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‘Roud these parts lots of people are smoking lots of stuff that might not entirely be legal. Very common. Good climate for that sort of thing.
I though, have always been of the opinion that marijuana makes depression worse and so stay away from the stuff. Really, if you’re crazy and on psychotropic drugs, adding extra, less predictable, street psychotropic drugs doesn’t seem like a good idea. Anecdotally, do stoners strike you as obscenely happy people? They strike me as just slow, tired, munchie-craving people. That’s not going to help me feel better. (More logically, THC from the marijuana coats the outside of your brain cells, further impeding neurotransmitters, which is bad if you already have a serotonin deficiency.)
But the nice folks at McGill university weren’t about to answer the question with conjecture, which is why I like science so much. And I was surprised. Turns out that small amount of marijuana might actually help you, but large amounts can actually increase depression and maybe cause psychosis. I copied the article below for your convenience.
MONTREAL, Oct. 24 (UPI) — A synthetic form of the active ingredient of marijuana acts as an antidepressant in low doses but in higher doses can worsen depression, a Canadian study said.
First author Dr. Gabriella Gobbi of McGill University said it has been long known that depletion of the neurotransmitter serotonin in the brain leads to depression, so antidepressants like Prozac and Celexa work by enhancing the available concentration of serotonin in the brain.
This study offers the first evidence that marijuana can also increase serotonin, at least at lower doses, but at higher doses the serotonin in the rats’ brains dropped below the level of those in the control group.
The study, published in The Journal of Neuroscience, finds excessive marijuana use in people with depression poses high risk of psychosis.
The antidepressant and intoxicating effects of marijuana are due to its chemical similarity to natural substances in the brain known as “endo-cannabinoids,” which are released under conditions of high stress or pain, Gobbi said.
Don’t rush to dial-a-dealer just yet though, because amounts are unclear, and the study was on rats. Unless you’re a rat. Then, go for it.
Natasha Tracy is an award-winning writer, speaker, advocate, and consultant from the Pacific Northwest. She has been living with bipolar disorder for 26 years and has written more than 2000 articles on the subject.
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What amount and/or frequency of marijuana use is considered small and large? And, when used while drinking alcohol, this will increase symptoms of depression, right?