Bipolar And Cannabis

[deecee 2]

I know someone who uses marijuana to control his bipolar symptoms. He has been on a few drugs, such as lithium. He says the pharmaceuticals don't work as well, and cause him side effects.

Have you heard of others who used cannabis for mental disorders?

[Quirky Jessi 2]

Yes, actually I have. I don't know that it works for everyone and I wouldn't necessarily encourage it. It does work wonders for some people, though. Because it tends to have a calming effect for some, that's obviously good for them, or for others, it's simply a matter of altering the state of mind, no matter what the cause is.

Be warned, it can make symptoms *worse* for some people. It can bring on more anxiety or even heighten the euphoria of an already high hypermania....causing the side effects of a mental disorder to go even higher. Yikes.

[BeautifulAngel 1]

To be honest I used to smoke marijuana to help with my depression and to help with my anxiety. I cut down a lot since now I rarely smoke it, but I do find that it does help.

[BonnyC 1]

I don't know, I guess it would depend on how each person reacts to it. When I was younger, it would make me feel happy but in a relaxed way so it wasn't anything like my mania. That feeling would actually persist for a few days. I don't know why, maybe just being in that state of mind relieved some of the stress I had on my shoulders and helped me feel normal again. So, I suppose it could be fine.

[shaun 6]

I'm undecided on cannabis. I do think it is a 'wonder drug' in some cases. There are people with physical health problems who couldn't live without it. I'm not so sure about using cannabis for mental health problems, though. Most of the people in psychiatric hospitals have used cannabis. In my personal experience, I smoked lots of cannabis in the past and it eventually made me clinically depressed and anxious.

[Twinks* 16]

Ive actually have been considering it also..

[Jord 28]

Whether it works well or not..it isn't an option for most people. A. In the U.S. it's only able to be used in certain states and not many have passed that measure into law. B. For those of us not in a state allowing cannabis, even for medical purposes we would be risking a lot to obtain the cannabis in the first place. Until it's legal..most of us simply can't take that risk. Hopefully someday it's an option. Also, cannabis has ill side effects for mental illness at times..Worsended hysteria, ect...So it's not without it's side effects or risks either. But tbh, I'd probably feel safer smoking cannabis than I would taking some new experimental drug from the FDA..That's for sure

[b00ts 16]

I'm torn on cannabis. As a psychology student I did a study on the effects comparitively of alcohol and then cannabis in the body. My study showed that alcohol is much worse for you than cannabis. However, I think it is much too hit or miss.

It could make some people infinitely worse, some a hundred fold better. And what I've found through personal experiences as that on the majority cannabis causes mental disorders to worsen, the positive effects aren't as widespread. But you could say the same about pharms if you really wanted to get technical.

To me, I stay away from it (it doesn't help that it makes me vomit and extremely panicky). If I'm going to have issues with a med then I'd rather have one the doctors are much more familiar with.

[Mrs. Rogers 2]

My sister (illegally) smokes it to help with her Bipolar symptoms and it seems to keep her pretty chillaxed and not manic. Just from previous experience as a teenager all it did was put me to sleep so I'm not sure it would help me if I were in the Bipolar boat. It would just act as a tranquilizer for me.

[shaun 6]

I'm torn on cannabis. As a psychology student I did a study on the effects comparitively of alcohol and then cannabis in the body. My study showed that alcohol is much worse for you than cannabis. However, I think it is much too hit or miss.

It could make some people infinitely worse, some a hundred fold better. And what I've found through personal experiences as that on the majority cannabis causes mental disorders to worsen, the positive effects aren't as widespread. But you could say the same about pharms if you really wanted to get technical.

To me, I stay away from it (it doesn't help that it makes me vomit and extremely panicky). If I'm going to have issues with a med then I'd rather have one the doctors are much more familiar with.

Exactly, it can make people better, it can be used to treat physical and mental problems. However, it can also make you feel a lot worse. My uncle is a good example, he has smoked cannabis all of his life and he suffers from schizophrenia. Generally speaking, if you have mental health issues or a family history of mental health problems, you should avoid cannabis.

[Esperahol 0]

I would not advise this because amongst other concerns there is no system of regulation for cannabis in America. I mean depending on what you are smoking the benefits versus the side-effects might well see you talking to men in white suits as they tranq you. I mean there are a lot more things out there that are much stronger then what used to be available and no one seems to be taking that into effect when they speak of how "safe" cannabis is. Really seeing as weed does generally make people paranoid and can lead to a lack of inhabitions mixing it with a conditon that often leaves people anxious, paranoid, and unmindful of the consequences of their behavior just seems like a really poor idea.

[Brad 1]

The thing about weed, and the majority of drugs, is that it affects everyone differently. There's no set affect that it's gonna have, each individual will experience something different. I've smoked weed for years, but when my anxiety is bad, I try to avoid it. I find it to be a mood enhancer. So if I'm already feeling anxious to begin with, it can make things worse. But if I'm feeling relaxed and in a good mood and I smoke, it'll usually make me feel great.

I'm not at all sure about the affects that it would have on someone who is bi-polar. But, if you have easy access to it, it wouldn't be a horrible idea to give it a try and see how you react to it. It's safer than a lot of drugs prescribed by doctors. The only potential negative side affect is the paranoia and increase in anxiety, which will wear off pretty quickly. Other side affects include wanting to sit around on the couch eating Cheetos and watching Seinfeld re-runs.

[shaun 6]

The thing about weed, and the majority of drugs, is that it affects everyone differently. There's no set affect that it's gonna have, each individual will experience something different. I've smoked weed for years, but when my anxiety is bad, I try to avoid it. I find it to be a mood enhancer. So if I'm already feeling anxious to begin with, it can make things worse. But if I'm feeling relaxed and in a good mood and I smoke, it'll usually make me feel great.

I'm not at all sure about the affects that it would have on someone who is bi-polar. But, if you have easy access to it, it wouldn't be a horrible idea to give it a try and see how you react to it. It's safer than a lot of drugs prescribed by doctors. The only potential negative side affect is the paranoia and increase in anxiety, which will wear off pretty quickly. Other side affects include wanting to sit around on the couch eating Cheetos and watching Seinfeld re-runs.

You're right, people respond differently to different drugs. I know people who can smoke cannabis regularly and it actually helps them with their mental and physical problems. Other people, like me, will make their problems worse if they smoke excessively. However, the odd spliff didn't do me any harm, it's only when I smoked every day. You need to smoke a lot to make your problems worse, the occassional spliff will not cause any harm.

[Lillian25 0]

On 5/4/2012 at 11:19 PM, deecee said:

I know someone who uses marijuana to control his bipolar symptoms. He has been on a few drugs, such as lithium. He says the pharmaceuticals don't work as well, and cause him side effects.

 

Have you heard of others who used cannabis for mental disorders?

 

Although the role of cannabis in psychiatric illnesses has been an area of interest, it has a risk of developing an addictive disorder. I have directly witnessed the tragedy of my friend going off of his medication for Bipolar disorder, using cannabis, becoming addicted to it and ending up in a drug rehab in Alberta.  It is important to keep in mind that there are many intensities of this disorder. It becomes a matter of life and death for many people.

[anxiousartist 13]

I'm doing research for a piece on Marijuana right now.

Researchers estimate that between 8% and 13% of people with schizophrenia would have never developed schizophrenia if they had not used cannabis.

In another study involving over 50,000 people researchers found that people who used cannabis during their teen years were 600% more likely to be schizophrenic as adults.

In another study researchers found there was a linear relationship between cannabis and schizophrenia with each year of cannabis use resulting in an 8% increased risk of being schizophrenic.

Several organizations like the American Psychological Institute now recommend that there is sufficient evidence linking cannabis to schizophrenia that they recommend that anyone with a predisposition to developing schizophrenia, like a family history of schizophrenia, abstain from using cannabis.

However, unfortunately many times it's not known whether you have a predisposition to developing schizophrenia or not and the only way to find out is by using cannabis and then becoming psychotic, making smoking cannabis a little like playing Russian roulette with your brain.

I know bipolar is not schizophrenia but isn't there a psychotic element to bipolar???

 

 

 

[living_struggling 0]

I smoked marijuana on the weekends and occasionally through the week.I have Bipolar 1 Disorder with rapid cycling mood swings,PTSD and anxiety