Cannabis for mental illness

Brewery said:

This topic had been on my mind lately so I thought I'd start the conversation here as I really respect this groups members.

Cannabis as treatment for mental illness.

Do you suffer from mental illness?

Have you been treated with conventional pharmaceuticals

Have you been treated with psychotherapy?

Have you tried cannabis to treat it?

Have you been prescribed it (canna) for your condition?

What symptoms does it help with?

What's the effective period like?

How does cannabis compare to the pharmaceuticals?

I suffer from depression/mania/ADHD and ADD.

I take Effexor xr and weekly psychotherapy sessions.

I've tried cannabis to treat my symptoms.

I get general feeling of well being, it slows my brain down and I can focus on cannabis. The effects are normally rather short lived an hour or so for full relief. Unfortunately for me i don't function well. Whole I've been able to slow my brain down, I can't do the mental tasks I need to function. I could never imagine trying to go to the office and work while taking cannabis.

For those who've snot read any of my other posts, I'm a huge supporter of rec and medical use and have a wife that uses cannabis all day every day to treat severe pain.

Let's try to keep this discussion positive. I just want to hear your experiences. Please answer any questions you are comfortable with.

Thanks for your time

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Yessica... said:

This topic had been on my mind lately so I thought I'd start the conversation here as I really respect this groups members.
Cannabis as treatment for mental illness.

1. Do you suffer from mental illness?

Yes. Since I was 16 years old, in 1998.


2. Have you been treated with conventional pharmaceuticals?

Yes. From the age of 20 to 25 or 26, I was on 60 mg of fluoxotine (prozac) that was thought to combat my depression and bulimia.

It made it so I stopped crying uncontrollably, but it did not stop my bulimia ever.

For the last 2 years (up until this July) I was on 20 mg of Celexa a day.


3. Have you been treated with psychotherapy?

Yes.

I saw my first therapist when I was 17 and they recommended an eating disorder outpatient support group.

I completed the 8 week support group, but only because I had to - and I did NOT get better.

I saw my second therapist for 4 years when I was 20- 24 years old. This is the therapist that prescribed my fluoxotine. I did not get better, and my reckless lifestyle ended up causing more problems when I was on the medication, especially mixed with my heavy alcohol consumption at the time and recreational drug use (cocaine, MDMA, K, E).

I saw my third Therapist when I was 25 - and they were too truthful for me (they told me to leave school and get better) so I never went back.

I joined a Self-Injurers Support group, and I attended about 6 weekly meetings.

I also stopped in at a eating disorder support group.

When I was 28, I returned to university to finish school. I saw a psychologist there for 3 years. She recommended me the Celexa. She also told me that Marijuana was a DEPRESSANT and to stop using it. I just stopped telling her that I used it.

I saw a Therapist at that time, and he prescribed me the Celexa. We only met once.

I am currently seeing a Therapist in Thunder Bay, we have met 3 times over the last 6 weeks - and I will continue to go to him. Forever I feel like. He's really great. And NOT against me treating my illness with MMJ.

I need someone else to notice when things are not going well for me mentally. I have become SO good at hiding it, and faking being happy, and lying - that no one can tell when anything is wrong. Except I’m dying inside.


4. Have you tried cannabis to treat it?

Yes. I never really considered it “treating” before - but when recalling all of the thousands of times I threw up in a ten year period - one thing did come to mind.

I would over-eat/ binge. But - if I smoked weed - I never purged. Maybe once or twice - but it pretty much just stopped me from throwing up. I didn’t like it at the time - I thought it was just fucking up my B/P plan. But looking back, had I used it like medicine at the time - I could have possibly stopped throwing up YEARS before I did.


5. Have you been prescribed it (canna) for your condition?

Yes - since June of 2014.


6. What symptoms does it help with?

I had a very bad reaction to my Celexa June 1st of this year. Food poisoning caused me to first go through withdrawal, then overdose, then - every side effect a person can get.

My BP was 163/ 118

I threw up every single day, multiple times, from June 1st until July 15th. I still feel sick in the morning, and I have not taken Celexa since the 15th of July.

MMJ was the only thing that stopped me from throwing up. I would have had to consume too much (I think) to stop throwing up completely (I was away in a work camp for all of July) - but it allowed me to keep some things down. And to finally sleep.

I now - have a regime:

Sativa in the morning

Hybrid throughout the day

Indica at night, and sometimes a cookie

It helps me with depression. Anxiety. Issues with food and chronic nausea. It helps me with mental clarity. Sleep. Continuous sleep.


6. What’s the effective period like?

Cookies - last for me for about 4 hours.

Smoking it - probably an hour? I don’t usually smoke to get “high” unless it’s the end of the day and I’m trying to go to sleep.


7. How does cannabis compare to the pharmaceuticals?

I can’t really remember the Prozac - I just know it didn’t work.

The Celexa - got me out of bed in two different HORRIBLY depressed times. But - it also almost killed me.

I will NEVER go on another pharmaceutical drug for mental disorders again.

I am afraid of them now.

MMJ - saved my life. I believe that!

Thank you for asking, and for sharing.


I REALLY like mental health chats!

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The Hippy said:

Throw away those pharma poisons and embrace the herb..... she will save ya mon...ja mon
Find some Jamician guys to hang with..they always have the right frame of mind and rarely go nuts like us whiteys do...we could learn some

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Yessica... said:

I should also mention - that I think hormonal birth control pills played a HUUUUUGE part in my depression.

My worst times, were when I was on an oral birth control pill.
I was on an IUD - and also experienced the worst depression of my life.

I have become terribly depressed in times where I was unmediated - and NOT on birth control

But - in all the times I have gone through a major depression - I always stop smokgin/ using marijuana. Always.

Connected? Maybe...

I am going to treat my MMJ, like any other prescribed drug.

And so far - it's working.

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WHATFG said:

I think if I met you in real life, your candour would exhaust me. I ??? You honesty.

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The Hippy said:

I wonder if she twitches............................I bet she's a riot

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Yessica... said:

I've been told I am exhausting. I basically vibrate.

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Yessica... said:

I've been told I am exhausting.

I basically vibrate.

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Yessicat said:

Mother of three chiming in here(just to show my age, haha).

Cannabis as treatment for mental illness.

Do you suffer from mental illness?
Depression(although not for a few years), anxiety, anorexia and insomnia(although as leaffan said, I'm not sure if this counts)

Have you been treated with conventional pharmaceuticals
Prozac for depression. I never really felt an effect from this.
Hydroxyzine for anxiety. Honestly, I don't know why this drug isn't widely prescribed. Worked wonders for me until recently(not sure why, maybe tolerance?)
Zopiclone for sleeping. Put me out like a light, but I had trouble getting up in the morning afterwards so I stopped using it.
Adderall. My doctor thought I had ADD, but I didn't like Adderall at all so I stopped taking it.
Concerta. An upgrade from my doctor, still thinking I had ADD. Completely changed my thought process and I really didn't like that. Made me feel like a different person...
Vyvanse. Basically the same as Concerta, or at least my experience with it. At this point I switched doctors because I don't(and still don't) think I have or had ADD.

Have you been treated with psychotherapy?
Yes. I stopped around two years ago after attending for 5ish years. I felt as if I got all that I could get out of the experience.

Have you tried cannabis to treat it?
Yes. It definitely helps a lot.
Other than mental illness, I have severe arthritis, so I mainly started using it for that.
I found though, through use, that it stimulates my appetite, helps me sleep at night, and I'm not very anxious anymore(not sure if I outgrew it or it was the cannabis).

Have you been prescribed it (canna) for your condition?
No. I just haven't really felt the need to get legal, although I'm planning on it soon.
My doctor initially prescribed it to me, years ago. I didn't accept, because at the time I knew little about it except for recreational use. A few years later(after the doctor had, sadly, passed), I got some medical cannabis from one of my best friends, and it really opened my eyes.

What symptoms does it help with?
As I said before in this post, definitely my appetite and my sleep. Also, it nearly eliminates my arthritis.
I don't exactly know if it's "curing" my anxiety, but I haven't had a panic attack since shortly after I started using. I don't know for sure if this is related to the cannabis though.


What's the effective period like?
It's hard to describe. At first, I got plain out "high", which to be honest I didn't really like. My friend, however, insisted that I stick with it and ride it out for a bit. So I did that.
After my tolerance(I guess) kicked in, vaping(my friend gave me a vaporizer, which I definitely recommend!) the same amount of marijuana didn't really get me high, but I still got the good effects of it.
Actually, after my tolerance kicked in and I didn't get as high, I feel as if I get more of the medicinal qualities. I don't lose focus on tasks, I don't feel as if my judgement is impaired, although I'm not going to be making important decisions or driving while medicating of course.

How does cannabis compare to the pharmaceuticals?
This is obviously just my experience, but I hated the pharmaceuticals. It's kind of like when I took them(especially Concerta/Vyvanse), I was a freaking zombie. I felt as if I didn't react the same way I would if I wasn't on them, and I was really "unstable" if that makes any sense. Like, I could be super calm, or I could be jumpy and buzzing with energy at any given moment.

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Yessica... said:

OMG! Hiiiiii!!!!!

We have a lot in common....apart from the name.

I should give you a little pre-waring, if you go into the Tote n Talk - you may get mistaken for myself - and peeps MAY (just may) say some really gross things to you which to me would be funny but to a total stranger would appear as rude. Just saying - if it happens it's NOT YOU. It's me - I'm gross.

Also - thank you for sharing that.

I say I was bulimic - but I did dip the toe in the water of anorexia (3 months was probably my longest stint).

But it's ALL mental illness.

If I was using MMJ then, like I am now - I would have been better. I could have EATEN.

I just wish someone would have told me.

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