People who smoke medical marijuana for mental conditions

Well... medication for anxiety and depression (including cannabis) is a multi-billion dollar industry. I remember hearing an estimate that 25% of Americans are on this type of medication?
 
So if it were so easy for people to just suck it up and "deal with the underlying causes" then why are so many people wasting their money on snake oil?
 
My philosophy is, if it isn't harming me personally, and someone believes it is helping them, then I support their right to self-medicate.

 

Because it works way better than
cutting and burning myself ever did
at relieving my symptoms.
 
And it's a lot less scarring too.
 
I don't know how or why it works
so well, and I don't care either.
It just works.

 

Because not all mental illness is caused by some underlying trauma or issue. Sometimes it's as simple as your brain doesn't function right or have a chemical imbalance. Cannabis helps the symptoms of the illness.


Edit: experience from almost fifteen years of living with a very bad panic disorder caused by nothing more than my mothers choices in life while pregnant with me.

 

I am really curious what you mean by "address the underlying cause"---can you give a specific example that doesn't sound like a self-help affirmation?
 
For example, my friend is depressed because she had a terrible childhood, what should she do, get in a time machine, go back, and have a happier childhood?
 
Or another friend is anxious because he has AIDS, are you saying he should make his AIDS go away and quit smoking weed?

 

Yes most mental illness is just a chemical imbalance in the brain.
 
and cannabis can sometimes treat these imbalances better than prescription drugs which have a shitload of adverse side effects.
 
I wish I could take CBDs for my schizophrenia. The side effects to my current meds will eventually kill me.
 
http://healthland.time.com/2012/05/30/marijuana-compound-treats-schizophrenia-with-few-side-effects-clinical-trial/

 

 
I agree. I personally have sometimes abused it to numb/avoid dealing with reality.
 
I also find certain strains can aggravate my insomnia, true.

 

 
Been trying to find the underlying cause since I was a kid.
I go to my Psychiatrist every six months, and my therapist
every six weeks.  I'd love to find the underlying cause,
but I'll take relief any day.  Anxiety is hell when it's
full blown.

 

My therapist actually introduced the idea of me using Cannabis as treatment.  I have bad reactions to pharmaceuticals.  I use cannabis to help treat my PTSD.  It's not the solution it's a tool in helping to cope with PTSD issues like insomnia, loss of appetite, panic attacks, and depression.

 

Some of ya'll just have to accept. Just like some prescription drugs medical marijuana is legitimate medicine.
 
But people have to find the right strain to fit their condition and their brain or it won't work. At this point the person is just smoking to get high and forget their problems.

 

Sativas work to heal me of depression and anxiety almost entirely, mostly by allowing me to actually clear my mind of my thoughts and then forgive and forget and understand. I'm normal again. I ate a few cookies and had a toke or two and for the past week or so I've been completely at ease for once. I've been able to enjoy my life. I've been able to sleep. It's a brief glimpse into reality that I can rarely get. Mind you, the glimpse into reality also allows me to realize things about myself I haven't noticed affect me so strongly. For instance, I seem to go off on random tangents to deepen stories that're obviously unnecessary. I also have a hard time understanding what to say and what not to say during a situation. 

 

I like to smoke sativa when I am depressed and indicas when I am having a manic episode or a panic attack. Where I am at now I can't pick my strains I would like and I am stuck with using indicas. I would rather vape then take a handful of pills there is no underlining problem other then my mind is fucked up due to a chemical in balance in the old noggin. Oh and at times I do smoke to help sleep and yes I have been diagnosed with insomnia and I have taken pills since I was like 12 I'm 41 now.

 

Because it helps. There isn't always a solution to mental health. Even therapy. It's all just stuff that helps.

Mental health is not the cause if people not wanting to solve or explore their issues. That's just reducing the issue to terms that people can understand.

 

 
Medicine is honestly just really far behind on treating mental illness as opposed to physical maladies. Even 50 years ago people were still basically being locked up and left to rot, or subjected to inhumane treatments with sketchy scientific basis, like insulin shock therapy, for instance.
 
There's still a stigma around the mentally ill, especially the severely mentally ill, where people tend to view them as almost subhuman, as opposed to physical ailments like cancer where people receive only sympathy. It really is changing though, it's light years better than it was in the past.
 
Developing medications to treat the symptoms and researching the underlying causes are both worthy goals. It's not a one or the other thing. Sure it'd be great to cure, say, schizophrenia, but in the mean time people suffering from it still have to live their lives.

 

It bothers me some when people want to "cure" schizophrenia.
 
Treat it so people can function normally, fine.
 
But to eliminate something that builds character and broadens the human experience might be a misguided attempt to cleanse the human race of necessary imperfections.
 
Not all people see their mental illness as a complete handicap.  It's part of our identity, part of our perspective on life.