My experience with Marijuana for depression and anxiety

[cybergenesis]

Hi Everyone.

 

I am a long term sufferer of problems with anxiety and depression, and I thought I would post my experiences about how marijuana seems to interact with my "conditions".

 

I was first hospitalized for what my doctors said was " a major depressive episode" when I was 13. after my mum died and various other disasters happened in my life.

 

Various doctors have diagnosed me as suffering from depression as well as "dysthymia" which is a sort of low grade, persistant long term depression.

 

Also from around the age of 21 I develop serious problems with anxiety, and had many years where I was quite neurotic and plagued by constant panic attacks, some lasting for hours and involving hyperventillation, pronounced shaking, rapid heart beat, and sometimes loss of control of my bowels (in severe cases).

 

In regards to anxiety, marijuana has the potential to trigger attacks.. It may have a sort of psychologically suggestive effect in some people, triggering them to "worry more" about their anxiety... So in some cases marijuana may temporarily aggrivate anxiety, and in some people with severe anxiety disorders, pot may not be a good idea (while paradoxically it may actually help some people in such circumstances). In all cases caution is recommended if you don't want to risk a severe panic attack.

 

However the panic inducing effects of THC seem most pronounced in inexperienced users, and may be due to the fact some people are especially sensitive to THC and while they get used to it require only small amounts, such as 1-2 tokes. Once tolerance develops, the effects of THC seem to become much more relaxing and indeed I find these days marijuana actually reduces my overall feelings of anxiety. Quite a lot in fact. I am almost completely devoid of anxiety problems, yet I puff on the herb every day.

 

I think to a degree I had to learn to overcome a fear I had of marijuana causing me to panic. I had to overcome a default tendency to become a bit spooked out by the effects of becoming excessively stoned.

 

However as I said these days I almost never experience any anxiety when I smoke weed. This is interesting because at the beggining I had some severe panic attacks which nearly stopped me smoking weed for good. The fact that I have now entirely overcome this problem, and indeed not had a large panic attack in a very long time, indicates that it is possible in many cases to manage cases where marijuana tends to induce anxiety. Beware though it can happen in experienced users. People who are prone to anxiety and depression genetically often end up smoking pot as teenagers, but anxiety disorders most typically develop in a persons early 20's... If you have tolerance to pot, and you stop for a week or two your tolerance may significantly reduce. If you then go suck down a couple of cones or whatever like you did before, it can trigger anxiety attacks in the vulnerable. I have heard a few stories of people smoking for a while, then having a break and finding when they smoked it, it triggered anxiety. You can get around it, just take it easy if you have had a break from smoking and have a disposition towards anxiety.

 

I recommend people who experience anxiety on marijuana (severe anxiety- moderate anxiety is common for newer users and to a degree is part of the fun) simply reduce the amount they consume significantly. In severe cases, people may find that bud is too strong for them at first, and may need to start with consuming leaf.

 

Remember it takes about 10 minutes to take full effect. So I recommend anxiety prone people take 1-2 medium inhalations, then wait a full 10 minutes before deciding if they want more.

 

Marijuana seems to have initially stimulating effects, followed by relaxing effects.. its these initial effects, which typically last between 30 minutes to 2 hours (depending on your tolerance) which seem to trigger anxiety...

 

The stimulating effects of marijuana typically last only about 30 minutes for me, unless I have consumed a great deal more than usual. After that I tend to find the effects more relaxing, and indeed overall I actually find marijuana a very effective treatment for my anxiety, even knows initially it aggrivates it.. Its not that much of a paradox, various antidepressants such as the SSRI's are known to potentially cause anxiety when you first go on them, even knows afterwards they are supposed to treat anxiety (though unfortunately they never did anything for my anxiety. No medication did except the benzodiazepines like valium which to me are extremely addictive and dangerous- I tend to binge on them)

 

In regards to feeling depressed and smoking marijuana:

 

I find that when I am severely depressed, that it is best to smoke marijuana moderately.. When I am profoundly upset and depressed over things, marijuana typically only offers mild benefit, and sometimes may seem to even somewhat magnify such feelings and make me feel somewhat disorientated.

 

The problem is, that a person may come to rely on smoking marijuana to regulate their negative moods. To a moderate degree, and in moderate cases this seems to be potentialy useful. To a degree marijuana can help certain people control and moderate their moods, and indeed in most users marijuana overall "promotes happyness".

 

However if you suffer from depression, and marijuana is effective for you, but lets say some disaster happens- ie somebody you love dies or something. What can happen is you can automatically esculate your consumption of pot to try and compensate for the sudden shift in mood. The problem is when you significantly increase your consumption of weed, the mood elevating effects reduce. THE MORE YOU SMOKE WEED, THE HIGHER THE FREQUENCY AND THE GREATER THE AMOUNT = THE LESS THE EFFECT. So if you start smoking it all the time, when you are in some sort of desperate need, the very beneficial effects it usually offers you can dissipate and reduce and indeed collapse.. Its sort of like leaning too heavily on a crutch- potentially using pot in this way can result in you crashing down and may somewhat worsten your situation.

 

So I caution people, if you are feeling extremely disturbed and depressed, SMOKE POT MODERATELY. Indeed while often times it does help- if it is not helping, it may be time to reduce your usage to lower levels for a while.

 

Its interesting though. I also take one other medication which I find helps treat my depression. Usually this gets rid of my darkest moods but leave me feeling somewhat flat, and just "empty".. Sure I don't feel awful, but I don't feel that able to enjoy things. At this level, smoking a few cones or so each night seems very beneficial.. Sometimes I have an extra cone or two in the early part of the day as well, but I never go beyond this, because I have found the mood elevating effects of pot best for depression etc, when used moderately- not heavily. I know because when I have been very depressed I have smoked so heavily that I can go through a whole ounce in around 3-4 days.

 

My advice is if you use pot somewhat to control bad moods, that you are careful not to do so too heavily and if you have some sort of emotional / depressive crisis, that you are CAREFUL not try to esculate and esculate your usage, because the mood elevating effects of pot may collapse under such circumstances, but only I feel when the person is in a very bad way indeed.

 

Overall: Pot can be quite useful indeed for depression and anxiety, but pot is a complex drug, and it needs to be used in the correct way to maximize benefit. I feel if used inappropriate it may make things somewhat worst, but nowhere near to the degree that something like alcohol would for example.

 

In people with a serious potential to harm themselves and people predisposed to the darkest moods, I recommend moderate consumption of marijuana may offer the most benefits.

 

Anyway its just my opinion based on my experience. Hope its useful to somebody... Overall what I am trying to say is people must be mindful of how they are using marijuana in regards to depression and anxiety, but for me, I really feel it has offered profound benefits... Marijuana has hugely improved the quality of my life- which is why I resent fearing being busted and losing my medicine or even going to prison. I don't consider myself depressed at all any more... I also no longer have problems with anxiety, though occasionally I do get moderate anxiety for a couple of minutes on weed or so just after I have consumed it- I don't view this as problematic and just ignore it.

 

Here is a cheesy summary for you .. Sort of thing I would like to read if marijuana were a legal medicine used for depression. I am running out of time so I'm just going to do it quickly:

 

Marijuana Prescribing Information:

 

Depression: Marijuana may be useful for depression when the dosage is moderated appropriately.

 

Warning Against Heavy Usage During an Emotional Crisis:

 

Heavy usage of marijuana may cause a decline in the mood elevating effects, therefore all users of marijuana for depression are cautioned not to suddenly increase consumption during a severe emotional crisis, as this may cause the beneficial effects of marijuana to collapse at a time when they are most needed. Also heavy usage of marijuana may further confuse and aggrivate a severely distraught person when its mood elevating effects are failing.

 

Most other medications are not contradicted in conjunction with Marijuana:

 

People who use marijuana to treat depression should not give up on trying other medications that may also help. Marijuana may be most beneficial when used in conjunction with another medication that is also beneficial. Generally prescription medications would only be recommend in severe cases of depression, in milder cases marijuana alone may be sufficient. However marijuana can definately provide addition benefit for some people on top of antidepressants. Moderate usage however is strongly recommended.

 

Marijuana usage in anxiety disorders:

 

Slow and gradual usage is recommended in persons prone to anxiety or who experience strong anxiety while on marijuana. Ideally a moderate amount of leaf may be smoked in the earlier stages until tolerance improves. Alternatively 1-2 moderate sized tokes of average grade bud per 10 minutes until desired effect is achieved.

 

Marijuana initially has stimulating phase of between 30 - 120 minutes. If this phase is too intense for a person it may increase anxiety. After this phase has passed a second relaxing phasing occurs which reducing anxiety in most people. The more tolerance a person develops to marijuana according to moderate daily smoking, the shorter and milder the simulating phase becomes and the overall better the anxiety reducing effects are. However some people who suffer from anxiety simply cannot tolerate pot under any circumstances, and such people usually soon decide to discontinue their pot usage.

 

Here is an interesting article about how the effects of marijuana DECREASE with frequency of usage. This explains why the mood elevating effects can collapse with a sudden esculation of dosage, though it may take a couple of weeks for the effect to fully occur.

 

The antidepressant and anti-anxiety effects of marijuana may be stronger at moderate doses than higher doses.

 

I strongly recommend reading the following if you haven't, its a really interesting discussion about marijuans effect on the brain in general.

 

http://www.marijuanalibrary.org/brain2.html

Edited June 25, 2010 by cybergenesis

[Za7ox]

I have depression/anxiety issues myself. I used to smoke daily but due to pressure from family i always had a negative connotation in my head from weed. I also sometimes caught myself smoking way too much to get rid of negative thoughts.

 

Iv'e recently changed my diet and mindset and i'm going to experiment again with the sacred plant to see what it can do for me.

 

 

Hopefully next time i post in here i will have a positive story to add myself

[Kazzsam67]

I have depression but it's under control with the meds, it's my anxiety that's more difficult to control.

 

Just made my first small batch of bright green cannabutter and tried a little last night. Didn't get any buzz at all, just felt great with a bit of a body stone.

 

Looking forward to more experiments

[Allotropy]

In my experience I don't think that cannabis, that is a marijuana with a consistently large amount of THC is a good drug for anyone with Depression and Anxiety or any mental health condition for that matter.

 

I have nothing to gain from this discussion and I probably would get more of a kick out of telling someone that cannabis is gods saviour and is the best substance for someone for depression and anxiety. Rather then speak the truth, however i'm not a complete retarded/deluded piece of shit either.

 

Anyhow, to further the discussion;

 

I know someone who has sufferred from anxiety and depression and used cannnabis recreationally under their doctors supervision. They were allowed to smoke cannabis once a week. What happened however is that the cannabis and marijuana took over and they became dependant on its use. To no wrong doing of their own. The marijuana triggered a treatment resistant condition and rendered the anti-depressants useless.

 

Whilst generalized anxiety and depression is highly treatable in most instances, avoiding medication use and using substances like alcohol and cannabis to treat the condition is highly stupid in my opinion.

 

Now I know that nobody likes shrinks. But please take into consideration that they have nearly 12 - 15 years of hardcore university study up their sleaves. Please take no offence, but they know alot more about the effects on the human brain, when under the duress of particular psychoactive substances then someone who has no knowledge of medical science.

 

Speak to a doctor if you have depression and anxiety.. get referred to a psychiatrist and stop playing god and "I shall only listen to what I want to hear and read and believe what I choose too" because you will probably end up commiting suicide or end up in rehabiliation or mental health services for the rest of your life.

 

Listen to your doctor, they have alot of knowledge.. if your not happy with how they respond to your sessions, then get referred to another one and another one until you are happy with you service of treatment.

 

And again remember, in most instances depression and anxiety is highly treatable.

 

In many instances occasional and moderate consumption of cannabis has no large implications on your mental health or biologicl/psychological and psychosocial wellbeing.

 

Peace,

 

Allotropy

[Allotropy]

That being said. There has been medical scientific studies recently and in the past which show that another cannabanoid found in cannabis aside from THC is effective at treating anxiety and has little or no implications over a users level of depression.

 

Isolation of this cannabanoid would not only be safe for people with depression and anxiety but also therapeutic.

 

Consumption of cannabis that is high in CBD. Would be more safe for someone to consume occasionaly, then say a super high THC concentrate cannabis strain for a person that is susceptible to depression and anxiety.

 

Indica also has a terpanoid type substance that is particularily effective in treating anxiety, or at reducing a users anxiety. Indica generally has a higher concentration of CBD then Sativa. This more so when a plant is harvested when all the trichomes are amber in colour as opposed to milky or clear. The range of terpanoids and other cannabanoids relative to their respective counterparts determines a users high. Indica is generally more favourable to someone that is experiencing anxiety. Whilst sativa can provide energy and motivation to a user sufferring from depression it is inaffective at reducing depression in the long term and can make it worse.

 

Here is a qoute and scientific discussions pertaining to the cannabanoid CBD;

 

"The reduced psychoactivity of CBD-rich Cannabis may make it an appealing treatment option for patients seeking anti-inflammatory, anti-pain, anti-anxiety and/or anti-spasm effects without disconcerting euphoria or lethargy.

Scientific and clinical studies indicate that CBD could be effective in easing symptoms of a wide range of difficult-to-control conditions, including: rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, alcoholism, PTSD, epilepsy, antibiotic-resistant infections and neurological disorders. CBD has demonstrated neuroprotective effects, and its anti-cancer potential is currently being explored at several academic research centers in the U.S. and other countries."

 

Here is a link relating to a good discussion regarding cbd, thc and cannabis use with people sufferring from anxiety and depression.

 

http://www.idmu.co.uk/canstressdepres.htm

 

Hope you find what your looking for and can I recommend trying an indica dominant strain from CBD seeds or CBD crew seeds through Bonza Seed Bank.

 

K. Regards,

 

Allotropy

[Syb3 rm3nt41_%20]

Cybergenesis and allotrophy have put the nail in the coffin when discussing the effects cannabis has on those that indulge in it ...... I think this point has been overlooked by those that have responded to cybergenesis's initial points .... and that is that everybodies neurochemistry is different .... and that drugs affect us differently..... what may work for joe blogg may not work for john smith .... doctors never fail to recognise this when they start a patient on an array of psychopharmaceuticals in an attempt to whimsically strike gold with an ever-confident omnipotent grin of achievment...... In making this point cybergenesis you open another can of worms entirely....... it can be argued that clinical psychology and psychology in the labratory was still infantile at the turn of the 19th century, do you think in the past 100 years of study we can understand our own organism with a language suitable to describe such? Are you so naieve? Why are drugs utilised before the turn of the 19th century not in-use today? Is it because they are "far too safe" for use? Is it because these drugs are still recognised as being deemed effective? No, quite the contrary, many of the psychopharmaceuticals used at the turn of the 19th century are now deemed poisons. What leads you to believe the same wont be the case for new drugs that have been tested on a few thousand people in a pilot study... and rushed out after fda/tga-like approval with a hundred and one "side-effects" just so they dont fail to include any of the known side-effects within the products documentation.... name a dozen of cannabis' side-effects .......

 

Neurologists understand they know very little about the hardwiring of the central nervous system and the mind..... why do you give them more credit than they give themselves? Allo ... 12-15 years as a psych ? wrong ... you can finish in 4 years fulltime and usually need 3 years as an intern....... (to become a member of ACA) ... You strike me as being amazed at the ignorance of cannabis users who believe they understand their consciousness more than a shrink (with a collective knowledge-base of 100 years + the reminents of aristotle or plato as nothing but mere echo's of mans understanding of our past)... which is interesting ..... are you aware of what psychologists study at university to discern neurosis'? Psychologists can only utilise diagnostic evaluations that through statistical analysis and statistical probability analytics allow them to identify neurosis.... If you were to ask a psychologist how the ssri zoloft, works on the synapses and at the receptor-sites they cant tell you, neurologists arent quite sure on how our neurochemistry is affected by zoloft and why it has such ssri-effect.....

 

Why are you so keen to try pharmaceuticals that a) have more side-effects than cannabis

alter the neurochemistry in a way that has permanent consequences c) become dependant on such drugs so much so that without them ... not only would you feel terrible but it's likely or possible atleast that if you suddenly discontinue their use you could cause permanent damage - (which can occur for instance if you stop taking zoloft suddenly, users have been known to hemorage !!!) when you stop taking them the anxiety is'nt present casually like it may have been before, no its often much worse....... and is commonly much worse d) why take drugs that have so many side effects its likely youre prescribed other pharmaceuticals in an attempt to alleviate the side effects .... sometimes even these drugs have side-effects and hence are counter-balanced by even more pharmaceuticals ........ you think this is uncommon? e) utilise a drug that will most likely be deemed wholly unfit for human consumption in a 100 years ....... when canna has documented historical use dating atleast 3500 years..... f) put your faith in a sciense so infantile it has no better understanding of "reality" than greek philosophers of the past ..... yet because of science, through experimentation we gain "toys for big boys" a'la science...... g) distrust in nature so much that you would be quick to choose a less-stigmatised but likely more dangerous pharmaceutical drug...... because a few thousand people tested it before food regulation authorities approved it .....

 

Such regulation of pharmaceutical drugs requires vast sums of cash to fund research to find the desirable outcome ..... which they will often do at all costs ...... (to establish the product in one of the top 3 markets on the planet) and although in some cases documented suicidal tendencies increase ..... these drugs could still somewhat counteract what we consider to be the "observable" effects of anxiety/depression ......so hence they are sold anyway as they appear to be effective...... hell 20 years ago doctors often told those that suffered with anxiety or anxiousness to drink tea ...... you think within the last 20 years that our understanding of the human mind has evolved to such an extent that we can eliminate anxiety/depression in a majority of individuals?

 

Anxiety and depression is a complex issue that affects those that suffer with it in a range of ways and because of this, not every psychopharmaceutical drug offered to those that suffer with either anxiety/depression is going to be effective ..... nor do i think that it is wise to allow a psychologist to prescribe drugs they have no mechanistic understanding of ..... psychologists do not study neurology or consciousness so much ... they study the application of statistical data to define neurological conditions...... they are taught that a+b and a little of c can help those that have been identified as suffering particular neurological conditions...... keyword "can" ... not "will" ..... I know this as i have had more than a few friends that have studied psychology at university ..... the first thing they teach you is to not make any assumptions on the condition of a patient at all and that NO opinions/biases are included .... (because ones own neurology affects how we may percieve another's state of mind/consciousness/being) and that nothing not credited with legitimate statistical validity is ever considered .... until statistical probability models can be applied to diagnostic evaluation tests to ascertain a likelihood of a particular condition nothing is even considered with any certainty ..... this easily depicts a psychologists true understanding of the mind and consciousness ....... and the limitations of modern psychology...... the truth is ..... psychologists cant understand their own mind and consciousness accurately..... because of the limitations of language and science, which is impelled solely by corporate/institutional funding ..... by co's with their own agendas ......

 

Why choose a dangerous drug?

 

Mahalo'

[Za7ox]

Cybergenesis and allotrophy have put the nail in the coffin when discussing the effects cannabis has on those that indulge in it ...... I think this point has been overlooked by those that have responded to cybergenesis's initial points .... and that is that everybodies neurochemistry is different .... and that drugs affect us differently..... what may work for joe blogg may not work for john smith .... doctors never fail to recognise this when they start a patient on an array of psychopharmaceuticals in an attempt to whimsically strike gold with an ever-confident omnipotent grin of achievment...... In making this point cybergenesis you open another can of worms entirely....... it can be argued that clinical psychology and psychology in the labratory was still infantile at the turn of the 19th century, do you think in the past 100 years of study we can understand our own organism with a language suitable to describe such? Are you so naieve? Why are drugs utilised before the turn of the 19th century not in-use today? Is it because they are "far too safe" for use? Is it because these drugs are still recognised as being deemed effective? No, quite the contrary, many of the psychopharmaceuticals used at the turn of the 19th century are now deemed poisons. What leads you to believe the same wont be the case for new drugs that have been tested on a few thousand people in a pilot study... and rushed out after fda/tga-like approval with a hundred and one "side-effects" just so they dont fail to include any of the known side-effects within the products documentation.... name a dozen of cannabis' side-effects .......

 

Neurologists understand they know very little about the hardwiring of the central nervous system and the mind..... why do you give them more credit than they give themselves? Allo ... 12-15 years as a psych ? wrong ... you can finish in 4 years fulltime and usually need 3 years as an intern....... (to become a member of ACA) ... You strike me as being amazed at the ignorance of cannabis users who believe they understand their consciousness more than a shrink (with a collective knowledge-base of 100 years + the reminents of aristotle or plato as nothing but mere echo's of mans understanding of our past)... which is interesting ..... are you aware of what psychologists study at university to discern neurosis'? Psychologists can only utilise diagnostic evaluations that through statistical analysis and statistical probability analytics allow them to identify neurosis.... If you were to ask a psychologist how the ssri zoloft, works on the synapses and at the receptor-sites they cant tell you, neurologists arent quite sure on how our neurochemistry is affected by zoloft and why it has such ssri-effect.....

 

Why are you so keen to try pharmaceuticals that a) have more side-effects than cannabis

alter the neurochemistry in a way that has permanent consequences c) become dependant on such drugs so much so that without them ... not only would you feel terrible but it's likely or possible atleast that if you suddenly discontinue their use you could cause permanent damage - (which can occur for instance if you stop taking zoloft suddenly, users have been known to hemorage !!!) when you stop taking them the anxiety is'nt present casually like it may have been before, no its often much worse....... and is commonly much worse d) why take drugs that have so many side effects its likely youre prescribed other pharmaceuticals in an attempt to alleviate the side effects .... sometimes even these drugs have side-effects and hence are counter-balanced by even more pharmaceuticals ........ you think this is uncommon? e) utilise a drug that will most likely be deemed wholly unfit for human consumption in a 100 years ....... when canna has documented historical use dating atleast 3500 years..... f) put your faith in a sciense so infantile it has no better understanding of "reality" than greek philosophers of the past ..... yet because of science, through experimentation we gain "toys for big boys" a'la science...... g) distrust in nature so much that you would be quick to choose a less-stigmatised but likely more dangerous pharmaceutical drug...... because a few thousand people tested it before food regulation authorities approved it .....

 

Such regulation of pharmaceutical drugs requires vast sums of cash to fund research to find the desirable outcome ..... which they will often do at all costs ...... (to establish the product in one of the top 3 markets on the planet) and although in some cases documented suicidal tendencies increase ..... these drugs could still somewhat counteract what we consider to be the "observable" effects of anxiety/depression ......so hence they are sold anyway as they appear to be effective...... hell 20 years ago doctors often told those that suffered with anxiety or anxiousness to drink tea ...... you think within the last 20 years that our understanding of the human mind has evolved to such an extent that we can eliminate anxiety/depression in a majority of individuals?

 

Anxiety and depression is a complex issue that affects those that suffer with it in a range of ways and because of this, not every psychopharmaceutical drug offered to those that suffer with either anxiety/depression is going to be effective ..... nor do i think that it is wise to allow a psychologist to prescribe drugs they have no mechanistic understanding of ..... psychologists do not study neurology or consciousness so much ... they study the application of statistical data to define neurological conditions...... they are taught that a+b and a little of c can help those that have been identified as suffering particular neurological conditions...... keyword "can" ... not "will" ..... I know this as i have had more than a few friends that have studied psychology at university ..... the first thing they teach you is to not make any assumptions on the condition of a patient at all and that NO opinions/biases are included .... (because ones own neurology affects how we may percieve another's state of mind/consciousness/being) and that nothing not credited with legitimate statistical validity is ever considered .... until statistical probability models can be applied to diagnostic evaluation tests to ascertain a likelihood of a particular condition nothing is even considered with any certainty ..... this easily depicts a psychologists true understanding of the mind and consciousness ....... and the limitations of modern psychology...... the truth is ..... psychologists cant understand their own mind and consciousness accurately..... because of the limitations of language and science, which is impelled solely by corporate/institutional funding ..... by co's with their own agendas ......

 

Why choose a dangerous drug?

 

Mahalo'

Interesting post

[brick]

the first thing they teach you is to not make any assumptions on the condition of a patient at all and that NO opinions/biases are included .... (because ones own neurology affects how we may percieve another's state of mind/consciousness/being) and that nothing not credited with legitimate statistical validity is ever considered .... until statistical probability models can be applied to diagnostic evaluation tests to ascertain a likelihood of a particular condition nothing is even considered with any certainty ..... this easily depicts a psychologists true understanding of the mind and consciousness ....... and the limitations of modern psychology...... the truth is ..... psychologists cant understand their own mind and consciousness accurately..... because of the limitations of language and science, which is impelled solely by corporate/institutional funding ..... by co's with their own agendas ......

 

My son is doing a PHD in psychology now. I am sure he would agree with this (highlited red). What took him on this career path was that he was diagnosed with clinical depression in his last year of college aged 18.Visiting a psychiatrist weekly, prescribed anti depressants. He is now 26 and stopped seeing his psychiatrist a few years ago, except when he needs a new scrip.

The blue highlite I am sure he would disagree with. His studies have helped him understand more about his own condition and how to cope, overcome his problem on his own, so much so that he now only takes his medication when he gets so bad he cannot cope, overcome his bad times. He thought about trying some of my cannabis but renegged due to the fact that he was not completely sure whether it would upset further, the chemical imbalance in his brain that was causing the depression which, inturn, could possibly cause his depression to get worse.

He said that one day he would try a joint but only when he was free of the prescription drugs. That way he could truly evaluate if cannabis could help him.

 

It really is a can of worms but until proper clinical studys can be carried out by open minded, unbiased people, we will never really know if cannabis can help with depression. For that to happen imo cannabis should be legalised, so they can play with the genetics to find the best one that could work. Not synthetic shit, true cannabis.

I leave off anxiety as I have serious moments myself and find a joint can reduce that to manageable proportions.

[Kazzsam67]

Wow........ fascinating opinions guys

 

I am 3rd yr Psychology student myself and I did first yr cell biology and chemistry. We did learn about physiology and exactly how Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitors interact at receptor sites along with other neurotransmitters such as opiates, adrenaline and others. We also study consciousness and many other topics, but knowledge is very limited because so many theories are difficult to test scientifically.

 

The most important thing to learn here is to be open-minded, to research ones topic thoroughly, and to critically assess the difference between evidence and opinion. GP's are jokers as far as I'm concerned and an open-minded intelligent Psychiatrist (can prescribe) or Psychologist (can't prescribe) is usually too expensive for the lower socioeconomic group.

 

The more we know, the more we realize we don't know!!

 

This too can be said for the human condition. Trust yourself and do your research and if conducting experiments.....be careful.

[louise]

This more so when a plant is harvested when all the trichomes are amber in colour as opposed to milky or clear.

 

I think you are thinking about CBN rather than CBD. CBN levels increase as THC degrades, resulting in higher levels of CBN in plants that have been harvested with numerous amber trichomes.

 

Cannnabiniod production begins with the combination of geranyl pyrophosphate and olivetolic acid to form CBG. CBG is converted via enzyme action to both CBD and CBC. It is hypothesized that CBD is further converted to THC, although it is more likely that THC is synthesized directly from CBG. As THC degrades it is converted to CBN.

Edited September 30, 2012 by louise

[Frank Reynolds]

I thought when thc-a degrades on the plant it Debreakes down into another form of thc-a, similar to if you heat thc-a up it decarboxilates (sp?) into THC as we know it, giving us the effect we are familiar with?