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Mental illness and weed

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Crazyandhazy

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Mar 27, 2018
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Can certain mental illnesses cause a bad reaction to weed, or like, have any mentally ill people on here had bad experiences with it? I've smoked weed only three times in my life, the first time was a tolerable experience, next was when I'd already drunk some beer and it was not great, but the third was actually one of the worst things I've experienced. I've suffered from anxiety and depression and cPTSD (long term trauma, abusive father, all that) my whole life but a year ago I developed bipolar. My first two experiences with weed were before I developed bipolar, the third was after.

Basically what happened when I smoked weed most recently was I started out just really giggly, which is how I was the prior times. But then the laughing got out of control and I started sobbing and having some kind of flashback about my mom? And all I could say was "it's the wrong color" about some silly putty I was holding, and I tried to sit down but I couldn't, felt like I was being pulled by magnets, thought there was something in the corner and couldn't stop looking there every two seconds, couldn't focus my eyes, nauseous, the room kept flipping (as if I saw it in a mirror, then normally, then mirrored again). Things got better when they pulled the shade down so I couldn't see my reflection in the window, but I was still all over the place. I could not stop crying even when my breathing became normal there were tears pouring down my face. I also thought I was a two year old at one point and I just remember feeling this huge sense of fear and like something had been lost and I was never going to find it.

The thing is, I've had pretty bad anxiety attacks so I know this was...something else. Anxiety for me comes up in thoughts and hyperventilation, but this was more physical.
Could it have to do with my bipolar disorder?
I didn't smoke much (literally like four hits max), I was smoking with friends who were smoking the same stuff so it definitely wasn't laced, and one of the friends also has depression and is on Zoloft for it. The only other thing I can think of is that I'd had a really emotional day during which I had to call the cops on my friend's suicide attempt but does that affect the experience?

I really just want to know what happened because smoking weed is a social thing where I am so if I can solve the issue, I'd like to. Thanks
 
In my experience, mj can exacerbate some mental illnesses, sometimes. Of course, there are so many varieties nowadays, so the effects can very from person to person. In my own experience, mj has sometimes caused me to become extremely anxious and disoriented to a point at which I was pretty much freaking out
(I have bipolar disorder.) I do think a lot depends upon whether you are on psych meds, or not. mj can interact with meds in a weird way.

I know one dude who smoked a lot, several times every day, for months - his predisposition to schizophrenia cracked wide open & the guy flipped out. Was never the same.

I know other people with mental illness who use mj wisely (for example, just before bedtime each night) and find it calming and helpful.
 
THC does (it's not a question, or speculation, it absolutely DOES) exacerbate some serious mental illnesses including BPD and schizophrenia, but a lot of other similar ones too. CBD counteracts that but we don't know really if it completely eliminates the risk in people with those illnesses, or what ratio is needed, or any of that. CBD alone might actually have treatment potential for those diseases, but again research needed.
 
Frequency of mental illness and amount of weed smoked are directly proportional to each other. The harm is especially pronounced for young users.
 
Weed definitely worsens underlying mental illnesses. I have bipolar II disorder as well as severe social & general anxiety & in my experience, heavy mj use can make these, especially anxiety, go through the roof. Even smoking infrequently can exacerbate mental illnesses greatly, as I have experienced numerous panic attacks in the past while smoking & even have had an LSD-like ego death experience while my tolerance was low. I am certain these experiences have played a role in my current mental state ( as well as the use/abuse of other drugs/prescriptions in the past )

As far as your awful experience you described goes, I'm not really sure what to make of it. I would say that the events that happened to you that day could definitely make your experience a little worse, but I wouldn't keep trying to smoke weed to 'get over' this issue as this seems like its more than a just bad experience.
 
xannypacquiao said:
Weed definitely worsens underlying mental illnesses. I have bipolar II disorder as well as severe social & general anxiety & in my experience, heavy mj use can make these, especially anxiety, go through the roof. Even smoking infrequently can exacerbate mental illnesses greatly, as I have experienced numerous panic attacks in the past while smoking & even have had an LSD-like ego death experience while my tolerance was low. I am certain these experiences have played a role in my current mental state ( as well as the use/abuse of other drugs/prescriptions in the past )

As far as your awful experience you described goes, I'm not really sure what to make of it. I would say that the events that happened to you that day could definitely make your experience a little worse, but I wouldn't keep trying to smoke weed to 'get over' this issue as this seems like its more than a just bad experience.
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You seem to be thinking about ego death in an unnecessarily negative way. That's not how it should be. Most people find it enjoyable.
 
The Network said:
You seem to be thinking about ego death in an unnecessarily negative way. That's not how it should be. Most people find it enjoyable.
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I understand what you're saying, & I agree ego death experiences are some of the most helpful in understanding more about yourself. I was speaking more on the effects it can have on exacerbating underlying anxiety issues solely.
 
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Take care, weed is probably not your drug... weed is the only drug that I have got bad trip from, and I hae tried every thing.... no drugs are better or worse than other, it depends on person how much people handle the drug
 
there's no doubt in my mind that heavy weed use throughout my teens,
caused a number of mental issues for me. Most notably anhedonia and bad insomnia when I'm not smoking. It also exacerbated my social anxiety, but didn't cause it.
 
You could try mixing a CBD strain with whatever else ya like to puff on. It's a "THC pacemaker". I have anxiety /panic issues and this definitely did the trick. CBD oil is good too, just not too late into the day/evening as it can promote wakefulness and possibly interfere with sleep [in my case it does!]. Nordle is a great strain to mix with high THC buds, it tastes bomb too. Hope this was of some help!
 
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