Marijuana causing depression

[momo3boys]

Our 20 yr old son was withdrawing from life and unable to concentrate in college. Turns out he smoked pot all through high school -- but not so much at college. Docs say he tests towards psychotic, but we just see a kid who is depressed and doesn't know how to get back onto 'the journey of life.' I'm thinking wilderness plus antidepressants. But how does a kid regain what he lost from not learning during 4 yrs of high school?

[Roger Gould, M.D.]

Once he gets 'unstuck' and back into the journey, he will be able to catch up with most, but maybe not all, that he missed.  Getting back is the issue. You should be in consultation with a psychiatrist who is not primarily a medication psychiatrist, but someone who can take your son's age and circumstances into account and help you find the right pathway back.

[Kitty99]

maybe remedial classes, a very patient tutor, i hear some learning centers are very good (near me there is Silvan's Learning center), maybe basic classes at a county college

I think if his classes right now are too hard for him due to this problem then he won't be motivated to keep trying.  Rather than him failing the classes maybe he should take a semester or two off and focus on county college classes until he gets his confidence up.  A friend didn't go to college right out of high school.  Few year later when she decided that she needed a degree and knew what area to study so she went to college.  She did very well in college since she had a goal in mind.  She barely made it through high school.  Not everyone one is reafy for college right out of high school.  But only you and he know how well he is coping in his current situation and is addition tutors can help him through the semester or if he needs to take a break from a formal education for a bit.  

[RockRose]

mom - if he was accepted into college and passed his freshman year,  you can move on from what he missed in high school.  He graduated,  and passed freshman year,  he's not suffering horribly from not learning in high school.

It's interesting that you say "turns out" he was smoking pot in high school - it sounds like he was functioning well enough to graduate,  and well enough that you didn't know he was smoking pot.

At 20,  with a psychologist suggesting psychosis,  it sounds like you need to be open to possible schizophrenia.  That's the age,  and those are the symptoms of onset.    It may not be,  but the path that you describe - heavy pot smoker in high school (but you weren't aware) not smoking so much in college but not manifesting symptoms a psych called psychosis,  I think you need to be more open to different thoughts than marijuana use.

Best wishes for a better outcome than schizophrenia -