Depression + weed = win

It's not much, but I'm the son of a qualified medical professional and have spent years talking about and studying psychology and psychiatric medications. Marijuana for depression is like pinching your left arm to keep pain away from the open wound on your right. When you use marijuana, it just distracts you from the depression and can have a bit of a placebo effect, as it doesn't do what anti-depressants do chemically. Go to a psychiatrist and he'll tell you the same thing. The term "self-medicating" is a professional term used by psychologists and it describes what that guy is doing perfectly. Like I've said, depression is not something to fuck around with.

If your psychiatrist was worth his salt, he would have gone to the last resort and prescribed you MAOI's. Electroshock therapy is also a great last resort, but MAOI's, no matter how much they limit your diet, are the ultimate anti-depressants.

 

I have severe rapid-cycling manic depressive disorder and owe my sanity to my medication. I met one of the bipolars you described and it's a miserable existence. That only happens when you're over medicated though, so it can easily be avoided. A good psychiatrist would have never over medicated you. My bipolar is pretty much in control, but my personality is far from numb like an overmedicated bipolar.

Modern medicine is the reason why people live so much longer than in the 1600's. For a simple URI, not taking medicine will only prolong your sickness, but with a more serious disease like pneumonia, not taking medicine will kill you. Living a natural life is exactly what people did when the life expectancy was super low, and I wouldn't recommend it.

 

Why do you think you can tell someone to stop taking marijuana if it improves their quality of life? Maybe ADs do work for some people but no one should ever think that it's the only option. There are various natural supplements and herbal remedies that have proven to be as effective as some AD's as well as things like CBT and even hypno therapy in certain people. Exercise and a nutritonist alone has dramatically improved what used to be chronic depression for me.

As I said since you aren't a qualified professional who can diagnose the level of depression he's suffering form then you are in no place to tell him he needs AD's. Marijuana is not a long term solution but if it helps improves someones quality of life then they should take it.

Remember that each person is different and what worked for you may not work others.

 

Hypnosis, not hypnotherapy (there is none), has been proven to not work, as has 99% of alternative medicine when tested against a placebo. When you venture into natural medicine, you're putting your life in the hands of things that are completely untested. In some situations, like in the case of red yeast rice, herbal medicine works, but with untested and unregulated herbs you aren't getting the same dose every day. As a matter of fact, Mevacor, the old inferior cholesterol medicine, was basically red yeast rice.

I'm not a health care professional, but I definitely know more about medicine than you. Marijuana does not treat CHEMICAL depression. Depression is chemical, which is why they don't give you PCN for it. Millions of dollars go into research and studies that prove the use of the drug. There's a clincal trial database that shows every bit of evidence that anti-depressants work better than the placebo, which in this guy's case is marijuana. The placebo effect is extremely powerful, and this guy is under it's trance. A great example of it's power is acupuncture. In a study of almost 7,000 people with different types of pain, none of them saw any difference between the placebo and real acupuncture. Does acupuncture work? No. Does the mind make it work? Yes. The same goes for pot. It doesn't actually work, but the placebo effect turns it into an anti-depressant. Anti-depressants aren't the only option, as you still have shock treatment and this new treatment involving an MRI. I don't know much about the latter though.

If there is one thing I urge all hippie medicine lovers to do: Look at the research. Research the clinical trials that take the placebo effect into account. What are you going to trust, anecdotal evidence, which any science-minded person would say is not real evidence, or scientific proof? If something is unstudied in Western medicine, it's not legal to sell. Why trust something that has absolutely no scientific research or explanation? We know how anti-depressants work and why they treat depression, so can anyone explain how weed treats depression?
Home - ClinicalTrials.gov

 

We know how anti-depressants work and why they treat depression, so can anyone explain how weed treats depression?

... it makes you happy???...

 

Hypnotherapy is therapy that is undertaken with a subject in hypnosis.

The word "hypnosis" (from the Greek hypnos, "sleep") is an abbreviation of James Braid's (1841) term "neuro-hypnotism", meaning "sleep of the nervous system".

In 1973, Dr. John Kappas, Founder of the Hypnosis Motivation Institute, wrote and defined the profession of a Hypnotherapist in the Federal Dictionary of Occupational Titles:"Induces hypnotic state in client to increase motivation or alter behavior patterns: Consults with client to determine nature of problem. Prepares client to enter hypnotic state by explaining how hypnosis works and what client will experience. Tests subject to determine degree of physical and emotional suggestibility. Induces hypnotic state in client, using individualized methods and techniques of hypnosis based on interpretation of test results and analysis of client's problem. May train client in self-hypnosis conditioning."


Hypnotherapy has long been used in relation to childbirth. It is used during pregnancy to prepare a mother for birth, and during childbirth to reduce anxiety, discomfort and pain.

Hypnotism was originally used to treat the condition known in the Victorian era as Hysteria. Modern hypnotherapy is widely used in the treatment of anxiety, subclinical despression, and certain habit disorders, as well as in the treatment of conditions such as insomnia.


In 2003, a meta-analysis of the efficacy of hypnotherapy was published by two researchers from the university of Konstanz in Germany, Flammer and Bongartz.

Their professed aim was to discover whether, even under the most skeptical weighing of the evidence, hypnotherapy was still proven effective. They showed conclusively that it was. In fact, their analysis of treatment designs concluded that expansion of the meta-analysis to include non-randomized trials for this data base would also produce reliable results. When all 133 studies deemed suitable in light of this consideration were re-analyzed, providing data for over 6,000 patients, the findings suggest an average improvement in 27% of untreated patients over the term of the studies compared with a 74% success rate among those receiving hypnotherapy. This is a high success rate given the fact that many of the studies measured included the treatment of addictions and medical conditions.

So you were wrong there. What else?

 

Man, I really didn't do enough research on hypnosis. I'm totally wrong there, but I still stand behind the other things I said and because all you did was disprove one of my statements, I'm guessing you're out of ammo.

 

I URGE everyone to ignore purecussion and do your own research and find what works better for you. Finding something that works well for your depression can take some time and trial and error but don't be discouraged.

Remember smoking marijuana alone is not a solution but if it helps to alleviate symptoms assosciated with it like body achs, pains or loss of appetite then you have every right to use it.


Things like fish oil, inositol and GABA have been clinically proven to improve certain cases of depression and anxiety. Both severe and moderate. Routine exercise and coginitive behavioral therapy have also been proven to be very effective.

Each person is different and should find what works best. Do some research and educate yourself but I suggest AD's as a last resort. We still don't fully know how they effect the brain in the long term and don't even completely understand depression yet.

www.sciencedaily.com is a nice place to start.

 

FAIL. Your ignorance is harming people. You, without an education or any knowledge on the subject, have no idea how they work because you haven't studied it. Doctors know how they work. They even know what happens in the long term. Some of the medications, like lithium, have been around for a long time. How could anyone be so stupid as to trust a minimum wage health store employee over the entire medical community. Depression is a major mental health impairment. You don't try herbs for cancer, although marijuana is starting to be proven by Western doctors as a cancer treatment (seriously, it kills brain cancer cells), but you try herbs for depression? To anyone that follows this guy's advice, write up your wills.

Here's my final bit of advice: Do not take a single medication until you've read the clinical trial (with placebo) results. If something hasn't been proven to work, you shouldn't trust your life with it. I wouldn't trust Lamictal if there was a proven treatment. I've gone through periods of smoking weed every day and it hasn't helped my bipolar disorder, ADD, or tic disorder. It has only helped my back and I'm very grateful for that. I still pop pain pills and take Celebrex daily, but a nice bowl of indica is always ready in case the pain is either light enough not to take a pain pill or heavy enough to need both.

 

Weed defintaly gives me a new outlook on life and gets all depression that i would ever have complety away it give me a feeling inside that everthing is perfect and that feeling of perfect i always enjoy being in my life.

 

What's ignorant is telling people AD's are the only solution when it's completely unsupported by facts. AD's are very harmful to certain people. For some the side effects are unbearable.

There are different levels of depression but purecussion here like the pharmaceutical companies would like you to believe there's a one pill fix all. Maybe marijuana doesn't work for you. As I said it alone is not a solution and one should seek some sort of therapy to help deal with any underlying turmoil which sometimes by itself can work for certain people.


There are many different treamtents and ways you can tackle depression aside from AD's don't let this guy tell naturals don't work. COMPLETELY UNSUBSTANTIATED.

 

That's called being high. It's fun. Anti-depressants will allow you to be sober and happy. There's nothing wrong with smoking pot every day because you like to, but when you have to smoke pot to be happy you have a problem. How much do you smoke to retain happiness?

 

I've said there are different treatments. Shock therapy is the ultimate anti-depressant and there's a new one that I don't know much about. It's some form of MRI and stimulates the brain to do ???. For a serious disorder like depression, fucking around with something that hasn't been proven, aka a placebo, is harmful. I would never say naturals don't work, but I will say that they're rarely proven to work. All you have, all any alternative medicine idiot has, is anecdotal evidence. In the scientific community we call that bullshit. I actually asked the healthcare professional who has a Ph.D. in Psychology and she agreed with me. That's based on her training and her experience both in workers comp therapy.

I've studied the placebo effect in depth and anyone that thinks marijuana, which has absolutely nothing to do with the causes of depression, is under the placebo's amazing trance. For the OP, read about the placebo effect and your disorder.

 

You repeatedly keep bringing up marijuana placebo when I said it should be used to treat symptoms assosciated with depression. If that helps improves someones quality of life, then good. It should not ever be the only solution.

There are different levels of depression that people suffer from. it's a cyclical disorder- intensity can come and go. Some are mild, moderate or severe. There is also dysthymia which is pretty much a persistent, low-grade mood that doesn't interfere with functioning like major depression but manifests in a loss of pleasure, etc. And there's cyclothymia, where one's moods alternate between low and feeling better, not to the extremes of manic depression. And one more: SAD- seasonal affective disorder- a depressive illness brought on by the winter, lack of sunlight, etc.

It's important to get the right diagnosis and approach the appropriate treatment plan from there.

For milder to moderate depression you might try St. Johns Wort which is shown by over 20 clinical trials to work with few side effects.

Omega-3 fatty acids are a type of good fat needed for normal brain function. Our bodies can't make omega-3s on their own, so we must obtain them through our diet. Studies have linked depression with low dietary intake of omega-3 fatty acids. In countries with higher fish consumption, such as Japan and Taiwan, the depression rate is 10 times lower than in North American. Postpartum depression is also less common.

Folic acid, also called folate, is a B vitamin that is often deficient in people who are depressed.Folate is found in green leafy vegetables, other vegetables, fruit, beans, and fortified grains. It's one of the most common vitamin deficiencies because of poor diet but also because chronic conditions and various medications such as aspirin and birth control pills can also lead to deficiency.

SAM-e, pronounced "sammy", is short for S-adenosyl-L-methionine. It's a chemical that's found naturally in the human body and is believed to increase levels of neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine.Several studies have found SAM-e is more effective than placebo.


These are just a few examples of some different routes you can take along with healthy diet and exercise to defeat depression. Maybe it works for you maybe it doesn't! I hate AD's and would never take them with the experiences I've had and seen friends have(suicide).

I think AD's should be taken by people with very serious cases of bi-polar or depression though expensive shock therapy has been proven effective as a last resort.

 

Yeah, doctors call it self-medicating. The use of anything that is unrelated to your illness to relieve symptoms is self-medication, so even the constant playing of Boggle is considered self-medication. How could so many people be stupid enough to go against the entire, and I mean entire, medical community?

 

I doubt your saying that is going to change the fact that marijuana helps. Sure it shouldn't be the only way you combat depression but if it helps, why stop?

 

Im going to say this plain and simple.

Ive been smoking almost 2 years every day and im on a t break. I started because of depression and i abused the plant because it alleviated the depression so well and quickly.

Getting into the every day or really frequent use habit will slowly but surely block out what your real emotions feel like.

Being on my T break.. ive been super depressed, even more so than before i smoked and for no reason.

Just dont abuse the plant because getting back to reality will be such a harsh transition.

 

So let me get this right. You're acknowledging that smoking weed all the time treats your depression in that way that cocaine does, and by that I mean it makes you happy by taking you away from your problems, but you still think it's better than anti-depressants? Marijuana certainly is a good band-aid for depression, but psychotherapy and psychotropic medication will actually get rid of it. Anti-depressants and therapy don't need to last forever. People get off of anti-depressants after a while. When it's not treated, depression leads to suicide. If my side of the argument is 100% proven and yours is Google'd anecdotal evidence, do you really think you should give advice to the depressed? Let me ask you, how many patients have you treated after getting out of graduate school? If you've treated half as many as the psychologist and psychiatrist who taught me all this, then I'll totally think you're not an idiot. I bet you're just Googling everything so you could act like you read it in a medical journal.

To the OP: Your depression will not get better. It will get much, much worse to the point that all the weed in the world will not control it. You'd have to be blitzed out of your mind 24/7 to even attempt to keep it from killing you. Good luck, because you're in for a really horrible ride.

 

You must lack reading comprehension. I have repeatedly said marijuana should not be used alone as treatment and should certainly be used in moderation. And I NEVER ONCE said it was better then AD's maybe you need to go back and read my posts again because you either have a terrible memory or can't read.

Maybe you need to try google yourself. Having the internet available to educate yourself is a powerful tool.

 

I hope you're talking from experience, because otherwise this bullshit pisses me right off.

I'm extremely depressed (and not because I've been sitting on my ass watching TV getting fat lol, quite the opposite), and suicidal, and have been through every spectrum of SSRI/anti-psychotics. Hell I even went through ECT shock therapy which is what they did in Beautiful Mind to the schizo dude (it's much less barbaric nowadays but still). And yes of course, psychotherapy.

It might work for some people, but it sure as hell didn't work for me. Weed however, works, and works well, so stop judging other people and talking out of your ass.