When Cannabis Isn’t Working – Responding to a Reddit Post
I recently stumbled across a Reddit post that read, “I think marijuana has brought back my depression”. what follows in this short post is the account of a 19-year-old user who has been smoking cannabis for roughly a month and a half every day and have noticed that his depressive symptoms and suicidal tendencies have increased.
The user then continued to express that ever since a child, close friends on the Internet suggested that “weed is good for you”. However, it is obvious that in this case weed is not that good for the person, especially since there is a perceived increase in symptomology.
The user then explains that in their belief, cannabis and alcohol are far more closely related in terms of risk profile. The user then continues to say that this is merely an opinion.
The following section is directly pulled from the Reddit post self as to not interject my own biases into the information.
“I now want to kill myself. I am having thoughts of self-harm. I am incredibly depressed. I get irritated quickly. My problems feel worth dying over. I have become mentally slow and out of it. I am now potentially failing 2 college classes. I thought it would be ok if I smoked after a day of hard work, but it fucked me up bad and took me only now to realize. The song “Because I Got High” doesn’t seem like satire anymore.
To preface, I’ve had major depression before, but I was able to wean my way out of it with recommended drugs. It’s been a couple years and now I’m right back where I started. I have suicide on my mind constantly.
I think marijuana worsens depression and I am now deciding to quit before I become super dependent on this substance. Has anyone had a similar experience? - SOURCE
For the following portion of this article, I will be attempting to address all the issues that were raised in the original Reddit post and provide some context for the Reddit user in question.
Suicidal Thoughts – This isn’t from Cannabis.
As the Reddit user expressed, they had a major depression before and managed to deal with it using pharmaceutical drugs. This must mean that this depressive episode occurred at a noticeably young age and that pharmaceutical intervention was needed.
When pharmaceutical intervention is needed to treat the depression, the depression cannot be considered as mild.
When it comes to suicidal thoughts, this isn't something that is as rare as one might think. Many times, people say things like, “I wish I was dead” to circumvent the responsibilities of the problem at hand. Yet the seriousness of acting it out is lacking.
In the case of the Reddit user, it seems that the suicidal thoughts came accompanied with the original depression, meaning that some level of psychosis could be involved this depressive episode.
Many times, there are people who utilized cannabis thinking that it will get rid of the symptoms entirely, just like the pharmaceutical drugs would have in the past. While cannabis does alleviate some of the symptoms it doesn't cure depression.
Depression could come from several sources, whether from a traumatic experience, a major disappointment in life, or a chemical imbalance in the brain. No number of drugs will be able to get you rid of these issues. Therefore, these substances are recommended by therapists, in conjunction with therapy.
While the Reddit user didn't express that he or she was currently in therapy, we can only assume that this consumption of cannabis was an act of self-medication to suppress the symptoms of the depressive disorder.
The Reddit user believes that cannabis was mainly responsible for the return of the symptoms and is deciding to quit before he or she becomes very dependent on cannabis. This is a good call.
The truth of the matter is that the root cause of the depression was never dealt with. The fact that the symptoms may have waned due to excessive pharmaceutical consumption, or perhaps even the associated therapy that went with the drugs- the root cause of the depression was never dealt with.
Depression is such a vast topic that it's difficult to find a single solution to solve it. However, if you are finding yourself struggling with depression and the cannabis isn't working- then it stands to reason that quitting cannabis is the smart thing to do.
Cannabis is a medicine when used correctly. It can be a drug if used incorrectly and some people simply don't have the willpower to consume cannabis without it becoming a problem for them.
If you are one of these people, then it's OK to not smoke cannabis.
For the Reddit user in question, I would simply ask whether he or she has given CBD a try without THC. Perhaps this can help regulate the endo cannabinoids system which can help establish a baseline to the mood disorder. However, above all, it's time to seek out therapy with all dangers thinking about killing yourself.
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