I've only smoked cannabis once in my life. Could my symptoms be caused or exacerbated by this?

Question

Before I took the cannabis 5 years ago I suffered from periodic episodes of depression. However in the years after taking it the episodes seem to have a "sharp edge" to them which gives me the impression that they are going to get much worse soon (although they don't). Also the depression is worse, and for the first time I have to take SSRI antidepressants on an on-going basis. These drugs completely resolve the problem, and indeed make me "better than well".
I have a theory that cannabis might have started to affect me rather like an allergy: that when a stressor hits large enough to cause depression it "reacts" to it causing a much larger effect. Then when the stressor goes, so does the reaction, and everything returns to normal.
Any similar experiences with the weed?
And any suggestions as to how to counter this problem?

I haven't had a contribution from user "Dr Frank" in this thread.
He seems to have some opinions on cannabis, and I would be interested in hearing his view on this.

Answer 1

I think what made it worse is that you think that it made it worse.

Answer 2

Suffering from deppression makes you a selfish person.

In other words you will blame everything and anything for the way that you feel. To beat your deprssion you have realise that nothing is causing it apart from the thought patterns that you choose to have.

I was on SSRI's for 6 months and they were making me feel worse than i did before i started taking them but the doctor wanted me to stay on them, so i slowly weaned myself off them (which took a year), but when i stopped i felt amazingly better and more able to take control over what i was thinking.

It was during this time that i realised that i was not the only person that mattered to me and that i really was 'putting on' what few freinds i had by costantly plying for there support - most got worn down and abandoned me.

Back to the cannabis thing - i have smoked it everyday for the past 10 years and although i think that it does sometimes cloud my judgement, it in no way caused my depression.

I was the sole cause of that.

Answer 3

I believe that in one direction you could be right - and drugs do affect people differently, whether recreational or prescription. But to be honest I have had clinical depression before, and 2 major breakdowns, and I have also been smoking weed for over a year now, and it hasn't had as severe a side-effects as one would expect.
Your depression could of been caused by a number of different factors - you can't use weed as a smokescreen.
Your life situation may have changed since then, the medication, the diet, sleep patterns, relationships with people - hundreds of different factors.
Don't worry to much, as long as you keep yourself in check, and if you decide to smoke weed again make sure it isn't taken excessively. This will cause long term side-effects, and affects.

Answer 4

i've got smoked weed each and on a daily basis on account that i became 15, and am now 21. and that i don't experience that my use of the drug has impaired my psychological progression in besides. If something, that is allowed me to precis exterior of my preexisting paradigm, which led to me being a greater philosophical person, with lots greater exterior the field concepts. i'm a no longer hassle-free and effective worker, i pass to college and get a minimum of a three.0 GPA each semester. My marijuana use has made me the guy i'm right this moment, and that i'm very chuffed with my existence. the secret's interior the quantity that i exploit. on a similar time as I do incredibly use it on a daily basis, so maximum might evaluate me an entire stoner... I in basic terms smoke some snappers right here and there in the process the day, so extremely that is in basic terms sufficient that i might evaluate it greater like administering a drugs, extremely than doing some thing to intoxicate myself. there has been no medical link to marijuana use and concepts harm, so some distance as every physique can tell, the quantity of harm carried out is definitely equivalent with smoking exceptionally lots something. that's the shortcoming of oxygen, no longer the effect that the drug has on the concepts.

Answer 5

I too found that cannabis brought on periods of serious anxiety depression and panic attacks, however I had been smoking the drug for years and in great ammounts before the symptoms started. I have stopped using it completely now. Since I didn't experience any problems with cannabis when I smoked it in small ammounts I find it hard to believe that one session of cannabis could have had such lasting effects on you. I think you should be totally honest with your doctor and tell him/her your theory. I hope this has been of some use.

Answer 6

One smoke will not screw you up, it would take years of smoking it on a continual basis to do that and have such a profound effect on the brain chemicals. I would guess that maybe you lost some more Seratonin reserves caused by further stresses with your condition and are now ready for an SSRI.

This will increase your levels again and pretty soon you will dismiss the canabis idea and feel good again, actually you seem to have a very good insight into this and i am quite certain that you will kick it soon.

Dave

Answer 7

As a former psychiatric nurse, in my experience cannabis usually cause psychosis, or to be more accurate it usually brings forward it's onset in those who already have a predisposition to it and / or exagerates existing symptoms. I suspect the depression comes from 'withdrawal' and 'dependency'. So you feel chilled and more in control and hence happy when smoking it ,so not surprisingly when you are not smoking it your low mood is even lowe,r as you now have an artificial high mood that you are comparing it with. A similar thing happens in those with bipolar disorders. Their low mood is worsened as they compare it to their euphoric highs, which is why they tend to stop taking their mood stabilisers once high as they want to stay that way. I'd stay off the cannabis if you are taking medication as both can effect some neurochemicals and thus cause a possible inbalance.

Answer 8

I have heard that cannabis is addictive but if you have only used it once I doubt you would be relent on it or that it is responsible for how you feel now the effects of this drug can last for three weeks but if it is five years since you used it there is no way it is having an effect on you now, but it is true that it can worsen depression and also it can cause paranoia and fits of anger.

Answer 9

In my experience weed only affects those who already have a problem by bringing it to the fore. It has to be smoked every day though for a cosiderable amount of time. Your one joint 5 years ago will have had no effect on the way your life is now.

Answer 10

I strongly doubt that your experience with weed 5 years ago is the cause of your depression now. Take it easy on yourself it sounds like you are getting the help you need which is good. Make sure you have a professional to talk with as well as being prescribed the meds. Good luck.

Answer 11

Please don't talk if none of you know anything about it, I believe cannabis (weed) has no negative affects at all. The smoke actually clears up some part of your lungs(I forgot the name of it) which helps asthma patients. Also tests on monkeys that showed cannabis kills braincells were because lack of oxygen kills braincells, those poor monkeys were inhaling only smoke and no oxygen got to the brain. So unless you actually bothered to do research on cannabis, don't hand out false information.