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Cannabis and Psychosis

GroUrOwn

Greenlighter
Joined
Jun 14, 2010
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I was just reading the thread, Psychotic Attack Since Cannabis Use , and wanted to share my experience with this. I would be very interested in reading comments and suggestions, especially (but not limited too) people with similar experiences.

My experience with weed and psychosis is somewhat similar to that of KingdomCome, but also different. The short story is, I started smoking weed in college, had a brief love affair with it, but had to stop because it would induce psychotic episodes. This completely pisses me off, because "when it's good, it's very, very good, but when it is bad, it's horrid" and I wish I could still smoke it.

Although this was many years ago, I kept a journal so I know exactly what happened. The long story is this: I started smoking weed in college, back in the mid 60s. Although I invariably became paranoid if I smoked with anyone other than my girlfriend, I quickly learned not to do this and only smoked alone or with her. So, I smoked 2 or 3 joints a day for about a year. Besides the enhancement of physical experience (music, sex, food, etc), one of the things I also liked about pot was that, smoking it, I would become very introspective and break though the barriors that otherwise kept me from being aware of my (less conscious) mental processes. But gradually, this greater awareness became uncomfortable and I got into material that was probably buried for a good reason. At any rate, the pot was getting stronger and the effects were more often than not becoming very uncomfortable. I started smoking less and less often.

After about 5 years of not smoking pot much at all (maybe once a month on the average), and as a direct result of stressful life experiences, I had my first psychotic break at the age of 28. I was hospitalized for 5 days, diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic, given antipyschotic meds and sent on my way. The meds, by the way were wonderful; it was like suddenly experiencing a warm, sunny day after being in a storm for years. But, they made sex impossible, I was getting fat and there were serious side effects. After about 6 months, I gradually weaned myself off them.

For the next 15 years, I would periodically slip into psychosis in response to stress in my life, briefly take the meds and then go off them. There could be several years without a psychotic episode - not to say I had mental calm, only to say it was under control. Then, when I was 44, my therapist suggested that I stop smoking pot altogether. I did this, and voilà!, no more psychotic episodes.

Since then, for the last 22 years, I've been essentially pot-free. Between 5 and 10 times during this period, I tried returning to smoking pot. Although it's GREAT at first, invariably, my mental condition deteriorates (either immediately, or over the course of the next several times smoking it). And, invariably, when I don't smoke it, my mental condition (freedom from anxiety, obsessive thoughts) improves slowly over the course of about 3 months.

I was wondering if anyone knew a way that someone in my situation could still smoke pot - maybe with some other drug (alcohol?, antihistamine?, ???).
 
I suffer from psychotic episodes as well but I take anti psychotics which really help keep those under control so I still smoke pot. If you didnt' like the side effects of one anti psychotic you could ask your doctor for a change in medication. Unfortunately though I don't really think you will be able to smoke pot without triggering another episode. You could always experiment, try smoking hash or making brownies.

But chances are you're not going to be able to smoke weed without it triggering more psychotic episodes. But I would put my best bets on changing medications.
I was on respiridal (however you spell it) and absolutely hated the side effects, I ate too much and always felt groggy but now i'm on abilify which is a fairly new anti psychotic and apart from the first few weeks of side effects nothing has gone wrong.
My psychotic episodes have decreased, I have even gained more energy.
 
Sorry to tell you this, as you seem to enjoy altered states of mind, but doing any psychotropic drug while suffering from a mental illness is a bad idea. That may be a bit of a generalization (like I'm sure caffeine and some others are fine), but it definitely applies to cannabis.
 
One possible way to look at psychoactive substances and psychosis is becuase One is not firmly standing in their truth. I see the mind like a whirlwind and if one is unbalanced and not grounded... the storm takes them... so to speak.

It mostly comes from delusions that are pathologically passed from the generations of people who are mass enslaved to a system that only serves itself and not the people. It promotes unhealthy views of oneself and confuses one of their true identity. Rather...they identify themselves with what they do and what they "think" they are... instead of feeling the true identity of their Divine and empowered Self ...that comes from true feelings... that only can come from the heart.

Smoking cannabis and focused purely on a mental perception can really cause one to think of all kind of fantasy like delusions that seem "real" but are merely illusions created to keep one a slave to the ego-mind's desires. there is no judgment in this as because this is what we have only been used to for such a long time.

The whole new consciousness movement in the 60's opened the heart portals and released a current of love that ignited a new type of being. Add this to the ego-mind and you got yourself a war.

What I'm saying that if you want to enjoy cannabis again...do it with a new and fresh perspective centered on True feelings that come flowing from your heart when you remember all the love and joy you experienced while being a human. Use cannabis as a tool and learn how to consciously breathe new life into your spirit.

With your feet firmly grounded in truth and your heart wide open receiving the love of the universe....it don't matter how high your head flies into the clouds because the winds can not carry you off away anymore. The child that plays in the mud (ego-mind) will not be carried off in the storm anymore because you will be the center of your creation , we call life.

Learn to channel the energy you feel while on cannabis to propel you into something you enjoy rather then stressing over mundane mental worries doubts or fears.

anywayyyys....I'm off to smoke a lil something and dream of something colorful and sparkly
 
@ IamAnotherYou

I like your idea but I really don't think it's the best advice to take. Simply going into a new drug with a 'positive mindset' while it may make some improvements probably won't help to regulate the chemical processes in the brain which are responsible for the psychotic episodes.
I would direct this advice at somebody who experienced depression or anxiety when they used marijuana but psychosis is a completely different level. It's something you can't really escape because it takes over you in every way you feel. It affects your body, your mood, your senses your perceptions of things.
 
Yeah i know what you mean...there is a lot of details i skipped on, but i was merely trying to free his mind a little instead of providing a structured linear process to him that might further confuse...

sometimes instead of making his situation into a crisis of dispair... by making the process of healing too complex to understand... will only complicate things and further the psychosis...


sometimes you need to simplify life instead of making it too complex to even understand who you really are

.instead of following the crowd and keeping your head down because of imposed low self-worth from those around themselves...i feel that introspection and total faith, trust and love in one's self helps more then mental compartmentalization.

but of course opening ones heart releases all kinds of buried emotions and traumas.. but the only way to heal anything is to face it. that alone can drive someone mad or depressed.

i've been beyond this realm and i can truly say that to heal any wounds one has experienced along the way...one must open themselves up and explore their feelings ...instead of being a slave to the desires and security the ego wants from external illusions projected from a purely mental state...

Feel more than think more ...use the imagination to express these feelings in creative ways and you won't carry dis-ease in your bodies...

that's how i feel anyways, I'm only expressing the truth i feel in my own heart

peace out-
 
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