From What I've Noticed, A Medical No No For Reefer

[skapunker1337]

Alright, now from my own research and experience, cannabis has been amazing for me. It helps with my celiac disease, a disorder which makes me hypersensitive to gluten, and my melancholy depression is melancholly absent with it. Plus its amazing recreationally, as I'm a musician and my friends always have a great time with me (my weed and theirs).

Well, my brother is 19 years old, but he has bi-polar 2 and manic depression. At first I thought the weed helped him, but his behavior is exacerbated with the weed, or any drug for that matter (good or bad).

My question is, do you of the city agree that marijuana is bad for people of bi-polar/mania like disorders? Are there any other medical disorder you can think of that would be more negative then beneficial?

[2Faded]

No, it helps Bi-Polar Disease, so I have no clue what's up.

[TempleGuard]

I think that if you have any mental condition, chances are that it will make it worse. And if you believe the anti-weed campaings it increases the risk of all mental conditions by 999999999999% for 99 years after you've smoked it.

[varyouga]

Every strand of MJ doesn't work for everyone.

A different strand might work. But some people just aren't helped by MJ nomatter what.

From personal experience, I don't think it's good for long-term use with depressive disorders.

[RichardDean]

Mj is a drug like any other albeit the safest but not going to work for everyone cause all of us have different body chemistry.

[skapunker1337]

well as i said, i have melancholic depression and its great. but mania is odd because a manic episode is almost like a high to them, so if you smoke pot it will make it worse. other than that, marijuana is great almost anything

[BubbleFunker]

I have heard that certain strains of mj may cause an exacerbation of mania, in some people with Bipolar, Psychosis and or Schizophrenia. (Note the underlinings.)

But as it is with many herbs and medicinal preparations, there may be side effects.

So, if your brother is having "side-effects" he may wish to either try different strains (some sativas can cause increase in mania, in some people) or simply not use it.

Cannabis is good for some people with Bipolar, and not so good with some people. I mean, if you're allergic to peanuts, and they say peanuts are good for everybody, how are you to feel? There are no absolutes.

Not enough sound research has been done to draw any conlusions from. Thank-you FDA, and US govt!

There is evidence demonstrating that Lithium is still the most beneficial for Bipolar, though. Has he been tried on it?
Most of the anti-psychotics have a myriad of side-effects, bad ones: weight gain, raised glucose-->type 2 diabetes, headaches, suicidal tendencies, etc.
You have to weigh the pros and cons of all suggested meds vs. the condition itself.

I have schitzo-affective disorder, which is a combination of manic-depression and schitzophrenia and marijuana only worsens my symptoms. I am growing some pure indica right now to see if that will be compatible but so far, like skapunker says, weed only exacerbates mental disorders.

I believe only someone who is suffering from a disorder should be the only ones who can provide credible feedback. I'm sure some people with OCD or a condition like mine are fine on weed, but personally it only makes my symptoms worse.

edit: I also agree with you BubbleFunker because it has a lot to do with that specific person's biology. I think sativas have more of a tendecy to fuck with your head if you have a mental disorder, which is why I grow pure indica.

On the other hand, cannabis HAS been proven to be a major risk factor if you have a biological history for mental disorders. If someone like your aunt or grandfather has manic depression or schitzophrenia, there is a very good likelyhood that weed will speed up the onset of the disorder if you smoke enough.

[ThePhantom]

Marijuana works for some people, and doesn't work for others. I think it's best for pain and certain disorders (physical and mental). Body chemistry is quite complicated.

[thosevacanteyes]

Originally Posted by skapunker1337

Alright, now from my own research and experience, cannabis has been amazing for me. It helps with my celiac disease, a disorder which makes me hypersensitive to gluten, and my melancholy depression is melancholly absent with it. Plus its amazing recreationally, as I'm a musician and my friends always have a great time with me (my weed and theirs).

Well, my brother is 19 years old, but he has bi-polar 2 and manic depression. At first I thought the weed helped him, but his behavior is exacerbated with the weed, or any drug for that matter (good or bad).

My question is, do you of the city agree that marijuana is bad for people of bi-polar/mania like disorders? Are there any other medical disorder you can think of that would be more negative then beneficial?

I would say that the reason for it not working on him is because he is, well, bi-polar.

SSRI's and other meds that they give you to treat bi-polar stay *active* in your system longer than marijuana. Basically you take the anti depressants to stable out your moods, if you take one pill, one time, it will do nothing for you. Medicine like that builds up in your system as you take it daily and remains active in your system for months at a time, unlike marijuana. Sure, marijuana it might be a temporary fix for his bi-polar, but without prescription drugs, which I do not recommend, his mood shifts will only be temporary. He would have to smoke until he came down, and then smoke again, and repeat, daily for it to have the effect that an SSRI would have on him. Marijuana is great for stress relief, chronic body pain, appetite inducer, etc. but I wouldn't suggest it for someone who is severely depressed. The chemicals in the brain tend to get out of balance when you are mixing recreation with prescription.

-C

[BubbleFunker]

from hwhobbs: On the other hand, cannabis HAS been proven to be a major risk factor if you have a biological history for mental disorders. If someone like your aunt or grandfather has manic depression or schitzophrenia, there is a very good likelyhood that weed will speed up the onset of the disorder if you smoke enough.

Please show me the proof. I have studied all the available research/studies, of which there are very few, and none of them are conclusive, and all of them are flawed studies. If you have proof, meaning a credible, evidence based paper of this, please show me. Most of the studies tried to demonstrate a causal relationship, but could not. Either their study group was too small, or they relied only on self report from those same small groups. You'd have to have some knowledge of scientific research protocol to know what I mean, perhaps. Most people merely see a headline, and assume they know what the study is about, but know nothing of how it was done, or how to interpret the results.
In all the studies, the words "may" "possibly" show up. There was never any definitive, absolutely positive correlation or causal relationship proven, that I saw.
I'm a scientist, prove me incorrect.
The anti-cannabis people keep trying to find some horrid thing wrong with cannabis, but have had fuck-all of a time doing so.
All the meds on the market, ones approved by the FDA, have "side-effects" and warn people of them. Cannabis need only do that as well.
Side-effects include: "possible" increase in mania, intense hunger, intense thoughtfulness, ability to be easily amused, sleepiness, distortion or augmentation of sound, intense relaxation, . . . . etc.

But never death, or any of the many heinous things I hear daily in the TV ads for supposedly benign medications.
Almost all medications on the market can kill you, or make your life crappy in some other way then the way your illness did.
Anyway. . .

[TokersAnonymous]

I'm bipolar type 2, and it most certainly helps.

I use it largely for anxiety, and to keep me calm so I don't accidentally lose it. However, everyone's chemistry is different, I guess it's a matter of finding out what works for you and sticking with it.

When I was first diagnosed, I was big into alcohol, and I was also big on combining alcohol with anything that will magnify the effects. But when I smoked weed, I didn't have to mix anything, I was happy just smoking a bowl.

Hope this is helpful, best wishes to your brother.

[plugged]

I'm bipolar, and it doesn't help me. It makes me think too much, especially on the come down. I tend to overthink things when I really get onto something I percieve to be important, and that always causes problems for me.

In moderation, after a VERY long break, I'll find out if it helps. Until then I'm sticking to my prescriptions.

[jennyb21671]

my father has glaucoma how does mmj help people with glaucoma? and what is a good way that i could suggest mmj to him?

[BubbleFunker]

It lowers intraocular pressure. Smoke it, eat it, both work.