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Weed and ADD/ADHD

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silentone

Bluelighter
Joined
Jan 9, 2004
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I have been curious of how weed effects people with ADD differently than it does those without. I was diagnosed with ADD a while ago during my earlier childhood and with my ADD it has caused me to have a short attention span, lack of motivation, distractability.. etc. In highschool i started smoking weed mostly during the weekends, but grew into smoking before school, during, after. I noticed a complete turnaround in my concentration and seemed as if the weed helped me to concentrate 100% on any given thing. While reading music for the first time i was able to read ahead and mentally sound out the song before playing it, which dramatically improved sightreading, and i found that after reading a book or piece of writing, that i had a greater understanding because of the concious effort i put out to interpreting the language in the author's style. If any of you know or suspect you have ADD or ADHD and have noticed similar effects or know for a fact how weed effects people with ADD differently. Share your thoughts/insights.
 
I also was diagnosed with ADD in High School and I smoked only on the weekends also. I too have noticed some changes since I've been smoking weed. Pretty much the same ones you talk about. Only thing is, is I don't feel as motivated anymore. BUt I feel like I can think clearer for some reason when I smoke it.

I am pescribed to Adderall and I use to take it everyday untill a year ago. I tried it for the first time in a year yestereday and I hated it. I hate the crash and I hate how I feel when I'm crashing and after the crash. I don't know if I should be taking it anymore but I use to in High school all the time and it helped me get through school.
 
I have has ADHD all my life & have found that smoking not only helps me to concentrate but also helps with the cronic insomnia I've had forever.

I would love to see some kind of official study of this, maybe MAPS will do one someday.
 
I suspect I have ADD. My Bio teacher agrees with me,as does my german teacher probably....but my parents suspect me fo drugs, so they might think i'd use the meds to get high...[which i probly would]

But whenever I smoke, I always feel relax and more chill about life in general. everything seems to cool me down, I actually do BETTER at school[well...not the next day] and focus more on everything in general.
 
I was diagnosed ADD when I was in 2nd grade. I haven't taken any ADD medication (regularly) since Freshman year of highschool. I think herb has benefits, it definatly helps with my insomnia. I love music so herb fits me. It also helps my anexity (sometimes).

The drawbacks are that statistically ADD people can get addicted very easily. Cannabis appeals to people with ADD because it slows them down, makes them happy (ADD and Depression are linked) and chills them out. I try not to smoke before school or during school just because I always end up drawing in class if I do.
 
I have had ADD since 4th grade. Been on meds since then and am now 23. Weed has made my short term memory and motovation much worse unless it is something i realy enjoy eg. music. When i'm stoned and doing something i enjoy i am clear headed and focused (although destracted easily) but find it extremely hard to focus on anything new or unenjoyable.
I have been smoking daily since 17 and now i know i am having more trouble with most tasks.
Other than mentaly i also worry about how my body responds to taking uppers every day and then having downers each night when i smoke. It can't be good.
 
my friend has ADHD and when i smoked some weed with him he became really hyper and he was so fuckin annoying
 
Weed gives you the power to fully concentrate on one thing at a time, and you can sometimes concentrate on that one task alot better than when sober. But when it comes to multitasking, and doing several things at once, there can be confusion. But then again it's different for everybody. Any more thoughts people?
 
A friend of mine actually got somewhat the same results. Infact, its actually working pretty good for him. Since he's started smoking pot he has no longer needed to take ridilin (sp?), and he had been taking it bi-daily for around 5 years before that.

I actually took a class in Biological Psychology, and we got a lecture on THC and its effects on the mind. One of the main effects that were mentioned was that it focused the mind into a less irratic state. Imagine it kind of like a graph, where the waves are going up and down, that would be you sober. When THC is affecting the brain, it makes those waves stay the same, but they don't go as high or as low. Its an interesting effect, and it goes well to explain how it can work well for people with ADD.
 
One of my friends studies very well after smoking weed. He can smoke then hit the books for a good 3 hours straight. In some circumstances, I think weed definately helps with concentration. In other cases.... not
 
Liquid SNake said:
my friend has ADHD and when i smoked some weed with him he became really hyper and he was so fuckin annoying
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^^^^^^^
I have the same thing.
Whenever I smoke I go COMPLETELY out of control.
Everyone comments on how hyper I go that I pretty much avoid smoking because of it.
SIGH
:(
 
I have ADD and i used to take ritalin and then switched to dexedrine, but now I'm off stimulants because I think they are the devil.

I remember in elementary school not being able to sleep at night because of the ritalin, I lost a lot of weight, and it had a really negative effect on my personality. I have a personal theory about people who take stumulants for ADD that I share with some of my friends. In college, all the people that take meds for ADD (ie. are addicted to stimulants) seem to be on a much lower level mentally than people who dont, I think it makes it difficult for people to show their true personalities - its appears that these people have a false sense of motivation and happiness. Ive heard that stimulants actually slow your brain down, making it easier for your brain to process and organize information, and I think this takes a toll on a person's ability to be an individual and their creativity. People who take add meds over a long period of time seem to have what I like to call "adderall psychosis" where their everyday lives are a means to an end, instead of them being able to enjoy themselves.

If you havent noticed I'm on a personal crusade against the use of stimulants (especially for children), they almost ruined my life thank god I got off them. If taking adderal, ritalin, dex, whatever is not absolutely necessary for you I would urge you to get off them. I still have ADD but have learned to suck up and deal with it. The only thing you can do to conquer ADD is to make a conscious effort to organize your time. Of course, meds are necessary in extreme cases but I think ADD is one disorder that is rediculously overmedicated in america. So many kids are walking zombies cause of this shit, and i was one of them and I think it had a permanent effect on my personality and brain development. I mean look at it, your giving so many kids uppers that dont need em because thats the thing to do, oh, kids having trouble in school give him drugs, sure it'll make you pay attention but your throwing a bunch of dangerous chemicals into an undeveloped mind.

Regarding the use of cannabis and uppers, over the long term i think this can be much more detremental than either of the two on their own, once in a while its not bad. Again this is from personal experience and my observations of other people who combine these drugs consistently/
 
ADD book

I recently read a book on ADD/ADHD which i found very interesting and offered me a new and different perspective on what is known as ADD. I do have ADD and tried adderal for about a year, completely HATED the side effects etc.. noted by munchiefiend . The book is called ADD Success Stories by Thom Hartmann. One of the ideas suggested in the book is that people with ADD had the genetic code of a hunter, since our species started hunting 6 million years ago and the evolution of society has been relatively fast we as humans have not evolved nearly as fast as society. The population of the world that do not have ADD have been passed the genetic code that has evolved, or the genetic code of a farmer. Since a hunter needs to constantly be aware of everything, ie/ not pay attention to soley any one thing to survive, while farmers need to be able to focus and concentrate on one thing.. farming..whereas the hunter would not perform as well in the farmers role and would quickly get bored of the lack of stimulation. This is just my pathetic attempt to summarize his thesis, but i reccomend that many of you who are interested in exploring more about ADD etc.. check out this book.
 
phactor said:
I was diagnosed ADD when I was in 2nd grade. I haven't taken any ADD medication (regularly) since Freshman year of highschool. I think herb has benefits, it definatly helps with my insomnia. I love music so herb fits me. It also helps my anexity (sometimes).

The drawbacks are that statistically ADD people can get addicted very easily. Cannabis appeals to people with ADD because it slows them down, makes them happy (ADD and Depression are linked) and chills them out.
Click to expand...


The sad thing is that all good things must come to an end. If you do strong entheogens like you did 50 hits of LSD during HS/College and shrooms etc. then somewhere around (well I was 28 when it happened it me) cannabis becomes a entheogen that will, for example, make you get a real sense of mortality. For me Cannabis sometimes opens a door to not only the thought of my impending death but a true undersanding to what that means. This can be hard to deal with sometimes. But like any entheogin it has another, happier side where I can be out at the video store and see the humanity displayed around me in a very positive light that makes me feel euphoric.

entheogens are like that.. you never know where they are going to take you. That is why we practice set and setting with them.

weed never helped my adhd even when I could wake-n-bake.. It made my thoughts slower and after a few years of daily smoking I would only get high for 30 minutes. when I graduated I stopped smoking pot all together for several years. Then one day I ran into an old friend and he invited me over to toke and I had a real introspective time for 3 hours. Luckly we were watching a movie so it wasn't a huge problem.. just a little anxiety. That is when I knew..

Cannabis withdrawl is lighter then Coffee (if you drink 3 or more cups a day, lethargy and a pounding headache.) In fact stopping cannabis was simple to drop compared to Alcohol and Tobacco.. I was bored and mildly depressed (not "omg! need more!" or "I'm going to end it all because whats the point" type of depression) for 3 days..

Oh course.. that is just what happened to me.. I have a good friend in Holland who is retired, 68 years old and smokes hash daily.. no problems exept a wicked tolerence :)
 
a mate of mine has medicated his ADHD with cannibis since he was 15, his mum would buy him his 20 bag a day because he couldn't get proper medication due to them being illegal immigrants
 
I have ADD and it makes everything about 10 times worse. I have been trying to quit. (fat chance)
 
The New Shaman said:
Cannabis withdrawl is lighter then Coffee (if you drink 3 or more cups a day, lethargy and a pounding headache.) In fact stopping cannabis was simple to drop compared to Alcohol and Tobacco.. I was bored and mildly depressed (not "omg! need more!" or "I'm going to end it all because whats the point" type of depression) for 3 days..
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Well, I don't think so lightly of cannabis withdrawals. After heavy usage for many years, one is not to be expected to give it up all of a sudden and say they don't experience nasty psychological and physical withdrawals afterwards for several days or weeks. Besides, people will always have different opinions on this, it's as you said; " That is just what happened to me ".. Period.

For me coffee withdrawals are not as bad as those from weed, I do both daily and find the little headache caffeine withdrawals give much more subtle as sleeping problems, depression, loss of appetite and so on.
 
I could give up coffee easily, I go on and off it, for me, quitting weed is hard for about 3-7 days, first few nights insomnia.. etc.. tobacco would be hard, ive tried once and quit for a month but that was it

the loss of appetite when quitting sux .. but your appetite returns to more than normal once it's over..

but about the add thing, i suspect I had a mild case of it, I was always disruptive, etc and a real smartass in class to the teacher, even though I still got reasonably high marks in everything when I tried..

I find it calms me down a lot, when I first rip after a day at work ill be anxious and my heads in a bit of a spin for about 30-45 minutes, but then it all calms down and im all relaxed for the night (and yeah i keep smoking heaps throughout the night)

otherwise im like a kid whos' just eaten 10 kg's of fairy floss.. (or cotton candy for you american types) :)
 
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