Purely anecdotal, but a long time ago I read a book by Mark Vonnegut, Kurt Vonnegut's son. He explained how he was diagnosed with schizophrenia, and warned that for him, marijuana made his condition much, much worse, and he learned early on to strictly avoid it. From that one could argue that maybe pot aggravates borderline cases of schizophrenia to the point of a temporary psychotic breakdown & diagnosis. In Mr Vonnegut's case he needed long-term treatment for his schizophrenia either way, but the marijuana effect was short-term and remedied by just staying the heck away from it. Also worth noting that 30+ years ago the stuff people smoked was much weaker than some of the high-end product you can buy today.
Schizophrenia linked to marijuana use disorder is on the rise, study finds
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Re: Schizophrenia linked to marijuana use disorder is on the rise, study finds
#52This would not surprise me at all. But I'm curious to know if they got the causation backwards. Maybe people with schizophrenia just have a higher likelihood of smoking marijuana
Or maybe both are happening.
Some people like the high from THC, which might make someone go in the direction of psychosis, it can be very stimulating.
For people whith a background of psychosis, they might like the CBD part, which makes them relax and feel less stimulated and aroused.
Re: Schizophrenia linked to marijuana use disorder is on the rise, study finds
#53[deleted]
Re: Schizophrenia linked to marijuana use disorder is on the rise, study finds
#54I can only speak from personal experience, which is of course limited. I smoked occasionally in my 20s, but not since (I'm middle-aged now). I've been friends and acquaintances with many people that smoke a lot. I see a trend among these people - not necessarily schizophrenia (I'm not a psychologist and probably wouldn't even notice a mild case) - but instead a consistent arrogance and self-importance. It's peculiar…
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Re: Schizophrenia linked to marijuana use disorder is on the rise, study finds
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree with this. I hang out at this one bar and this 22 year old I talk to really thinks he "gets it." Incredibly cocky and arrogant a lot of times. He's fun to talk to but when he get's on a major BS kick I gotta tune him out. I'm only 5 years older than him but the contrast in experiences is stark to say the least. It really makes me wonder if I was ever that arrogant too.
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I think you might be the kind of person the parent is talking about.
Re: Schizophrenia linked to marijuana use disorder is on the rise, study finds
#56I can only speak from personal experience, which is of course limited. I smoked occasionally in my 20s, but not since (I'm middle-aged now). I've been friends and acquaintances with many people that smoke a lot. I see a trend among these people - not necessarily schizophrenia (I'm not a psychologist and probably wouldn't even notice a mild case) - but instead a consistent arrogance and self-importance. It's peculiar…
My experience is the exact opposite:
1) I would not suggest that marijuana use correlates with any particular behavior very much.
2) The only thing I have noticed in common among some heavy users was stereotypical stoner behavior, primarily forgetfulness and absent-mindedness. They are usually aware of this, which means it does not present as anything remotely like arrogance.
Re: Schizophrenia linked to marijuana use disorder is on the rise, study finds
#57Earlier quoted context omitted.
Like cigarettes. It seems like it could be both self medication, but also have negative side effects too. Benzodiazepines are my favorite analogy.
Can you share that analogy? I take Benzodiazepam from time to time but never more than once every 3-4 months. Keen to learn a bit more. :)
Not OP, but benzo's can be problematic because they can exacerbate the condition they're meant to treat. I.e. they are often prescribed for anxiety, but one of the symptoms of benzo withdrawal is heightened anxiety. It creates a feedback loop where the medication builds an addiction, and the only way out of that addiction is to suffer a worse version of the symptoms you were trying to self-medicate away in the first place.
I believe research has said similar of opiates. Heightened sensitivity to pain is one of the symptoms of opiate withdrawal.
It stands in contrast to other medications where withdrawal isn't counter-indicated by the underlying condition. I.e. amphetamine withdrawal doesn't really exacerbate ADHD. It's not a pleasant thing, but stopping the medication only sends your ADHD back to baseline, not below.
Another similarity to cigarettes and opiates is that they don't cure anything, they merely treat symptoms.
Not a doctor, but I don't think you're at risk of those problems if you take them every 3-4 months. They're great for acute symptoms like that because of how effective they are. They're not good for chronic symptoms, though, because of that feedback loop.
Re: Schizophrenia linked to marijuana use disorder is on the rise, study finds
#58I can only speak from personal experience, which is of course limited. I smoked occasionally in my 20s, but not since (I'm middle-aged now). I've been friends and acquaintances with many people that smoke a lot. I see a trend among these people - not necessarily schizophrenia (I'm not a psychologist and probably wouldn't even notice a mild case) - but instead a consistent arrogance and self-importance. It's peculiar…
Same observation. I also smoked weed in my teens and early twenties and I remember it making some of the most banal horse shit ideas seem profound, or like I really understand how the universe clicked together. I bet hanging out with a bunch of stoners steeping in my own bullshit for another decade would make me a(n even more) pompous ass too.
The effect is such that you are activating neurons which are engaged in the learning process.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11064-005-6978-1
Because of this, to the untrained mind (most humans are not given manuals to how their mind works) these firings related to any event cause the event to have the perception of presenting deep information which one can learn from. This state allows one to perceive the banal as sublime, or in simpler terms, dumb shit seems cooler, and you can enjoy dumb things more, as you are turning on a relational learning part of your mind and also engaging in a consumption ritual to do so.
Genuinely this article and the reactions are giving me some confusion in regards to how other people perceive the world.
Re: Schizophrenia linked to marijuana use disorder is on the rise, study finds
#59We should all consider what kinds of delusions we’ve conditioned into our brains, and how that might affect our attitudes and opinions. Maybe be a little less certain that the right way to think just so happens to be the only way that is accessible to us personally.
Re: Schizophrenia linked to marijuana use disorder is on the rise, study finds
#60I think it's too common a sentiment that psychoactive substances like cannabis and psilocybin are harmless and in fact are good for mental health. I've had adverse mental reactions to both and I would caution people with family history of anxiety.
A lot of marijuana smokers like to pretend weed smoke is somehow less harmful than any other smoke. It's still CO whether it comes from the tobacco or hemp plant. It's still bad and creates a tar residue in your lungs. Any time I bring that up, somehow I become anti-pot even though it's a genuine concern. Edit: Carbon Monoxide, not Carbon Dioxide. And some additions since this is a tad controversial. Here is one sour…
I won't say it's harmless, but there are material differences. Weed is an expectorant. That's why it makes you cough. So it also tends to promote the lung functions that help clean the gunk out, at least partially. Nicotine and the additives in cigarettes on the other hand suppresses these same functions. And lastly, pot smokers don't smoke nearly the same volume as tobacco smokers.
So no, it's not harmless, but it is in fact less harmful, which is why people keep telling you that.
Also, there's plenty of other options for ingesting THC these days.