Marijuana depression

[Unregistered]

Can marijuana cause depression? I know some people say it can but I would like to hear peoples experiences in regards to this.



Thanks in advance.

[abiogenesis]

Hi,

You could just go through the threads posted by people and could read the experiences for yourself. But, to say in just one sentence from my experience, it definitely can cause depression, expecially for the ones who are already vulnerable to it.

All the best,

[Board Forum Blogger]

Hi and welcome,

Yes it can cause depression in some, it did in me, it may have made me feel better in the short term, but in the long term and after many years of use it made me feel more depressed than ever, there are two ways in which using marijuana can make you depressed, firstly there is the effect the actual drug/chemical can have on your brain, which in the long term can make you depressed just like a lot of drugs can, but secondly there is also the effect it can have on your life in general, using drugs can often lead to a much more limited and less fulfilling life which in its self can also make you more depressed especially in the long term.

Take care and all the best,

[Board Forum Blogger]

Just to add an extra note to this issue I seen a bit of a report on the news that suggested the amount that you use can also have an significant effect as to how you react to it in this respect, it was basically saying that in low doses it may in some cases actually help to relieve symptoms of depression but in high doses it can have the opposite effect and actually cause it, which personally I don’t think is perhaps as strange as it first may sound, I have heard of a lot of drugs that can have one effect at a low dose and the exact opposite effect at a high dose.

It’s often confusing for people trying to find information on the effects of marijuana on something as big and as vast as the internet, you often read so many conflicting reports and it’s something that people will always argue about until the cows come home, which isn’t helped by the fact that most people aren’t actually taking an objective and balanced view but rather merely believing what they want to believe or whatever it is that justifies the way they are living their life at present, unfortunately that’s something that we as people are very good at no matter what the issue, but there are people who report that they feel marijuana helps them with depression as well as people who feels it has harmed, so maybe this difference in the way in which different people use the drug might go some way to explaining the very different accounts you may read in regards to a subject like this, that and as I always say the way your body reacts to the hundreds of chemicals that marijuana contains as an individual, we all have a different biological makeup and can all react to different chemicals in different ways.

All the best,

[Board Forum Blogger]

Also I just remembered this saying from an episode of south park where they said that one of the main problems with marijuana is that it makes you feel ok with been bored and it’s when you are bored that you should be trying or learning something new or doing something to develop yourself in some way, or words to that effect and I think it’s a good point really, obviously there are all kinds of various problems that can be experienced depending on how you react to it as an individual including mental health problems like depression and as I said in my previous post some of this may be as a result of how you react to the chemical it’s self, but your reaction to the actual chemical aside, even if it makes you feel good, well especially if it makes you feel good, it’s when you have an artificial way of feeling good without actually having to do anything, by simply just smoking a chemical for example, that you stop doing all the other stuff that you would have had to do in order to experience enjoyment and satisfaction in your life, perhaps one of the biggest dangers is that it can become a substitute for actually living and while you may be able to get your enjoyment and satisfaction in the short term merely from inhaling the chemical, in the long term like with most drugs not only are you going to get tolerant to it, so after a while it’s not going to feel that great anymore, in fact after a while you often need to use your drug of choice just to feel normal and once this tolerance has set in and it no longer feels that good you may start to realise that you don’t actually do that much and life isn’t that fun anymore, at the end of the day I don’t think there is really any chemical substitute for living a full and active life, which if you start using too much of any drug may become less and less the case.

Anyway if anyone else wants to share their thoughts or experiences in regards to marijuana and depression please feel free to chip in.

All the best,

[Board Forum Blogger]

Has anyone else out there found that it’s ok if they use a little bit of the drug but bad if they use a lot? I suppose one of the problems is that just like any drug use your tolerance does build up and what starts off as a little given time often turns into a lot.

[NotMyRealName]

Yeah, I agree with BFB. A little can be (used to be) good, but a lot is bad.

One of the reasons I decided to really give quitting a good try was thinking back to when I first used. Then it was always with friends, it was pretty infrequent, and what I remember the most was the hilarious times we would have - fits of laughter, doing really fun things, even making really fun things. It dawned on me that it had been a very, very long time since I had last laughed when stoned (I guess because I was stoned so much more frequently). Instead, I became withdrawn, lacked immagination, and would have hardly called the experience "fun".

I have said, on another thread previously, that I don't think marijuana is all bad - it can be fun and make you happy and all that, but only if used sparingly and in the right circumstances. I just can't controll my use, so I'll have to throw the baby out with the bathwater. But, there is a (small) baby in all that rank bathwater.

[inforayssan]

yes i also agree with the statement made by BFB that a little would be good that to with some limitation and a lot would cause problem its harmful

[Board Forum Blogger]

Yes obviously the fact we are here probably means we aren’t the kind of people that can’t use a little without it turning into a lot, the thing is even if the theory of this particular news report about a little helping depression but a lot harming it, although personally I have found that once I had messed myself up from doing way too much even a little was very harmful even if I did keep it at just a small amount, but even if this theory is true for many then that may be fine in terms of depression but doesn’t take into consideration the risk of your use escalating and the risks that are associated with that. So when I was asking the question of who finds it ok when they use a little in regards to one particular type of side effect, I think you still have to take into account the picture as a whole, so to be honest my advice would still have to be that abstinence is always the safest policy, when it comes to all your options I don’t think there is anything safer than that, I just wouldn’t want what I was asking to be taken the wrong way that’s all, but if some people can take it or leave it without it been a problem then fair enough, but like you guys point out and like a lot of things in life just because something isn’t a problem for everybody doesn’t mean it can’t be for some.

[Unregistered]

Every time I had tried to quit (both voluntarily and un) I get soooooo depressed. Every bad thing that has ever happened drops on me all at once. And if something bad happens at the time, even if it's literally spilt milk, I have a breakdown.
My question is: Is the weed that makes me that way, or is there an underlying cause for this that I might need to get help for. Did the weed make me depressed or did I use it it cover it up. Or did it make it worse. I don't know. Im just so sad.