- cross-posted to:
- todayilearned@lemmit.online
- cross-posted to:
- todayilearned@lemmit.online
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I had a one-time but total psychotic break from smoking weed, it was not fun and took a very long time to recover from. I had been a daily user for years, quit for about a month, and then smoked a small amount I had left over. I hadnt had an adverse reaction like that before or since. I became a daily user again for maybe 6-8 months, but I’ve since quit.
I’m not saying it will happen to you, and I’m not trying to preach about the dangers, but this was my experience, and it was very bad. I would not agree with someone trying to sell a line of “reefer madness” as it helped me through some pretty rough times. But when it didn’t, I had some negative side effects too. I def don’t think there is zero negative effects to using it.
Worth it
flashback to how mad people got over that one contra tweet
can’t wait for the longitudinal meta-analysis study about mental health disorders among the heavily caffeinated.
nah, im sure that ubiquitous, widely-abused drug is totally a free lunch, productivity wise for the developed world.
I don’t know what the actual numbers are, but it seems like heavy caffeine users stay on it for life, which might complicate the study. A lot of the existing studies seem to imply that caffeine is kind of a free lunch, which doesn’t past the smell test IMO.
the general boundary ive seen for heavy intake is 4 x 12oz cups of coffee. i know somebody who has 10 and they don’t seem like an outlier, really. especially when the same boundary is 2 energy drinks.
one time they were in some situation where they couldn’t get any for 18 hours… like a storm with power outage or whatever, and they had a splitting headache no pain meds could touch and had to stay in a dark room all day under covers until they could get more.
the withdrawals alone seem completely unacceptable to me. you can’t tell me that doesn’t accompany psychological dependence and some pretty wild rewiring.
but, before the temperance movement, employers were expected to provide alcohol for workers to get and stay a little in the bag all day, which was considered healthy and normal and all the domestic abuse, rage, and dying young or in accidents and from everything else was just personal moral failure.
when i learned about the traditional alcohol at work thing, my first thought was how analogous it was to caffeine today in terms of being a free chemical provided by the bosses to induce desired behavior.
when i was in my 20s, i was a fiend. its hard not to be, but somewhere in my 30s as part of a personal drug inventory check-in, i went off it and many others. im not some anti-drug weirdo and still dabble occasionally. i expect to play around with weed more again in my retirement/sunset years.
but out of all the commonly used, commercially sold drugs, caffeine is the one where the most people act like i must be a serial killer for not partaking in it as soon as i am on my feet. like my existence offends them.
i have suspicions about the mental cost and lack of critical analysis of pathologies surrounding its heavy, daily use.
One of my teachers in high school was fond of telling every subsequent class about a student that would bring a 6 pack of Mt. Dew with him to school everyday that he would drink throughout the day. They dared him to go without for a day and dude was getting shakey hands etc, not even counting how that much sugar is probably giving you diabetes at 19.
I would smoke even more weed if I could
Why’s this shit gotta grow so slowly
Why don’t studies define what “heavy” or “severe” use actually mean? I know this is a metaanalysis so it’s probably in the bibliography somewhere - but I feel like i often see those terms presented without an actual metric. How is that useful for policy development outside of creating a boogeyman?
How is that useful for policy development outside of creating a boogeyman?
It’s not. It’s just more psuedo-science. There is almost zero real “science” under capitalism. It’s primarily weapons and other exploitative grifts.
Clearly fake because it’s uncool to not do drugs and stuff
at an individual level it would seem justified to educate people at heightened risk of schizophrenia (eg, through having a family history of the disorder, or having experienced psychosis-like symptoms) of the potential additional risk of cannabis exposure.
100% agree with this. I don’t think cannabis should be demonized but it does have serious risks to some people. It should be normalized with proper education and caution.
Heavy use can also be a sign of pain and is often an attempted remedy to such pain. Lets make a society that has better options to treat that pain.
it does have serious
riskscorelations to some people.Stats 101.
Lets make a society that has better options to treat that pain.
In the meantime people should be free to use whatever substances are available, regardless of questionable correlations.
Heavy use can also be a sign of pain and is often an attempted remedy to such pain
And here I get to be schizophrenic without the heavy cannabis use
IIRC theres a lot of research into scizophrenia that is determined to split it into multiple characterized syndromes. We really just dont even have a great idea of how the mind even works. The most interesting thing to me though with regard to this article is that for heavy users who develop cannibinoid hyperemesis syndrome that the best treatment is an antipsychotic called haldol.
I remember reading some really fascinating research about the interplay between our digestive systems and our mental health. There’s so much about the human body we don’t understand yet.
I went looking and found a more recent study.
The Gut–Brain Axis in Schizophrenia: The Implications of the Gut Microbiome and SCFA Production
Having to eat really well or specifically to make your mind happy seems kinda cruel on part of the human body…
I am sure there data set is strong but a 4x increase in a fairly small risk is still fairly small. espesically as a causal link isn’t clear. i would imagine person with tendencies to schizophrenia would be more likely to beep beep lettuce than someone who does not.
I only skimmed the article, but I couldn’t find if it was a lifelong risk of any user or rather those who were already predisposed to psychosis could bring it on with cannabis use. Anyone can trigger psychosis with stimulants like cocaine or methamphetamine.
My questions is, is this a general risk for everyone, or only those with existing risk factors? It talks about use earlier in life making it more likely to trigger negative outcomes, but assuming you are already past the presentation stage of most psychiatric disorders, would it then be safe?
I think there’s an obvious case to be made that developing brains should be shielded from substance use, regardless of it’s safety in adult populations or not.
On a personal note, I swear it calms my brain down. It stops the obsessive thoughts and makes the world softer and less painful.
My questions is, is this a general risk for everyone, or only those with existing risk factors?
It’s neither. It’s just a correlation.
I think there’s an obvious case to be made that developing brains should be shielded from substance use,
It’s not obvious. It’s completely vague, condescending, and oppressive to kids. Literally everything is a “substance”.
why are weed smokers so committed to the “it’s not even bad for you, actually it’s good for you” bit, I never see alcoholics and smokers doing this
Consequences of adolescent drug use
Adolescence is a period of critical development in the brain and body. Developmental changes in the brain lead to adolescents exhibiting heightened impulsiveness, which can lead to risky behaviors that may have long-term consequences [1, 2]. In particular, the use of both licit and illicit substances in adolescence can produce both acute and enduring effects on brain function and behavior. Of great concern is the fact that the prevalence of substance use disorders as an adult is greater if substance use is initiated during adolescence [3], however, other issues can persist into adulthood both related and unrelated to continued use. Alcohol, cannabis, and nicotine are among the most commonly used substances in adolescents, in part due to their availability, perceived lack of risk, and use in social settings [4].
I’m not a buzzkill, the science of how we grow is, sorry.
It used to be like that for me, but I’ve been in various levels of anxious and ruminating for a decade and weed just cranks it up anymore.
One time I took a modest edible and it caused an intense dysphoria in the sense that I wanted to unscrew my brain and roll it across the room to not deal with it anymore. It’s a bit disappointing when psychedelic visuals were once my only real source of inspiration and now I’m entirely sober.
Cool anecdote.
Thanks, I wrote it myself to relate to someone’s personal note.
I’ve known they were out to get me ever since I quit, and this confirms it.
lmao ive got family with shizophrenia and theres zero chance im stopping. its the only thing that helps my ptsd and back pain. it makes me much kinder to myself too and makes it possible for me to exercise regularly which is far more important for longevity. #yolo i’ll let you know if i start collecting and talking to snails like my fam did
Increases risk of cardiac issues pretty significantly too iirc and despite what people say about helping anxiety research so far shows it actually worsens anxiety long term. A function that’s probably similar to benzodiazepines; they certainly help anxiety in an acute sense but repeated long term use, even at therapeutic doses, overall lowers resilience to stressors
It shouldn’t be illegal and the hysteria about over the decades is objectively hugely overblown but for some the reaction to that is to portray it as completely harmless, which is false. Sporadic use is probably mostly harmless tbf, especially if not smoked or vaporized, but in my experience the ones really pushing the “it’s totally fine” narrative are the wake and bake crowd
Increases
risk ofcorrelation with cardiac issues pretty significantly too iircsmh.
what people say
people say lots of stuff.
Sporadic use is probably mostly harmless tbf, especially if not smoked or vaporized
cool opinion.
wake and bake crowd
ad hominems and moralizing are fundamental to good science.
the ones really pushing the
“it’s totally fine”correlation is causation narrative are thewake and bake crowdpeople who profit and those with no understanding of science/stats.ftfy.
exactly this is the reaction, condescension and the “it’s not 100% clear so I’ll ignore it”. To demand completely 100% causal associations and otherwise ignore risk is irresponsible and this is the exact line of reasoning the tobacco industry used for years before causation was finally established. Strong correlative evidence being ignored because it’s inconvenient results in public health risks
on the profit motive: there is equal if not greater profit motive on the side of the legal marijuana industry, which is already overwhelmingly conglomerated, raking in cash, and obviously has a vested interest in perpetuating the narrative that cannabis is a miracle drug with no drawbacks
There is well documented evidence that marijuana use in an acute sense raises heart rate and increases cardiovascular stress. You’re right that there’s not strong evidence of causation but there is increasingly strong evidence that shows links to cardiomyopathy, ischemic stroke, arrhythmias, etc. sometimes significantly higher risk, like 30-40% higher, even when corrected for things like diabetes and obesity
Obviously none of this means use should be criminalized but users should be aware of the consequences of their actions. Or keep putting your head in the sand and pretending there’s no risk at all, it’s all a conspiracy
Tbf, there’s not really a cure/treatment for anxiety anyway. So c’est la vie
i mean, its probably the best drug for chronic pain that doesnt have very severe impacts on liver and kidney function if used nearly every day. sometimes thats worth it even if there are possible drawbacks on cardiac health and psychosis.
i’ve also seen research that the cardiac aspect is mostly due to smoke inhalation and that edibles are less affected. frankly the whole thing needs to be researched much more deeply and not have any ties to weird christian groups. mode of intake and dosage needs to be more scrutinized as well
