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Mental Health  (Expert Forum)
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MARIJUANA § DEPRESSION: What comes first??
Answered by
Roger Gould, M.D. - Mental Health, Wellness
Questions posted in the Mental Health forum are being answered by Dr. Roger L. Gould, author of the Mastering Stress and Depression program and affiliated with the UCLA. Department of Psychiatry. Topics covered include anger, attention deficit disorder (ADD), bipolar disorder, dementia, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), learning disabilities, memory, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), panic, personality disorders, phobias, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), schizophrenia, stress, transitions, and work problems.
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MedHelp Member's Question

MARIJUANA § DEPRESSION: What comes first??

by FutureGrandmaster, Jul 19, 2001 12:00AM
For the past year and half or so of my life I have been trying to answer this one very question. I have been going through crazy battles with depression for the past 2 to 3 years. I have been smoking marijuana for the past 4 years. For the past year or so, my marijuana use has turned into abuse, and I can finally say I am addicted and dependant on Cannabis.



On the other hand, every other week I suffer from a sinking depression that lasts roughly a week every single time... It never fails to come back and I don't know it returns. I saw a few doctors who tried a few anti-depressants on me but nothing really helped.



Could I be fooling myself this whole time?? Could it be the very own dope that I'm smoking that is making me depressed?? Can chronic marijuana use (5-10 joints a day) lead to depression?? on its own?!



I am begging for help from anyone who has a similar situation. Nobody seems to understand me, and I don't know what to do anymore. I am ready to quit all use of Cannabis.



Thanks for listening, and I hope someone out there who can reply to me who knows anything about marijuana + addiction = depression.



Thanks
Doctor's Answer

by Roger Gould, M.D., Jul 19, 2001 12:00AM
chronic use of marijuanna can definitely lead to depression. there are several very real mechanisms. One is biochemical..there is a big. shift in the biological systems that control mood.  Secondly, you lose momentum in your life. Its important to be in touch with your passions and ambitions and if you continually dull them rather than process them into realistic achievements, you wake up depressed for the lost time, and where you are in life. I suggest you stop using (with professional or aa help if you need it) and start paying more attention to your personal development and journey in life. You can use the Mastering Stress Program above to get you started..a new and easier to use version will be up in about two weeks.
Member Comments (18)

by makavelli, Jul 19, 2001 12:00AM
i use to get high all the time. like smoke about a quarter a day.

when i quit i got depressed and stressed out alot. but about after a month it was all good. i dont use marijuana now. so im just saying give it up. and try to live a drug free life. its alot better. trust me.

by inter~BARK_, Jul 22, 2001 12:00AM
for about ayear I was a major "pot-head" too...and I was also depressed, which was bad because during the points i wasn't high i was thinking about how much i hated it or how many minutes i'd be wasting smoking with friends...

quitting really will help you get back on your feet trust me, but may not help in full...it might help to pick up meditiation (which is harder to do when stoned, trust me) and get in touch with the side of you you can only see in your head, you know...

its also good to dooo more stuff....many a pot'head has spent every single day in his friends car smoking or in his basement smoking or-  a good  change of environment and entertainment really helps drag your mind away from depression...have fun.don't be glum

by Beob, Jul 25, 2001 12:00AM
I smoked marijuana for many, many years.  I don't know if it caused my depression or not, but probably.  I am very afraid I will end up with lung cancer because of doing it for so long, but there's nothing I can do about that at this point.



I know I need help, but I get weak if someone I know has any.  It's impossible for me to say no.

by beanagator, Aug 07, 2001 12:00AM
I have had relatively severe depression on and off for the past ten years.  I am now a 26 year old female on Aropax, which I think is called Paxil in the States.  I used to smoke a ton of pot before I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety.  I now smoke occassionally, and if I find myself using more and more, it is usually a sign that I am getting depressed again.  I know that my pot usage increases when I feel stressed or anxious, but when I am feeling okay, I find that I don't "need" to get stoned.  I also find that if I am anxious and depressed, getting stoned can make it worse, and I have experienced panic attacks while being stoned and in a relaxed environment.  If I have been smoking constantly for a couple of weeks, when my supply runs out I feel antsy, but after a couple of days without it, feel better.  Coming off pot after using for a while can definitely provoke a feeling of depression, but it usually wears off after a week or so.  Hope sharing helps!

Gator

by soul glow, Aug 14, 2001 12:00AM
Ill put it like this...Pot sucks-it kills any amount of motivation you have to do anything-im high right now im 23 and have been smoking since I was 14-if i would stop for periods of my life and during those periods i noticed that i was accomplishing alot more than i ever did while smoking pot-nothing ever exiting happens after puffing-i got so fed up tonight about smoking alot again that i dont ever want to see weed again-most of my friends are quiting or smoking a hell-and are all better off than they were- and im still puffing away-not giving a **** about anything-i get so sick of it and -ive had depression for years-sometimes horrible sometimes nt even there-but the times when i had it the worse was when i was high-you think to much when your high, and when something is on your mind that is bad, you will think about it ten times more when your stoned-its a fact....well though id share this...write back in a month ganja free....



                          soul glow

by another perspective, Aug 16, 2001 12:00AM
I have been smoking pot on and off for 7 years; I began getting high because it stopped me from thinking too much, in the beginning that is.  Now I think constantly.  Now my brain jumps from topic to topic, never allowing me to digest information before I have moved onto the next subject.  Being a risk-taker and traveler, drugs were always part of the lifestyle.  A couple of years ago, I went through a major trauma and some intense life stresses and 'found' pot to be my saviour.  Since that Summer, 2 years ago, my depressions have been consistent and never too dangerous for it to knock me in the head and say'wake up to yourself!'  But I'm getting too old now for it to be a 'phase'; my professional life is stuck, I love the social aspects of being high so much. But now I just think I am most afraid of being permanently depressed and alone......there just seems so much more to life than being baked....I quit cigarettes 3 weeks ago, and went on Paxil for anxiety 5 days ago..feeling queasy and yucky; my instincts are telling me to stop taking them, but I am detoxing off pot(one day) so maybe it is from that?

Thanks for listening.

by ame2001, Sep 12, 2001 12:00AM
Well I have been observing this alot latly! I am 19 right now, but when i first started smoking weed i was 12. I know that seems unbelivable but its true. My parents were always going though problems and i felt that it would make me feel closer to my friends! This went on for along time and i wasent depresed or thought i wasent. Then i started to grow up and drift away from my friends and felt very depresed so i would do anything to smoke pot. That means even quiting school so i could hang out all day long and smoke it will peole who were out of school. This depresion made me feel very unsure of who i was were i was going with my life and the big thing wasis i was starting to find love! i think that was the only thing that could have saved me. I was so depresed i would find a sexy looking guy with a nice car and have my fun with them! Then i found one that loved me back!!! This was the first. So i quit talking to my friends and spent every waking moment i could with him, but he smoked too! So i was still depressed. We dated for 3 years and i found out i was pregnant. So i quit smokeing pot and thats when i could finally understand why i was depressed and i will never smoke weed agian!!!

by ganjaman4now, Oct 10, 2001 12:00AM
The depression definately comes after the pot...I smoke weed practically everyday (2-3 blunts daily), and I have noticed a significant change in my attitude, I dont think I would be on this site right now if i wasnt going through marijuana depression, i know i need to stop but i cant. Marijuana at first helped me through rough times in my life when i was feeling depressed, i started smoking pot the a few days after my uncle(who was more like my father)passed away.At first it was gradual use just when i was feeling a little down it helped out alot. Over a period of time the marjiuana stopped helping me cope with my problems and it has become my problem. The lack of marijuana leads to my depression b/c without it i realize how much of f*cK up person I am. Marijuana definately will lead to depression once you start using it on a daily basis because at first i just need it to cope with traumatic times in my life, now i need it just to cope with everyday life and when i dont have it I feel depressed.

by Mostest, Oct 11, 2001 12:00AM
I have a question. A family member used marijuana chronically from age 14 to 40. He has been completely free for over one and a half years. Can this much chronic use cause not only depression but sexual dysfuntion and the inability to produce children? He also has said he sometimes still craves it but fights the cravings will this eventually go away? Will it also cause him to be less emotional as in showing loving/caring feelings for family members?

by weed be gone, Oct 14, 2001 12:00AM
I am 42 years old,started smoking pot at 12

      I'v done all kinds of drugs from nose to vains so when

seeing conslers I always tell them, I'v been there have you?

      When smoking pot, I have noticed that after that first

buzz of the day your in that zone where you no longer know ****

about reality, you think you do, but maybe thats why I did it

to num lifes little pissy proubles away. But thay were never gone

I just cared less. Pot has changed my mind for me at times,

I would know what I was going to do and had a good plan, and

then I got high, and then I got all kinds of new ideas in my head