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?, ???).
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?, ???).
