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How could cannabis cause psychosis if it's not a stimulant?

Amazing. As someone with bipolar disorder I find that Sativa cannabis makes me somewhat manic (but a lot more on the happy side counter to the bare energy that mania gives), more agreeable, and intellectually simulated. Indica does the same on the come-up, then makes me inattentive. I don't have ADD/ADHD.
 
All great info! I don't know much about why weed can cause psychosis, but I do know that weed is a hybrid drug. It has alot of stimulant properties. Not only with the dopamine but with norepinephrine as well. I never tried to treat my ADD with marijuana, but if I smoked a little I definatley felt more focused. If I smoked A LOT I just got to baked to focus on anything, lol.

Also wanted to thoow something obvious in there as well, people with pre exsisting mental illnesses such as schizophrenia will probably be effected negativley by weed. I have a question to those who have been thrown into some type of mania from weed: Is it something that has affected you permanently? I can't help but think that all the nasty, crazy thoughts and feelings you can get from being high arn't permanent anyway. Maybe more like a post traumatic stress disorder thing. I've recently got over panic attacks and anxiety. I thought I was permanently messed up from abusing amphetamines, but now I'm thinking that I was more just traumatized by the horrible panic attacks I had.
 
olab7 said:
All great info! I don't know much about why weed can cause psychosis, but I do know that weed is a hybrid drug. It has alot of stimulant properties. Not only with the dopamine but with norepinephrine as well. I never tried to treat my ADD with marijuana, but if I smoked a little I definatley felt more focused. If I smoked A LOT I just got to baked to focus on anything, lol.

Also wanted to thoow something obvious in there as well, people with pre exsisting mental illnesses such as schizophrenia will probably be effected negativley by weed. I have a question to those who have been thrown into some type of mania from weed: Is it something that has affected you permanently? I can't help but think that all the nasty, crazy thoughts and feelings you can get from being high arn't permanent anyway. Maybe more like a post traumatic stress disorder thing. I've recently got over panic attacks and anxiety. I thought I was permanently messed up from abusing amphetamines, but now I'm thinking that I was more just traumatized by the horrible panic attacks I had.
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Maybe you could clarify.

Mania is high time; it can be roughly likened to the "sweet spot" of a stimulant high. Though people do experience subjectively negative emotions while manic, they're underpinned with euphoria.

I quite enjoy becoming mildly manic while high. The mania seems to last at most an hour then settles down into a gentle stone, almost like an upper/downer combination.
 
Lots of people who smoke weed eventually experience periods of mania later on but that is not a demonstration of causation. People predisposed to most mental illnesses (or features of such) are at a higher propensity naturally for marijuana use so in essence, the same people who are predisposed to many mental illnesses are also predisposed to marijuana use rather than marijuana use CAUSING those mental illnesses or symptoms.

With that said, as has been discussed, excessive use CAN contribute to acute presentations of the features of several mental illnesses (most extremely, psychosis) AND use is believed to expedite the onset of/bring out latent mental illnesses that people were already wired for... again is this due to use or just due to a stastistical correlation between people who are wired to become crazy AND wired to want to get high? Research does not have an answer yet.
 
something else noteworthy.

amphetamine psychosis can also be caused by the massive norepinephrine releases that all amphetamines cause. it can become so sever that it reaches the point of an 'adrenal storm' in overdose cases, which means that the victim's heart rate and blood pressure are at or near the maximum possible rate and pressure. this in and of itself causes many symptoms of psychosis, including panic, paranoia, aggression, hallucinations, and delusions. these reactions only further the heart rate and blood pressure, which left untreated, will most likely lead to stroke or heart attack from stimulant overdose.

marijuana's euphoric properties are present because the THC/CBD activate some opioid receptors, but have a lower affinity than most opiates, so the euphoria from weed is not quite as strong as that of opiates, especially full agonists. this is also why weed has painkilling properties, aside from the fact that the psychedelic effects distract from the pain.

i have never heard of a person going into psychosis purely from smoking weed, however, as stated above, weed, along with many other psychedelics, have the potential to aggravate or catalyze a large variety of mental disorders. however, most recreational drugs can have this affect on people whos brains are predisposed to mental disorders. the drugs essentially push the user over the edge into a full blown mental disorder because the drugs tip the very delicately balanced system that is in place. im not sure how else to explain it.

so yeah, thats my take.
 
gearfiend said:
something else noteworthy.

amphetamine psychosis can also be caused by the massive norepinephrine releases that all amphetamines cause. it can become so sever that it reaches the point of an 'adrenal storm' in overdose cases, which means that the victim's heart rate and blood pressure are at or near the maximum possible rate and pressure. this in and of itself causes many symptoms of psychosis, including panic, paranoia, aggression, hallucinations, and delusions. these reactions only further the heart rate and blood pressure, which left untreated, will most likely lead to stroke or heart attack from stimulant overdose.

marijuana's euphoric properties are present because the THC/CBD activate some opioid receptors, but have a lower affinity than most opiates, so the euphoria from weed is not quite as strong as that of opiates, especially full agonists. this is also why weed has painkilling properties, aside from the fact that the psychedelic effects distract from the pain.

i have never heard of a person going into psychosis purely from smoking weed, however, as stated above, weed, along with many other psychedelics, have the potential to aggravate or catalyze a large variety of mental disorders. however, most recreational drugs can have this affect on people whos brains are predisposed to mental disorders. the drugs essentially push the user over the edge into a full blown mental disorder because the drugs tip the very delicately balanced system that is in place. im not sure how else to explain it.

so yeah, thats my take.
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There is so much wrong in this post I don't even know where to begin, did you make this up off the top of your head or something?
 
JackiesBabyy said:
There is so much wrong in this post I don't even know where to begin, did you make this up off the top of your head or something?
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first of all, i should like to say that i was verrry stoned last night when i wrote that.

second, please actually explain whats wrong with the info. its been a while since i looked up the exact mechanics, but i dont think our understanding of them has changed much in the time since...
 
gearfiend said:
first of all, i should like to say that i was verrry stoned last night when i wrote that.

second, please actually explain whats wrong with the info. its been a while since i looked up the exact mechanics, but i dont think our understanding of them has changed much in the time since...
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Well, the biggest and most blatant wrong thing is saying THC effects opioid receptors. No it doesn't, and saying that seems about as out there as saying "meth effects benzodiazepine receptors"
 
He's not far off.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16489449

I'm going to make a thread on this.

And I would disagree. Methamphetamine is a trademark uber-stimulant while benzodiazepines are trademark downers, and any effects to the contrary are considered paradoxical. Cannabis and Opiates both have characteristic stimulant, depressant, and hallucinogenic effects.
 
Ho-Chi-Minh said:
Maybe you could clarify.

Mania is high time; it can be roughly likened to the "sweet spot" of a stimulant high. Though people do experience subjectively negative emotions while manic, they're underpinned with euphoria.

I quite enjoy becoming mildly manic while high. The mania seems to last at most an hour then settles down into a gentle stone, almost like an upper/downer combination.
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That's what I meant by hybrid drug. I use to enjoy the mania part as well. It made my imagination run wild. And I always wondered if those effects were blanketed by euphoria. I've always just heard that people like that don't enjoy smoking weed because it can make things worse.
 
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I can definitely say that weed is not what it used to be for me. In the early days I would smoke a bowl and have no problems. Later I would smoke three bowls and have no problems. It was a fun drug. Now, if I smoke a big bowl to myself without preparing (having a depressant on hand and making sure I do what I want after) I will be at least moderately uncomfortable for part of the experience. It brings out some psychotic symptoms in me if I smoke too much too fast (though it invariably alleviates a few symptoms). If I smoke paying attention to how I feel after each hit then its extremely medicinal.
 
Captain.Heroin said:
There's more than just stimulants that account for psychotic reactions. Atropine is a good example.
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Atropine is an antimuscarinic anticholinergic, that's not psychosis, that's delirium. Having experienced both stimulant psychosis and antimuscarinic delirium (by way of a DPH trip, just because I had to try it once), they are quite a bit different and delirium is much more horrifying because the visual hallucinations are like a horror movie that you think you're in instead of shadow people at the corner of your eye. But I guess your post is right in a way because they both boil down to "person going crazy"
 
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I haven't smoked weed very much - like maybe 10 times in my life and I am 53. It always made me feel anxious/panicky/paranoid or whatever you want to call it. It was like a bad trip every time. I don't care for this drug at all. I never have. I tried it about 2 years ago and oh man it was awful. I had forgotten about the dry mouth, the chatterboxing, the munchies and such paranoia. I again hated it. So it definitaley can cause anxiety and panic attacks. I am a very anxious, panicky person anyway so I use only things that will help with those broblems. I have a question a ampetamines that I know doesn't belong here, but doesn't it too cause a person's heart to race and panic/anxiety problems. Why would one wish to make themselves panic?
 
Because they dont cause those problems in everyone, many people dont experience these bad side effects till they abuse it. And its the same for pot.

If you read my earlier post you would saw where i talked about subjects such as myself with inattentive ADHD, and how our brains work in a way making it really easy to handle stims. It takes a lot more amps to make me go into psycosis than the average joe. I have also never had anxiety issues and never experienced a panic attack until I was way past fucked up on MDPV for a period of time.

Everyone is differnt!
 
Cannabis can be a catalyst towards reformulating your vision of reality to be way off the norm, therefore potentially triggering "psychosis"

I for one experience little the same since I started smoking pot habitually; I perceive in a new light regardless of whether I'm stoned or sober. This could easily freak someone out depending on who you are, since I no longer even see myself the same way. I'm willing and able to work for a living without getting too anxious or depressed about what I'm doing with myself or how I'm brainwashed, so I am deemed ok.
 
anything or nothing can trigger psychosis

stimulants are not the only cause of psychosis

how come you can OD from smack if it nots a stimulant???
 
Ummmm OD and psychosis are diff. Psychosis is a side effect of ODing on certain things. When you OD on smack it depresses your system and you stop breathing.

OD just means Over Dose. You can overdose on anything really....it doesnt mean you die necessarily, it means you took too much.
 
I think laugh's point was that not all overdoses are caused by stimulants, like not all psychoses are caused by stimulants.

Several systems have been implicated in psychosis - dopamine, cannabinoid, 5-HT2A, glutamate.
 
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