Mental Health and Getting High

[Cannamedman]

I am a certified Drug & Alcohol Counselor and Educator and a forty-five year medical cannabis patient. I have been in the closet about my medication for most of my life. I’m telling you this so you won’t think I have no idea what I’m talking about, no matter which side of the Cannabis fence you are on. I am an advocate for Medical Cannabis, that is for sure, but I also have an interest in reality.

I don’t think young people should use Cannabis, wait, don’t shoot the messenger just yet! I would much rather see young people use Cannabis than Alcohol, Tobacco products or most Pharmaceuticals, but that is not reality is it. I feel that if we can give grammar school children Pharmaceuticals like Clonidine, Guanfacine, Antipsychotics and Antidepressants then we should be able to give those children Cannabis Extracts too, but I still don’t think young people should use anything, including Cannabis Extracts.

If someone, anyone has an Organic imbalance, whether they are old or young, than they may need some form of something to alleviate the condition and that is for sure. I think it is important to keep in mind that most of our physical and mental health conditions in our modern society are life style based and that began with the Industrial Revolution. Most of our conditions could be alleviated by changing our life styles and especially our diets.

Diets have more to do with our physical and mental health than the vast majority of our general population would care to admit and certainly not our medical or political establishments, to say the least. Do people use Cannabis to get high? Get real! Of course they do, are you kidding me? Can I tell the truth here, is reality not reality when it’s about the other side of the fence? Yes, people use Cannabis to get high and the people who use Pharmaceuticals do it to get their “High” regardless of what it is.

What makes me want to laugh my socks off, but it is too painful because of how sick it really is, is that in our modern day society we just cannot have a medication whose side effects are that it makes us feel GREAT! The only medications we can have are the ones that Pharmaceutical Companies, when they are advertising, need to employ Speed Talkers so they can fit all the negative side effects in the time slot allotted for the commercial.

So what is it I am trying to say here? I started smoking Cannabis when I was about twenty and I knew I had found something that was good for me, something that allowed me to be me, something that balanced my mental processing. In those days there was no diagnostic processing for poor young people, you either made it or you didn’t, so what’s new? At the time I didn’t know I had some mental health issues, none off my issues were debilitating in and of themselves, it is just that when two or three are put together they made my life difficult, so what, whose life has not been. So I began my double life and for some of those years I gave up my medication because I just thought I might be doing something wrong, or I didn’t fit in or because of political reasons like drug testing and of course I drank alcohol and presto I fit right in, great! I don’t think so.

Young people today are using Cannabis and you know that I’m good with that, right, what I am not good with is if we have a mental health issues it is important that we know is so we can work on it or them and not just mask it or them with Alcohol, Tobacco, Pharmaceuticals or Cannabis either. I am not suggesting that all the Cannabis users in the world go to mental health professionals and stress over the possibility that they may have a problem because they read this article; I am only saying that it may be worth the effort for us to check in with ourselves occasionally on what we are doing.

Maybe asking ourselves why do we wake and bake, are we using Cannabis much too often during the day, the week or the month, are we angry to much of the time, are we just not happy without our bong, do we need to carry our Vape everywhere we go, can we make it through the weekend if we forgot our stash at home, why do we need Cannabis at all?

When I think about young people using Cannabis I ask myself what is it that is so bad with our modern day society that young people, who do not seem to have mental or physical health issues, feel they need to use anything at all, or is that not being realistic on my part? The world is in a terrible mess right now and there is a whole lot of work that needs to be done to repair the damage that we humans have caused since the Industrial Revolution and the young people of today seem to realize that and I hope they don’t just mask the problem like I did, because they didn’t know the truth, not only about the world they were born into, but about their own presence in it.

Steve Sexton

 

[TheFertilizer]

Oh I can definitely hear the chemical dependency education in your last two paragraphs. No offense but I think that might have formed your opinions too solidly on one side or the other, but hey we all have our own bias. Just a lot of sentiment I recognize.

I started smoking cannabis when I was 15 years old, self-medicating mostly. I had undiagnosed depression and anxiety. Years went by, I got into therapy and had doctors always concerned about my use and they asked the same questions posed in your second paragraph. I though they were transparent then and still do now, and quickly identified a discrepancy... Why is it a problem if someone fears making it through the weekend without their stash if it is used to treat a medical ailment. When someone with acute anxiety is prescribed a benzo medication, would you expect them to go somewhere for the weekend without it? It seemed there was no room for a "need" for cannabis lest it be seen as dependency.


Now years later I have PTSD too... Why? Because my parents were genuine addicts and I literally watched them both die within two years of each other. They started on illicit intravenous drugs, got Hep C. and then entered treatment and recovery for a few years. That is until doctors started prescribing them opiate pain killers. It's funny, no one suggested they had problem with them until they'd both overdosed and landed in the ICU a few times.

So a curious thing happened... My old therapist died and I had to see someone new. When I told them what had happened in my life, and told them I use cannabis, they seemed completely fine with that. It was almost like a "Yeah I can see why" type of response. I wasn't sure if times changed or if the new doctor just didn't have the same views but personally the message I interpereted was that BEFORE my parents died, I had no good reason to use it. Then suddenly with such a traumatic episode it was like suddenly not an issue.

Anyway I don't have a real point to make, not arguing against yours either but just thought I had some experiences related to this to share. Frankly, if I had encountered a doctor who said "I think you're an addict" I may have agreed with them, because I grew up with addicts and know how it can be, monkey-see-monkey-do. For that reason I am constantly evaluating my use. If I feel like I need it, I take a day (or a few hours if I start throwing up all over, that usually clarifies want vs need lol) to really identify which it is, and if it's just a want then I choose whether I can do without or juggle things around. Then if I can't afford it without doing something irresponsible, I decide it's time to take a little break and don't get any for a while even if I can afford it. You have to moderate yourself, but I think this is less a dependency issue and more behavioral because I have to do the same thing with knives (I'm a knife nut) or car parts. I have a roommate that you could argue is addicted to video games so I mean, where does the line cross from habit to addiction? In my opinion it's when you ignore that there is a line to cross that you accidentally step over.

As far as why kids want to alter their consciousness... Did you ever spin around until you were dizzy as a child? Why did you do that. I think a desire to alter our consciousness is a natural one. I believe it's when this desire turns to need that it's flirting with addiction.

Also correct me if I am wrong, but there is a difference between dependency and addiction isn't there? I have always inferred dependency as a physical withdrawal from a foreign substance, whereas addiction is a behavioral condition where we keep participating in the same activity despite negative consequences.

 

[Cannamedman]

Oh I can definitely hear the chemical dependency education in your last two paragraphs. No offense but I think that might have formed your opinions too solidly on one side or the other, but hey we all have our own bias. Just a lot of sentiment I recognize.

I started smoking cannabis when I was 15 years old, self-medicating mostly. I had undiagnosed depression and anxiety. Years went by, I got into therapy and had doctors always concerned about my use and they asked the same questions posed in your second paragraph. I though they were transparent then and still do now, and quickly identified a discrepancy... Why is it a problem if someone fears making it through the weekend without their stash if it is used to treat a medical ailment. When someone with acute anxiety is prescribed a benzo medication, would you expect them to go somewhere for the weekend without it? It seemed there was no room for a "need" for cannabis lest it be seen as dependency.


Now years later I have PTSD too... Why? Because my parents were genuine addicts and I literally watched them both die within two years of each other. They started on illicit intravenous drugs, got Hep C. and then entered treatment and recovery for a few years. That is until doctors started prescribing them opiate pain killers. It's funny, no one suggested they had problem with them until they'd both overdosed and landed in the ICU a few times.

So a curious thing happened... My old therapist died and I had to see someone new. When I told them what had happened in my life, and told them I use cannabis, they seemed completely fine with that. It was almost like a "Yeah I can see why" type of response. I wasn't sure if times changed or if the new doctor just didn't have the same views but personally the message I interpereted was that BEFORE my parents died, I had no good reason to use it. Then suddenly with such a traumatic episode it was like suddenly not an issue.

Anyway I don't have a real point to make, not arguing against yours either but just thought I had some experiences related to this to share. Frankly, if I had encountered a doctor who said "I think you're an addict" I may have agreed with them, because I grew up with addicts and know how it can be, monkey-see-monkey-do. For that reason I am constantly evaluating my use. If I feel like I need it, I take a day (or a few hours if I start throwing up all over, that usually clarifies want vs need lol) to really identify which it is, and if it's just a want then I choose whether I can do without or juggle things around. Then if I can't afford it without doing something irresponsible, I decide it's time to take a little break and don't get any for a while even if I can afford it. You have to moderate yourself, but I think this is less a dependency issue and more behavioral because I have to do the same thing with knives (I'm a knife nut) or car parts. I have a roommate that you could argue is addicted to video games so I mean, where does the line cross from habit to addiction? In my opinion it's when you ignore that there is a line to cross that you accidentally step over.

As far as why kids want to alter their consciousness... Did you ever spin around until you were dizzy as a child? Why did you do that. I think a desire to alter our consciousness is a natural one. I believe it's when this desire turns to need that it's flirting with addiction.

Also correct me if I am wrong, but there is a difference between dependency and addiction isn't there? I have always inferred dependency as a physical withdrawal from a foreign substance, whereas addiction is a behavioral condition where we keep participating in the same activity despite negative consequences.

Thank you for taking the time to reply to my post. Just so I'm sure.....I hope I made my post clear that I am not against using Cannabis at all. The base of my post is that many use Cannabis and have no idea they have a mental health issue and it may be a good idea to find out..... so they can work on it and not just mask it, like I did. I appreciate your willingness to open up and help me understand more. Thanks again.

 

[Onkruid]

Cannamedman- I feel compelled to comment.

That's the most salient and well presented offering I've read on the matter. Your societal and Industrial Revolution corollaries are profound.

Thank you for your eminently considered thoughts. My they henceforth be printed permanently upon every refrigerator door made.

 

[Cannamedman]

Cannamedman- I feel compelled to comment.

That's the most salient and well presented offering I've read on the matter. Your societal and Industrial Revolution corollaries are profound.

Thank you for your eminently considered thoughts. My they henceforth be printed permanently upon every refrigerator door made.

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. Good or bad I take it all in and that helps make me a better person.
Have a great day!,
Steve

 

[Tennessee Tim]

I enjoyed reading these post on mental health, addiction, dependency, and the interactions of these topics with the use of various drugs and Cannabis. Life has taken me on a twisting journey through a maze of contradictions and interactions too complicated to see in totality at any one time. I now realize after 64 plus years that a fractured skull, several concussions, PTSD, drug use, alcohol use, and emotional ups and downs have all played a part in my dysfunctions. I have managed to keep employed most of the time, maintain a home, take care of my family, and stay out of jail, but just barely! My attempts at self medication(and MD.prescribed RX medications!) were often nearly disasters. When ever I strayed into alcohol, prescription drugs for depression, or illicit drugs, with the one exception, Cannabis!, problems swiftly followed. Pot too, has an abuse potential that I sometimes strayed into, but if done with moderation and thought of dosage and timing (when not to and when it is OK) it was the most effective at allowing me to deal with my depression, anxiety, fears, fatigue and pains without unwanted side effects. For a long time, I did not see any connection with my past injuries and traumatic events and with my mental health or any substance abuse as attempts to self medicate for mental health issues. Now it has become apparent that I have(and always have had ) some fairly serious mental health issues( depression and panic disorder at the least) to go along with RA, carpal tunnel, heart issues, prostate disease and other effects of aging later in life. Mental health issues were dealt with fairly well self medicating with Pot, in that the proof is, I always paid my own way and kept out of jail . Major depression issues, migraines , anger management problems, impulsiveness, and etc. have plagued me since my head injury when 8 years old( and several more later) and have been better managed when I was using Pot exclusively. When using alcohol or other meds , including prescribed ones, I have had more detrimental life changing events (anger problems, impulsiveness, depression, job loss) than when using pot alone. In fact when not using anything, including pot, I have had a lot of trouble coping. When using small amounts of pot (due mostly to the cost and scarcity) fairly regularly, I have had my best stretches of peaceful uneventful life and success at coping with stress. At times, I used too much Cannabis and developed problems with tolerance, debilitating lack of motivation, and dependency. I hope that my observations about self medication over a period of nearly 50 years is helpful to some others evaluating themselves or others they care for. I now, seek to find a balance of professional help and medications that work or a balance of cannabis and prescribed meds that relieve my panic disorder and anxiety ,while not causing other problems to arise or increase. I have an open mind to either way, if they give positive results. I have found that Cannabis Sativa strains increase my panic attacks and pain awareness and that some Indica strains used in small amounts help reduce stress and pain without the bad side effects. I too, do not recommend Cannabis use to healthy, still developing young people. But compared to alcohol, illicit hard drugs, synthetic opioids, or some other Pharmaceutical prescription drugs that they might use ,it is far the safer mild intoxicant/relaxant to use and in some circumstances beneficial.