Should the mentally ill smoke pot?

In another forum someone put forward that there was a study about mental illness and pot, about schizophrenics being two times as likely to smoke pot, and those smoking pot being two times as likely to have schitzophrenia. I said that only indicates that schizophrenics tend to find pot to be comforting and not that it leads to schizophrenia, but then someone else said they don't think the mentally ill should smoke pot as it could make their condition worse in the long run.

Seems to me some people with certain mental conditions could find pot to be beneficial, others detrimental. What do you think?

 

I think you hit the nail head on. You have to try out a little bit, and make the decision on your own.

 

I suffer from Bipolar disorder, Generalized anxiety disorder and I self injure. I find weed makes anxiety and depression worse, while it helps me not cut while in that state of mind.

 

pot is a enhances things. pot is a mild psychedelic. so smoking in the right setting and state of mind is important. therefore someone who is not the most mentally stable person will be enhancing those unstable traits in themselves.

people who smoke pot should be normal people who choose to be smokers.

 

of course...everyone should smoke pot!

 

Anyone who wants to smoke pot should smoke pot, as long as they are doing it because they want to and not to run from problems

 

I think that if you already have a problem, weed can make it worse, but it always a case by case basis. everyone reacts differently to things, even natural ones. I find weed, makes my anxiety adn depression almost non existent. I Love it!!

 

Burnt said pot makes his anxiety and depression worse, while pschedelicg1rl said it makes hers almost non existent. That indicates it should be taken case by case, and people should monitor not only whether they should smoke it but how much and how often they should indulge.

 

I'll go with Burnt's advice, I often feel it's a temporary fix but in the long run (i.e. a week or so) makes anxieties worse. I have not been diagnosed with any serious disorders though.

Edit: I also don't think Pot leads to schizophrenia. Schizophrenics tend to have a very high rate of substance abuse problems in general.

 

I myself have Attention Deficit Disorder, not the hyperactive kind, just the inattentive kind. Sounds like I shouldn't smoke pot at all, but once in a while I like it. However, if I smoke it every day I burn out.

Yes, people with mental conditions such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder tend to look for relief wherever they can find it.

 

It occurs to me that part of the problem is that many among the mentally ill are incapable of regulating themselves. While smoking a little pot occasionally might make their condition better, they can't seem to keep from getting high all the time and making things worse.

For that matter, people with certain personality types would be better off not smoking. Someone who's lazy and apathetic shouldn't get high all the time as it would make them even more so. But someone like that isn't going to care whether they become more lazy and apathetic.

 

yep. If I smoke everyday for like a long time them quit. for like 3 weeks till my chemicals get back to normals I feel off. more anxiety and stuff.

so pot does have withdrawal effects.

 

I know some people who suffer from schizophrenia/mental illness. They do not like smoking pot. Pot makes them trip out and they can't even enjoy being high. They prefer feel good drugs such as xanax, alcohol, and opiates, and cigarettes.

I can even say from personal experience I only like to be high in a relaxing enviroment. If I am in a stressful or bad situation while high it kills my high.

 

Asking "should the mentally ill smoke pot?" is like asking "Is it smart to run a marathon with a machete in your hand?"...

There's a chance you're going to make shit way worse if you fall on the machete, but then again you might come away completely fine and finish the race without a scratch.

It's more based on luck. There's no way to know until you try it but the thing is, if it gets bad then it's gonna be REAL bad.

 

The term "mentally ill" covers a huge number of disorders. The only possible answer to such a question is that it has to be considered on a case by case basis.

 

I have ADHD, general anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, and major depressive disorder. Weed works wonders for all of these, especially the ADHD and the depression.

I agree that it depends on the person though. It will be beneficial to some people, while being detrimental to others.

 

As someone severely hit by mental illness (Bipolar I with Psychosis/ Schizoaffective), I have found Cannabis to be one of the most un-nerving of the many drugs I have tried. I have taken psychedelics and have never run into any horrible incidents, however, with Cannabis, I have encountered times where my schizophrenic traits such as paranoia were turned up to the maximum volume and made the experience so unsettling that it was just plain "not worth it".

Again, I have taken MANY drugs- at least one from each major class (except dissociatives-no interest), and although I have had rough experiences on some of them (occasionally on stimulants, once or twice on psychedelics), nothing matches the bad times I've had on Cannabis.

All of that being said, my story is just anecdotal and may or may not reflect the consensus among all severely mentally ill people who have significant drug experience. I mean, that's a tough demographic to get ahold of. We aren't very "functional" people at most times.

 

Personally, weed helps relieves what issues I have. I've only been smoking for a couple years, so I am unsure what long-term effects it will have. Like Newo pointed out, everyone has a different experience.

 

There are a lot of factors in life that will enhance the symptoms of a mental illness; pot is not special in that.

I think it depends on the individual, just as it depends on the individual amongst the healthy-minded. Pot affects everybody in different ways. What is true for one person will not be true for another.

 

I've been smoking weed for 10+ years. It hasn't made any of my mental disorders worse and, in fact, has helped treat many of them. However, I do believe it hindered my emotional/social development. I am significantly unstable, emotionally speaking, and certain situations are very difficult for me because of it. I feel things very deeply......TOO deeply......and I'm unable to regulate my emotions the way I should. I'm not really certain that it's because of marijuana, honestly, but I'm pretty sure that has something to do with it.

That being said, it's possible that I have aspergers, which, if that's the case, it would explain my lack of emotional and social development and marijuana may or may not have potentiated the problem(s).