I suffer from moderate to severe depression, and nothing has ever seemed to help get rid of it (antidepressants, therapy etc) but I notice whenever I smoke, my mind almost feels normal, my confidence and self esteem goes up, I feel motivated and enthusiastic about my future versus feeling hopeless and I feel in control of my life and myself, and things I have lost interest in I am suddenly interested in, my head feels so much clearer and relaxed and I am able to handle problems and issues much easier, I don't smoke often but I smoke as a way of "therapy" If I have a problem or I want to think or sort out something, I smoke because I am awful at dealing with anything when I'm so depressed. The crazy thing about marijuana though is the effects are drastic and instantaneous. Of course I've heard though, that marijuana makes your depression worse and I don't know what to believe because the thought of possiblly becoming more depressed sounds awful to me, so I don't know if it is actually helping my depression or if I'm just high and crazy. When I am sober, I just feel exactly the same as I did before I started smoking I really don't notice any difference. I just wish I could bottle up that high and feel that way forever, It's absolutely insane the way it takes away my depression. my question is, anyone who is a more experienced on this topic, does it really help any with depression or am I just thinking up crazy things, because I really think if antidepressants worked the way smoking a couple bowls did my life would be way way different.
This is weird man I'm exactly the same. I don't like being high but I have bad depression and sometimes it helps cope with it easier and helps me with sleep. Sometimes I get more depressed while I'm high though. What I noticed is my depression either goes away and I feel motivated for better, or complete opposite and I hate the high and I just want it to leave. I realized it all depends on what strain I'm smoking Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Cannabis saved my life. If it wasn't for that I would have definitelycommitted suicide a long time ago. But heres the thing, cannabis isn't curing depression. It gives you a glimpse at how beautiful the world is with a shift in mindset. You have to apply that change within your sober self. Im the happiest person on earth atm... And because I want to be. I thank only myself, but bud really cleaned my mirror, so to speak
No substance on earth can "cure" depression. They can only bandage the problem OR better yet, be used to give you perspective and insight into how to cure yourself.
exactly! it's not exactly a bandaid for me, I just feel the confidence and motivation to take the steps to make myself happy that I am never able to feel while sober, again I wish I can learn how to keep that feeling permanently
Yeah it's like a tool. I used to have really bad high which revealed things to me. So I took steps to fix them.
It can certainly help manage depression for some people, not everyone mind, but some people. Just like with any other treatment, it's a bit trial and error.
Weed really does help. It really does man. Think of it like this, if you were to see a doctor he would just prescribe you a pill to take everyday. How is that any different than smoking weed everyday? It seems you still consider weed bad. I'm not sure why but you need to leave that thought behind because weed is awesome. You do realize there are thousands of different strains and each one will affect you differently right? You need to find the right strain for your problem, I know its out there. You get real depressed? Do you like sativas? They work more on your mind.
Using any sort of medication to manage the symptoms of any mental illness isn't a bandaid. It's a tool to manage and improve quality of life. You can't necessarily cure yourself. When it's a long term chemical imbalance, the causes are internal. Changing external variables are unlikely to produce any significant improvement. This is hard for people to understand. Our society, as a whole, doesn't have a really good grasp on mental illnesses. Think of it like breaking your arm. If you break your arm you're in pain, even after the bone is set. Your quality of life suffers. But changing external variables, positively isn't going to help is it? Getting a better job isn't going to make your arm hurt less. Any accomplishment isn't. Is it not worthwhile to manage the pain symptoms, to improve quality of life?
I just wanted to know if anyone had similar experiences as me, and I know, I've found and stick to certain strains because they work the best for me, i don't think smoking is necessarily bad for depression just one group of people will say it helps, and another will say it makes it worse so I'm not sure about using it to self medicate, the majority of my life I've just smoked weed occasionally for fun, now I'm considering getting my green card.
worked for me. I found I can deal with my problems more passively with the herb. I like the different point of view I get. been happy and easygoing since my first puff.
Im the same, when I got sent to jail, lost my job and put on probation, I had to start using antidepressants. Shits so unnatural, why can't I smoke my weed in peace. I can't drink because of these pills or smoke because of probation. Can't wait till I'm off!
Hello op, I would like to put in my two cents on this topic. I know how depression works, for me, because I have been a sufferer for a long time. When you use marijuana to help relieve your symptoms, or just get away from your problems, it really does have a positive effect on your brain chemistry, even after the high wears off. People will correctly tell you that smoking will increase your depression symptoms, but usually wont tell you how or why. Basically, when you build up a tolerance, your high wears off quicker and quicker. Then eventually, you smoke multiple times a day, daily. This will lead to all the magic, all the beauty of the herb to diminish, leaving your depression slightly changed, if at all... What I mean is the weed only helps your depression because you can identify your problems, shed light on forgotten pleasures, basically revert yourself to a younger, almost childlike state of happiness and acceptance. It is when you smoke too much without changing any variables in your 'real life' that you will become depressed when you smoke. The key to marijuana is moderation. Find what works for you and don't abuse it just for the sake of getting high. You know what you want out of weed so just find a balance. Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
the only thing that affects the internal is the external. I also think it's very odd that people use the term imbalanced, its not like theres some sort of standard to compare it against. Every case is going to be unique. I also think the bandaid/tool thing is semantics, you do agree that drugs alone won't cure it right? I don't think it's a fair comparison, a broken bone is very different from the mind. All your mind is capable of is sensing external and certain internal things. so of course changing the external things being sensed would cause a change in the mind. however a cast is an external variable that would help lol. And sure, you could keep taking pain meds forever to help the pain but they wont cure the pain. Theyre a temporary bandaid until they wear off. In some sense enviromental change is temporary as well because nothing is permanent and factors will always be changing around you, but there is no way around that.
My bro used to be the same way. He was depressed off his ass and he would smoke weed to medicate in place of anti depressants. I think after a while the good effects from the weed like making his head clear and happy and motivated dulled out over time. And the fact he couldn't feel all that as strong as before made him even sadder. It's like when u first start smoking you get super high and after a while it dulls out. Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
While I was high and depressed I felt so much better but once I got into doing it every day it definitely had the opposite effect.