real bad anxiety and smoking tends to calm me out. it helps a lot with the bi-polar cause it keeps me calm and keeps me from cycling from depression to mania so often or as badly cause i am a rapid cycler. with the anxiety it just calms you down enough to not worry anymore. i am on meds which work overall but smoking helps in the times when it starts to get real bad or something and you just need some extra help.

[johnwmc02]

I get depressed all the time and i get way pissed off too. i need to smoke to calm down and make myself feel good again