Thursday, January 23, 2014

Mental Health and Marijuana


If you look on any of the marijuana websites they will tell you that marijuana is now beneficial for treatment of all sorts of ailments and diseases which is just ridiculous and sad. Sad because these potheads are talking to people looking for help with real problems and giving them false hope that getting high will help with their very real diseases. Which it will not. 

Some of the diseases and aliments the pot smokers are now saying marijuana will help with are cancer, migraines, PTSD and mental illness. 

Today I want to talk about about the last one on that list, Mental Illness. 

A little more than ten years ago I was diagnosed with Schizotypal Personality Disorder. Now if you don't know what that is, you can find out by clicking the link below to the article I wrote on the subject. 


If more people with Mental Illness talked about and explained what it's like to live with their particular Mental Illness, maybe "normal" people would be so afraid of the words, "Mental Illness". Maybe the stigma attached to those words wouldn't effect so many suffering that they choose not to seek help in the fear they will be labeled with those words and others would look at them differently. I have Schizotypal Personality Disorder, that's just a fact of life for me.

But to tell people with Mental Illness that smoking pot will cure them of the problems they are having is in fact doing a disservice to them because not only does it NOT help them, it can make their symptoms worst!

Just read this article, by The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) that spells out the facts about Mental Illness and Marijuana

One paragraph from that article that I found particularly helpful states, "Marijuana causes a person to feel “high,” which can involve peaceful feelings such as being happy, silly, hungry or tired. People with mental illness are more likely to also experience negative emotions such as depressed mood, anxiety—including physical symptoms of shortness of breath and heart palpitations—or even paranoia. These reactions are most likely related to marijuana’s interactions with certain chemicals in the brain, including the neurotransmitter dopamine."

I think anyone with a Mental Illness thinking of smoking pot in the hopes that it will help with symptoms should read the whole article at the link above. It spells out exactly why you shouldn't use marijuana to self treat your illness. 

14 comments:

  1. I don't know about 'treating' illnesses with marijuana. That sounds like a lot of BS to me.

    Now to use it as a pain reliever for someone that's dealing with cancer or another debilitating illness? I can go for that.

    My thinking is if they want to HONESTLY say it's used for medicinal use it should have to be prescribed by REAL doctors and filled at REAL pharmacies like any other medicine. These 'dispensaries' and people getting marijuana licenses for stuff like a bruised elbow or insomnia are frickin stupid.

    I feel bad for the people that are in a lot of pain and could possibly benefit from marijuana, but will never get a chance because all of the people taking advantage of the system and making it seem like a bad thing.

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  2. CaroleDee- I will agree with you on one thing. if a person has a terminal illness like cancer then I think they should be able to use marijuana for pain control if it were to be prescribed by a real doctor and given to them by a real pharmacy.

    I personally know people that have marijuana cards and get 'medical marijuana' for back aches, headaches, and PTSD.

    It shouldn't be used for those things.

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  3. I really hope the stigma associated with the term "mental illness" will be lessened someday. It starts with education of course.

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  4. I have lived with major depression since I was in my teens. About 50 years ago. And I'm quite frank, on my blog, and in public generally, with talking about mental illness like it's something just a bit more complicated than the common cold. (Actually, a lot more complicated, but it's still an illness, like a cold or flu.)

    Truth is that the combination of medications and other therapies keep me functioning quite well most days. That's why I don't scare people. I suspect.

    Still, I think sanity is a bit over-rated.

    Blessings and Bear hugs, Mary!

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  5. Yeah they are just proving what idiots they are. Especially when they say it "cures" things. Nothing has ever been cured, allowed to be anyway, in human existence. Vaccines yes, cures no. But oh wow, weed is a miracle, it can cure all. Riight!

    Pain control for severe things like bone cancer or something they should be able to use it for. Everything else, hahaha

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  6. Thanks for the link, it was very informative. I am not going to lie and say I am 100% opposed to the use of marijuana for the ailments mentioned, but I do believe that any relief provided by it is little more than a bandaid, by no means an actual "cure". Much like prescribed pain medication, or even alcohol, marijuana can temporarily relieve pain (both physical and emotional). It can calm feelings of anxiety and even severe panic attacks. But as soon as the high is gone, just like when the pain med runs out, those same problems will return. That is not a "cure". That is a "fix". It's a matter of alleviating symptoms without addressing the real issues that are causing those symptoms. I've read articles stating that marijuana is not addictive like alcohol or prescription pain relievers. But, truly, anything can become addictive if you constantly use it to mask a problem. My big question is, why is alcohol legal and marijuana not so much? What is the difference?

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  7. Keith- I agree, it really does.

    Rob Bear- Sanity is very over rated. Thanks for your comment.

    Pat- Agreed!

    Amy- I have no idea why one is legal and the other isn't. But the fact is one is illegal and I would like to keep it that way. I'm not for the use or sell of mind altering drugs or alcohol. I don't drink alcohol at all and don't like to be around people that do. I don't think that alcohol should be available either but I know that's not going to change but just because it is doesn't mean that we should let marijuana be legalized too.

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  8. I'm watching this with interest. I don't even know if people are given prescriptions of it for pain relief over here.

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  9. I agree with you! Keep the laws how they are now.

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  10. Lol. I think this has to do with all drugs in general. We take a drug to help with one issue but end up with another. Unfortunately there is no real solution.

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  11. Shelley- Not sure about where you live, would be interesting to find out though.

    One A Day Tech- :)

    Lady Lilith- True and the side effects from so many drugs are worst than the ailment we're taking them for in the first place.

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  12. Excellent article and so true! One of the biggest downfalls of legalization is that these pot "farmers" here in CA are homesteading huge plots of our forests--clear cutting them. They are harder to get rid of than bed bugs in NY city.

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