Posted by BeardedLady on December 26, 2002, at 10:24:48
In reply to Re: Marijuana triggered my schizophrenia » BeardedLady, posted by ubergenius on December 26, 2002, at 9:28:21
> Marijuana can INFLUENCE the ONSET of several major mental illnesses including manic depression and schizophrenia.
[caps my emphasis]
I really just wanted a clarification. You are still not saying it CAUSES these illnesses, correct? You are saying that it can have something to do with the start of something that will eventually start in you at a later date, without the help of marijuana. Is that correct? (I'm not trying to be difficult, really.)
Anne, this is for you, too. I think you used the word "trigger." (Sorry; I can't pull up your post without losing this one!)
I understand how smoking pot every day can take away one's ambition and speed and vigor and zest for life. That certainly sounds like depression, but, in this case, it's an expected side-effect of constant drug use, don't you think?
Who would be expected to handle life cheerfully and gracefully if he's spent most of his time high?
And then there's that chicken-egg thing. Did he use drugs because he was depressed and trying to self-medicate? Or did the constant drug use cause him to remain depressed once he was off the drugs for a long time?
Just wondering out loud, really. I know some folks who have smoked pot their whole lives. Some of them are inventors and artists and teachers with a great deal of drive and ambition. It's hard to say what causes what without isolating everything else--chemical, biological, environmental, situational, and dietary--about the person.
Okay, I'll stop now. Time to shut up, beardy.
beardy : )>
poster:BeardedLady
thread:133136
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20021223/msgs/133241.html