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[Mega] Cannabis and Depression

Well put it together. It pushes my confincence up when I smoke it put if I dont smoke it for 2 weeks I feel down again. Get it now bro ? ;)



So, like, weed has positive latent effects for up to two weeks, and then after those two weeks you feel lower than when you were sober?

Nope, doesn't happen to me. To my knowledge, it doesn't happen to anybody I know. The timeframe is simply too long to be able to apply it to some of my shittier lows/comedowns concerning weed.


Not to alarm you but my money would be on some kind of underlying disorder (depression, anxiety, manic-depressive etc.) that marijuana treats in the short-term but causes a rubber band "snap back" effect in the long-term. That's a super uneducated guess, though, and I'd prefer you get a more professional opinion before you even consider just taking a Bluelighters word for it.
 
I <3 you Jibult.

I fully agree with everything Jibult just said, bro. It sounds like you are experiencing some depression already about your life, so you use pot to help "boost your confidence" or to take the edge off. But after you stop for a period your depression catches up to you.

If you were fine before you smoked the weed then you wouldnt need it to help raise your confidence.
 
Shit how come the bipolar diagnosis was so late? Were you dealing with it untreated for years?

Perhaps there's always a reason for it for you, but for me and others I know there isn't always a reason. External factors can always make it worse though of course. But I know people who've had no reason to enter an episode of depression but still have, it's usually confusing and difficult for them because there are no external issues to resolve and no obvious solution to how they're feeling. Postpartum depression would be a good example too.

I was self-medicating with pot for many years. I always knew i had issues, i just assumed they would get better with age but they did not. I woke up one day thinking look into ADHD - no idea where that thought came from. I checked the diagnostic criteria online and identified with 95% of it, and that's when i decided it was time to see a shrink. The rest is a very long story.

I think if there's no obvious reason for the depression you have to start looking at hormones. For guys low testosterone could be the cause of depression. If all else fails, trying going to the gym and do a powerlifting program. Low reps with heavy weights are the best for increasing testosterone levels. With women, it might be something to do with estrogen levels because from what i've read their hormones go out of whack after a pregnancy.

If there's no reason for the depression, then it stands to reason that there is no cure and you have to live with it - that in my opinion would be a depressing thought, and one that i refuse to accept :) Just because science hasn't figured out the reason yet, doesn't mean that there isn't one out there.
 
I <3 you Jibult.

I fully agree with everything Jibult just said, bro. It sounds like you are experiencing some depression already about your life, so you use pot to help "boost your confidence" or to take the edge off. But after you stop for a period your depression catches up to you.

If you were fine before you smoked the weed then you wouldnt need it to help raise your confidence.


So, like, weed has positive latent effects for up to two weeks, and then after those two weeks you feel lower than when you were sober?

Nope, doesn't happen to me. To my knowledge, it doesn't happen to anybody I know. The timeframe is simply too long to be able to apply it to some of my shittier lows/comedowns concerning weed.


Not to alarm you but my money would be on some kind of underlying disorder (depression, anxiety, manic-depressive etc.) that marijuana treats in the short-term but causes a rubber band "snap back" effect in the long-term. That's a super uneducated guess, though, and I'd prefer you get a more professional opinion before you even consider just taking a Bluelighters word for it.


I also fully agree with both of you. I think its only something mental. ITs stoped too. I think the problem was missing sun. I live in northern germany and it gets pretty depressing in winter. I think im fine though I stopped smoking pot. Or atleast im trying. Not including the 2 tiny drags yesturday because I was really drunk.

I thought about going to a pychitran and I even ask my mom. But Idecided I didnt have to because it got better with time.
 
I don't feel the need to smoke everyday or even every other day but if I go a week or two I start getting restless. Your not alone on that one.
 
Experiment and see what works for you. Smoking too much weed makes me depressed, even if I don't have all that much to be down about. Even if I am staying productive as a habitual stoner, it fucks me up temporarily on a neurochemical level through receptor downregulation and that is something I am unable to deny. Smoking a little weed on a regular basis is stimulating and motivating for me. I believe there is a study somewhere that showed how moderate use of cannabis raised serotonin levels while habitual use decreased them. I seem to be happiest when I include cannabis in my life, without overusing it.
 
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Marijuana/Depression link?

Hey people, signed up not long ago just to get this cleared hopefully...

I smoke quite a lot of weed, usually baked everyday. I wake up in the morning and do a bucket (Aka Gravity Bong.) and do another every 2-3 hours or so, spending most of my day stoned. This has sat well with me for a long time but for the past while I've been feeling really down, emotional and unmotivated. I don't know if this has anything to do with Marijuana or not, I defend weed so I'd like to think not!

I mainly feel down whenever I'm sober/ have no weed. It first happened a few weeks ago when it was dry for weed and I couldn't get any at all, I would spend the day in my head thinking about stuff and just bringing me down and if I managed to get weed I would still get emotional when I'm high.
I've thought about my family a lot more and just generally trying to help them out and be a better son such as cleaning the house and stuff. Even during this I felt empty, it felt like I couldn't do enough to help. Along side with this there has been some problems within the family atm (this happened not long after feeling emotional.)

I've decided to cut down/stop smoking until 420 and after that maybe just going to buy a small bag of weed per week and hopefully get myself sorted from there!

Any help would seriously be appreciated, Life just seems really bland right now...

Ps. Sorry that this thread is something that would kill the mood or something, I just couldn't really get a straight answer anywhere! I hope to be cleared soon and be back on to enjoy the site :)
 
I don't think there's any definitive answers to this question, although I'd be happy to be proven wrong.

I personally think that it is outside issues that cause the issues, and marijuana makes it easier for one to do less about these external problems. So it's not that weed causes the depression, but rather, in some cases inhibits ones ability to deal with the root cause. This combined with the preconceptions that it does cause all these issues, and the tendency to over think things while stoned.

That's just my opinion.
 
Hey!
None of us want to admit it, but marijuana does hold the potential to bring out complications with anxiety & depression in us stoners..
Sometimes it is hard to avoid such things from happening.. And it is something that can be triggered after years of prior experience with cannabis.. :-(
When I make dramatic cut-backs, I sometimes suffer from anxiety.. Its the worst feeling, and can be very hard to shake..
So I've been dealing with it slowly..
I have been working at slowly reducing the amount i smoke.. I used to smoke first thing in the morning, all day/night at work, & immediately before I slept.. Obviously this sort of routine is going to cause complications when I have no weed.. So the only choice was to cut back.
Now that I have my smoking rituals under control, I can take breaks without dealing with the unnecessary anxiety and depression which makes being a stoner so hectic.
 
in general, long-term chronic marijuana use decreases social involvement and physical activity, which can trigger/exacerbate depression. it also causes anxiety for a lot of people. likewise, when you are that psychologically dependent on something, having it taken away is pretty naturally going to make you unhappy.

most long-term users will tell you that smoking all day every day really isn't that much fun. not only do your highs get shorter and less interesting, but there are a lot of things in life that are better if you're not stoned.
 
I can only say anecdotally that if I smoke even one joint, in the following days I will feel a lot more down. Cannabis really has an intense effect on my dopamine system, I can feel it when I'm high. The high is awesome and I feel great but the next day I feel like shit. It hasn't always been that way, but after years of regular use I think my neurochemistry has become a lot more sensitive.

I more or less quit weed 2 months ago, aside from two or three instances of having a couple of tokes, and my depression has been less.

Some people say it helps their depression though, so I can't really make a sweeping generalization one way or another. Listen to what your own body is telling you.
 
im bi-polar, so the CBD helps me be stable and such, but its not like you even need alot, i used to smoke myself silly, now 2g will last me a couple days whereas before, an eighth would have barely lasted me a day
 
im bi-polar, so the CBD helps me be stable and such, but its not like you even need alot, i used to smoke myself silly, now 2g will last me a couple days whereas before, an eighth would have barely lasted me a day

Unless your strains are specifically noted for high CBD content, I doubt you're getting an amount which would actually help. CBD is all but bred out of most strains.
 
^hopefully something in cannabis can prevent damage from the small amount of tobacco, at least that's what i hope for as i do the same lol.
straight lift from Wikipedia: Cannabis smoke contains thousands of organic and inorganic chemical compounds. This tar is chemically similar to that found in tobacco smoke,[74] and over fifty known carcinogens have been identified in cannabis smoke,[75] including; nitrosamines, reactive aldehydes, and polycylic hydrocarbons, including benz[a]pyrene.[76] Cannabis smoke is also inhaled more deeply than is tobacco smoke.[77] As of 2015, there is no consensus regarding whether cannabis smoking is associated with an increased risk of cancer.[78] Light and moderate use of cannabis is not believed to increase risk of lung or upper airway cancer. Evidence for causing these cancers is mixed concerning heavy, long-term use. In general there are far lower risks of pulmonary complications for regular cannabis smokers when compared with those of tobacco.[79] A 2015 review found an association between cannabis use and the development of testicular germ cell tumors (TGCTs), particularly non-seminoma TGCTs.[80]

If you go to the wiki you can click on the numbered links to refetrences for the evidence.
 
Cannabis smoke contains thousands of organic and inorganic chemical compounds. This tar is chemically similar to that found in tobacco smoke,[74] and over fifty known carcinogens have been identified in cannabis smoke,[75] including.....
^^^
Highly recommend to switch over to non-combustible ways of ingesting cannabis! Desktop vaporizer for home use and perhaps a little guy to take to go :)

After I've switched to vaporizing, I've noticed a huge difference in my breath when sleeping - it's way easier and quieter now and I cough A LOT less.

The testicular germ cell tumors don't sound too good though....:sus:

From the article:
"We found inconclusive evidence regarding the relationship between cannabis use and the development of seminoma tumours. It must be noted that these observations were derived from three studies all conducted in the United States; and the majority of data collection occurred during the 1990’s." - that makes me feel slightly better, maybe they were trying to make up results in order to show negative aspects of marijuana to keep it illegal?..
 
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