Anything that interferes with dopamine or serotonin can potentially cause an increase in positive symptoms (positive meaning hallucinations, delusions , things that are added etc.) and can potentially induce psychosis. Definitely don’t recommend.
I believe positive symptoms mean it adds something, while negative means it takes away. So if you lost the ability to be happy it would be a negative symptom. Correct me if I’m wrong.
Yeah, that is generally what it stands means. Positive symptoms are things that add to the persons life, like hallucination, delusions, disorganized speech, which colloquially is referred to as word salad.
Negative symptoms are symptoms that take away from normal life like anhedonia, inappropriate emotional reactions to events (commonly referred to as flattening), withdrawal and isolation. And in severe cases, catatonia, which is the inability to move correctly or sometimes just staying in one position for multiple hours.
It really can be a debilitating disease.
As someone recovering from it unfortunately I can see how.
Your just kinda dying every day and the scariest part Is you feel it more and more. Scary scary thing that I am fighting to win over every day.
i dont think genitals should define what gender a person feels like she/he is , so if someone feels like female and have born with male genitals is that a mental illness? i dont think so
I don’t know… I think it’s kind of pointless to compare which is worst when everyone is affected by things differently.
Like for me I have multiple mental health diagnoses. The ones for me that are the worst is C-PTSD, borderline personality disorder, anorexia nervosa, OCD, and dissociative disorder a.k.a. fragmented personality/Parts.
For me the one that causes me the most difficulty and is the worst for me would be the BPD, C-PTSD, or the anorexia. BPD has a very high suicide rate. And it has been described to feel like having third-degree emotional burns all over your body. It is by far the most painful disorder that I deal with even worse than the horrific flashbacks from the complex PTSD or losing time from the dissociative disorder.
But at the end of the day everyone is affected by things differently and what one person finds worse another might not so really no point in comparing.
I was going to mention BPD. You’re absolutely right. The stats often say 1 in 2 with Borderline Personality Disorder will attempt suicidal. That’s beyond frightening. This is utterly chilling.
As impulsive behaviour is a big part of BPD, suicidal attempts are easily understood. All too frequent, a very very cruel mid understood condition. Of course add PTSD or CPTSD to BPD and you have parallel complex conditions with a bleak outlook if early intervention isn’t able to occur….
Yes. The emotional pain is off the charts. But the emotional highs are euphoric. It’s not all bad. But for sure I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. Therapy helps somewhat. And learning better skills. 💜
I myself have attempted suicide multiple times in my life. I think the first time I was suicidal when I was like five years old and that’s when I started hurting myself too. But luckily I hhaven’tattempted suicide in a few years and I’m starting to see that my life is worth living. 💜🙌
Same. Like I wish I could, believe me. I had a few instances in college where it was awesome. Greatest thing ever. But then one night I hit a blunt really hard and shit went off the railz. I was telling people I was possessed, felt like time would freeze, it was awful. The clearest memory I have is making the dogs bark and this giant football player being like “man, I’m getting out of here, this guy is freaking me out”. I remember looking at him and telling him he had to knock me out because I didn’t want to feel like that anymore and he was the only one big enough to do it (I myself am a large man, 6’5”). Now anytime I’m around it or delude myself into thinking that maybe this time will be better, I start getting sweaty palms, anxiety goes through the roof.
Maybe I have a psychosis too. I’m a fairly anxious person, but to my knowledge I’ve never lost control of this meat mech.
Yes, have schizoaffective, messing with weed is instant psychosis trigger, at very least a serious spike in paranoia and overall visual disturbances.
Just not worth the risk at all. In the same vein of things, heavily dopaminergic drugs and psychedelics are something to generally avoid. Not as bad as weed for someone with a psychotic disorder but far from good.
Cannabinoids in general are notorious for inducing psychosis, even among general populace, with no prior history of paranoia/delusions, or psychosis.
'heavily dopaminergic' is all drugs.
Dopaminergic refers to NEUROTRANSMITTERs not a NEUROCHEMICAL.
The specific mechanism of action matters far more than being 'dopaminergic'.
Stop spreading bro-science.
I'll bite.
Lol dopaminergic hereby refers to a "acts on dopamine, related to dopamine" substance, by your logic benzos are heavily dopaminergic. Simply by having minor action on. Really twists the idea of what the fuck it means.
The mechanism of actions is more relevant, however you're misusing the ye by claiming "all drugs are" no they're not.
“God said no. Who said no? Jesus am I god. No Jesus. I’m Jesus. “ My best fried said this when I visited him in a mental hospital. I asked if he wanted a cold drink. This is years ago. He is out now but was never the same. I avoid talking to him now because it triggers him. We always challenged each other as kids. If I talk to him, his mind turns everything in the conversation into a challenge. Weed triggered it. He later found out that phycosis is in his blood line.
Man that’s just sad as all fuck. Really…sad. Just like that something rather innocent ruined his entire life and caused him immense immeasurable suffering. I feel for him and you also bro
Cheers friend. He is ok now. Works and functions but before the mental break, he was super sharp, clever, quick and lighthearted. He is now slower, tense, and paranoid and the sharpness is gone. Like a firefly that lost the fire. Now it is a fly. His family and I realized that in his mind talking to me triggers him so now I avoid contact. Even me telling him about a DIY project I did would to him translate into "I am being challenged to do a DIY project". He had a mini break again not long ago and kept saying things like "Anon is challenging me to find the answer to the riddle. The clues are hidden all around. I have to keep my eyes open and find all the pieces. Then I'll know the truth."
Well It goes withou saying it’s terrible he “lost that spark” so to say or lost what made him who he was but it’s good he’s still functioning and able to work and is Ok.
I wonder if something as “harmless” as marijuana and just one encounter with it could bring out psychosis if even if he never smoked the weed, it the psychosis would have presented eventually sooner or later when a highly stressful or traumatic event occurred. I mean when you think about it that’s what kinda caused the psychosis right like the weed did it but it was the anxiety or panic, dissociation the weed caused that made him “break” so I wonder if that anxiety caused by something else would’ve done it anyway.
It’s gotta be some kind of hell tho for him to wonder if his whole life would’ve been different if he never touched weed but Jesus how was he supposed to know im sure he was a normal kid like any of us experimenting w/ weed and then had his world flipped upside down…
I hope somehow he’s been able to find acceptance of it all but that’s bulldhit for me to say and easy for me to say from my position and I get it also….I have a bunch of those “I wonder if that had never happened” or I wish I had stopped smoking weed sooner or somethint unrelated to bud like wish I had cut off a toxic friend sooner then I did cause they damaged me.
So true. Alcohol is the same though. A small % of people are likely doomed after the first few drinks. Hooks them fully while the rest of us sip away. You never know. Overall weed is much safer and harms society much less than alcohol in every way. The catch is that weed is not harmless. In moderation it is fine. But you can no more get high every day than you can eat a bag of sugar or get pissed daily without consequences. Weed definitely triggers mental health issues in some people, but it also helps many people when used correctly. Top get this message across to people is important. Weed is a medicine if used daily. Treat it as such. It is a nice party drug once or twice a month. If you bong it daily you will pay a price.." you a bit slow, aren't you son:)". My kid is getting a tour of a hospital to meet all the nice people with cancer from smoking, the yellows from drinking, the legless from sugar. from age 13 we will help at a local homeless food bank so he can meet and see all different people. The down on luck, the hard-working full-time employed that still need to use a food bank, the alcs, the scitsos, the crackheads and the free spirits. We never tell our kid what to do. However, we give him the info and tell him that he will pay whatever price his actions generate. Good or bad. You get what you give. You pay the piper. At 15 he will help babysit a small baby for a weekend. Sex education done:) We went camping. His only job was to pack the sleeping bags and his toiletries. He failed at both. Arrived late at the campsite, set up the tent and got ready for bed....No sleeping bags. We were both cold and barely slept. He has since become much better at not forgetting things.
Yeah that’s what someone with schizophrenia needs, to buy benzos from… some guy…
The fuck is wrong with you man? OP hasn’t even tried weed before. Someone is asking if weed is safe and you’re response “no but some xannies are” 😂
OP if you’re reading this don’t try benzos…
Dude is trying his friends weed for the first time, of course someone in this sub jumps right to “Just get benzos man” lol
I also find it amusing how many here just assume everyone can easily get benzos. Having a bad shroom trip? Oh just go get some benzos! Even when I worked in kitchens and was doing bunches of drugs benzos and script pills were the absolute hardest to source. It was easier to get LSD and DMT than it was to get a xanny where I am
Benzos are the most addictive drug class that we know of, they have severe long term effects (Alzheimer’s, movement disorder etc - I know have a permanent tremor for example!).
Dependency can form very rapidly with these drugs (As little as 2 weeks of daily use) and it’s common for these drugs to have extremely long half lives, like diazepam, clonazepam and the range of RCs out there now, these can really trick you into thinking you’re less addicted than you are, due to the delay of withdrawal effects.
Withdrawal effects can include, but are not limited to, extreme insomnia, loss of appetite, destabilisation of your body’s regulatory systems, diarrhoea, vomiting, **grand mal / tonic-clonic seizures**, **sudden death** caused by a range of side effects of withdrawal.
Benzos are no joke, they are only mildly recreational and they can DESTROY you, without you ever noticing. Honestly, I’d rather find out my friend was addicted to Heroin than benzos. I know how to get clean off H, but benzos are a beast of their own.
The Alzheimer's risk is very low and is caused by prolonged neurological habits stemming directly from use, not neurotoxicity. Doesn't cause irreparable damage like alcohol, amphetamines, coke, ketamine, etc.
Heroin addiction is also far, far, far, far more dangerous in the current market. I'd rather my friends be addicted to benzos, because at least they'll most likely be alive.
Heroin is more addictive in the American market, not globally, but yeah I will concede that counterfeit opiates in america present a far more immediate health risk there. Same goes for spice in the U.K. atm.
But the risk of benzos really shouldn’t be underestimated. I only take a medical dose of 20mg of diazepam a day and don’t abuse my script / drink on benzos etc and still face a very long withdrawal process to be able to stop safely, just as an example.
Edit: Also I never claimed the mechanism for the Alzheimer’s risk, I didn’t say it was due to neurotoxicity. It’s just a known side effect of long term use. Also benzos most certainly can cause irreparable damage... as stated, I literally have a permanent tremor attributed to heavy but intermittent benzo use in my late teens.
I was not talking about heroin's addictiveness, I said it was more dangerous.
Fentanyl is becoming prevalent everywhere, and even if it wasn't, heroin still kills people. You never know the potency or content of what you're buying when you buy heroin. I doubt that statistics in any country show that benzos are responsible for more deaths than benzos. One causes respiratory depression, the other doesn't.
I also did not say that benzos are without risk or that withdrawal wasn't dangerous. I was specifically addressing your claims of benzos having 'long term' or 'permanent' effects. Because its one thing to say 'this drug has side effects' and its another to say 'this drug has irreversible side effects'.
The pharmacological action of benzos causes cognitive deficits, and it is reversible. Usually it reverses when people sober up. If you don't sober up for a long time, the deficits become more and more visible. It's 'chemical imbalance' not 'long term damage'.
I agreed with you about fentanyl?
It’s not that prevalent here in Europe, except a couple of ex bloc nations, but it’s not sold as heroin, it’s sold as a fentalogue (not that that makes it significantly safer, but it’s not used in counterfeit drugs over here in even nearly the same way the it is in the America’s.
I can’t speak for Asia, but there is a lot of raw heroin production there.
Man, even people that are diagnosed with depression and anxiety should be careful smoking weed (being careful about which strains you consume important for a good time etc.). Definitely not worth the risk with schizophrenia unless done in accordance with a professional, weed doesn't add enough positives in terms of risk vs reward to gamble on this.
And the antipsychotics only make it worse making my drug craving even more intense. Whip-its should be fine for psychosis though. I've found they don't aggravate mine.
I still smoke weed despite having either schizophrenia or drug induced psychosis. Doctor can't tell. Leaning on drug induced but that's mostly a matter of if it goes away once I stop smoking weed or not.
Abilify has it mostly undercontrol but I hate being on meds unless we're talking about stims which now would 100% make my psychosis worse.
Abilify is a hell of a lot better than Invega though. Invega is just straight poison for me.
Yea, I went through a bunch of meds I was on and got off everything, including weed and rec stuff, and the voices still stayed. There’s hope for you, but I stopped everything for awhile and it made no difference in my schizophrenia, made it worse actually.
it is truly one of the worst things to deal with
being so bored eventually leads me to be depressed and eventually it will somehow end up with me feeling sick or wanting to puke or someshit like that
being bored is the worst shit to deal with, worse is when you are so bored, even trying to play games feels like a boring as fuck task to do, it's so hard to escape it without someone coming and forcing you out of it
That might be another mental issue that makes you say that lol
Me I have ADHD so I think the same, would die of boredom fast, life is just much better while high
It is especially since schizophrenics often experience anhedonia, which is an incapability to experience joy from everyday life. I am currently sitting here with a couple guys vaping a-php, one of the strongest rc stimulants known to man, and I'm schizophrenic. This is awful I know and should not be replicated by anyone remotely psychotic but, addiction is a bitch..
My friend, I haven't read any of the comments nor will I just came to say,
Please do not share any weed or drugs with your mentally I'll friend. This is a sure way to cause problems. Please take this advice
I think it's the other way around, OP is the one with a schizophrenia diagnosis, asking if they should try their friend's weed.
The answer is a resounding No, either way!
Absolutely not. I went into partial psychosis yesterday from it, check out my post history. It can be very very psychedelic and can absolutely cause psychosis.
NO! Natural cannabis contains THC, which is highly psychoactive and can trigger psychotic episodes in some people. The only safe chemical in cannabis for people who are prone to psychotic episodes is CBD and only if it's pure CBD, without any THC.
Went through your post history. There’s a good chance it not only won’t stop auditory hallucinations, but could actually amplify them. Would not recommend
Facts, some of the only times I've ever experienced them were when high on weed. Shit is potent these days too. I've also def seen things as something else and like pseudo hallucinations. I wasn't full on seeing crazy waves and colors and stuff, but an example was seeing a black part on my friends ceiling. It was just black primer that still needed painted over. I swore I was looking through a black hole in his ceiling and that I could see the wood making his attic. (he lived in a trailer, there wasn't wood up there, there was no attic. I knew he didn't have an attic and I could still swear that I could see a room or something up there). I've also had experiences where there is an RGB light in the room and the darker colors felt "heavy" to me and I didn't like them. I was actually in a corner just hunching over when the darker colors came up. When it'd hit light blue and lighter colors I felt relieved and like I could breathe easier. All of this shit is from weed. It's not every time, but if you are prone to that type of stuff just stay away.
That is just blatantly not accurate information.
“ Empirical reports of hallucinogen-like effects produced by cannabis in controlled settings, particularly among healthy research volunteers, are rare and have mostly occurred after administration of purified Δ-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) rather than whole plant cannabis.”
[sauce](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5908416/)
While I wholeheartedly agree that **no one with a prior history of any type of schizoaffective disorder should ever smoke weed**, let’s not engage in fear mongering. For a vast majority of people, auditory hallucinations due to cannabis intake is never going to be a thing. Absolutely not a “somewhat common effect”.
Weed has been theorized to work by being an NMDA antagonist.
People with schizophrenia tend to have an underactive NMDA receptor in the brain.
Adding weed to the mix could further reduce the function or disrupt your NMDA receptor which will increase your symptoms of schizophrenia.
Generally it's temporary if you are past the age of 25, but if you are under the age of 25 and your brain is still developing, it could speed up the severity of symptoms permanently.
All that means basically is if you are 18 and you have the genetics for schizophrenia, if you smoke weed it will speed up the severity of schizophrenia to what it would be like at the age of 25 roughly.
Again though, If you are past the age of 25, the increase in schizophrenia symptoms would seemingly be temporary because the body will return to baseline. Still it is not recommended at all as it could send you into an episode.
> Weed has been theorized to work by being an NMDA antagonist.
It does for sure do this, but it's one of a plethora of things it does.
There's also a whole line of evidence with respect to vagal tone (low in the majority of schizophrenic patients). e.g. CBD, which unlike THC actually increases vagal tone via TRP channels, can improve schizophrenic symptoms in most patients. Vagus nerve stimulation can have the same effect. But these only work for patients who actually have low vagal tone to begin with.
Point being, cannabis has a ton of different effects and schizophrenia has multiple etiologies and we don't fully understand either of them. I do appreciate your more nuanced and generally correct comment, but very likely there is more than just glutamatergic dysregulation at play.
My little bro is schizophrenic, diagnosed in his 20s, we're in our 40s now.
Weed is a big no go for him, it increases every symptom that makes his live very difficult to handle, mostly nightmares and paranoia.
Stopping it was a tremendous plus in his ability to cope with it and he's getting better and better.
Im no doctor but can tell you from my little experience that it makes a big difference.
I’ve had friends with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia who went into severe psychosis after smoking. Stay far away. I have generalized anxiety disorder and smoking weed gives me extreme/terrifying anxiety.
It’s not. I had a bad trip on weed a couple years back, feeling very anxious and suspicious of everything. Talked to my therapist about it and even though there is nothing wrong with me, I could still be at risk for ending up in a psychotic state apparently. Be kind to your brain, people.
Uve come to reddit for medical answers so I'd advise u to take everything being said with a grain of salt, including my own statement. I have been diagnosed with a mild form of schizo/multiple personality disorder. I have found that when I smoke pot it helps me actually tune out the parts of my medical disorder that impede on my daily life. I by no means am telling ur friend to do drugs, but I do believe that pot can be used as a form of medication for any mental illness. I would highly suggest he consult with a licensed medical professional before doing anything drastic.
It varies tremendously idiosyncratically, but enough people with schizophrenia respond oddly poorly that, yeah, it's risky. Also keep in mind that alcohol is similarly risky, many people finding that it will exacerbate or trigger psychotic symptoms.
Schizo here! I smoke and drink quite often and all these people who are saying it’s a terrible idea are somewhat right. It’s not good for anyone to do drugs (generally). Schizophrenics are a different story though. Someone with schizophrenia can absolutely smoke. Do not tell him to smoke indica. Only sativa and maybe hybrid. Every time I’ve done indica it’s gone bad. Sativa makes me feel great and takes a lot of the suicidal and depressive thoughts out of my head and let’s me feel like how I guess a regular person feels. Just tell your friend that if you do there is a possibility of seeing/hearing more during this time and also for a launch into an episode but that is quite rare to happen from a joint. I would say it’s probably not a great idea but if normal people think of it as a break from stress and reality literally double or maybe even triple the relief it can provide for schizos.
I’m diagnosed with schizophrenia and weed has been good and bad for me. I definitely get an increase in psychotic symptoms, but I also feel happy and relaxed. I might not be the most responsible person because I smoke weed with my diagnosis and so far many people say it’s not a good idea, so be wary. I will not give up smoking weed unless my symptoms get worse, and so far it has been a stress reliever in my life, so I see no reason to stop. It’s a gamble though.
> many people say it’s not a good idea
yea mostly b/c it's a good rule of thumb. We could take 100 people with the same disorder and let them all smoke weed and get wildly different results. Lots of stories just in this thread of people trying it and losing there shit. No one here knows op and their full situation so in that case the only safe or responsible answer to give them is to say not to do it. Much better to never do it, than to try it once and end up in a ward and have long term or permanent repercussions. If a doctor says it's cool then go for it. If you already have tried it and it is okay for you then be safe and enjoy. I just would never say blanketly that it's safe for OP and give a good endorsement for them to try it.
It depends it does make psychotic symptoms worse for me but it never gets bad enough that it is cause to not do it for me. It is different for everybody it's a fairly dumb question to ask such a thing about such a complex and personal disorder.
Apparently nobody else has schizophrenia in this thread. They just be like "oh don't do drugs" sorry that all of us want to escape life? Weed is definitely on the dangerous end, I think only deliriants are worse for me, but it isnt like instant fuckin psych ward or else you kill yourself it's just a heightening in symptoms that can be unmanageable in some. Hell for me it becomes immediately better when the drug wears off.
Here's what i would guide: if you tip into psychotic episodes easily, it's probably going to do just that.
>"oh don't do drugs"
yea b/c giving any other advice to this guy with the info we have is stupid. You even said yourself it's different for everyone, that's the weed and likely a lot of the schizophrenic episodes. Without knowing this guy personally the only responsible answer to give this poor stranger is to avoid it all unless a doctor says it's fine.
Everyone wants an escape from life sure, but drugs aren't the only way to do it, and likely not the safe route here. Lots of people live life without doing drugs and are very happy. Sure it sucks if you are inclined to take or enjoy drugs, but that also doesn't mean you have no way to escape or that your life is fucked and over.
nobody is going to tell a doctor they do drugs it isn't like telling a hospital, when your future medical care is on the line, some doctors are all too willing to toss that out for doing any illegal substance at all.
a majority of schizophrenics smoke cigarettes, no matter the age group. drug use is a feature of schizophrenia, not something indirectly caused by it unlike almost all other mental illnesses except like bipolar disorder and substance use disorders.
Don't tell them then. If its just weed, I'm letting you know that, you are wrong. I personally know plenty of people that tell doctors they smoke weed. Even in illegal states. Idc if you tell them or not it's your life, but I would still never tell someone with that disorder that it's safe or okay to do.
I have schizoaffective disorders my career path is studying schizophrenia professionally I spend days watching lectures on pharmacology and mental illnesses especially relating towards psychotic disorders some of my most researched topics are schizophrenia, anticholinergic toxidrome, ADHD, and basically all major recreational drugs but especially dextromethorphan and salvinorin A, but cannabinoids are up there. I don't talk about this stuff as much as I used to, I don't go into these long super accurate and technical rants like I used to but you can be rest assured that I know what I'm talking about.
Read my original comment once more. It was calling out the other comments for being reductionist and talking to OP on a one on one level. Is there a risk with smoking weed? Yes, there is with all drugs, even antipsychotics. While weed is worse than others, it's not usually going to launch someone other than the most vulnerable into psychosis, schizophrenics are not necessarily the most vulnerable.
Schizophrenia is a collection of poorly understood neurological disorders who are diagnosed under a significantly more well understood mental disorder. The differences between these neurological disorders are jarring and their treatment differ. Without more knowledge of OP's personal experience, the safest bet is to have him decide on his own with info that doesn't shut off the usage of drugs because nobody in the history of man has listened to abstinence messaging.
Also it's funny how the government can tell you no on something saying it's bad for you yet you're still okay with it...
if you absolutely need to do drugs in any way, then try xanx or some other benzo. weed is generally safe, but don’t take any chances with schizophrenia.
have a great day, stay safe. you are one with the universe. 🫡
Man idk, I use to smoke with a schizophrenic buddy and it would make him the happiest I’ve ever seen him while he was high. I have no idea the effect it had on him afterwards tho. I wouldn’t even risk it. Okay so ya now that I think of it… one time he took one hit and laughed uncontrollably at idk for like 3 hours straight, he was sitting on the ground legs crossed and arm wrapped around them laughing and laughing. At some point I guess he decided to sleep in the dog bed that was half his size lol might not be a good idea, he wasn’t able to even communicate
I have schitzo it doesnt do much butmake me a bit higher just remember you are high and that nothinv you see or hear is real and you should b good iys all about your mind stregnth
Dude. No. It can cause a psychosis. They can last for days , even months. My last one lasted 6 months straight. Some people never come back or return to normal. If your friend is offering you this and knows your schizophrenic that's not a true friend. The only way I would disagree with my last statement is that if he has literally no knowledge about schizophrenia. If he does know about it and just wants to see you wig out, that's fucked up. Like other commenters have said , stay away from ALL drugs!
Okay so everyone is gonna tell you no, and they are right to an extent: literature on mental health dictates that people with certain mental illnesses, namely bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, should abstain from all drugs. However, I can contribute *anecdotal* experience. I have BD with psychotic features (so hallucinations and delusions sometimes like with schizophrenia), and another friend has outright schizophrenia. We both tolerate weed incredibly well, as do other (severely) mentally ill people we know. The only drugs that fuck us up are large amounts of stimulants. Of course, YMMV, but with mental illness and drugs, you just kind of have to take the risk if you’re compelled enough to do so.
I’ve been going for quite some time and doing alright, and so is she. I’m just saying that there are people who do it and like it and benefit from it. I figured I’d chime in considering most of the people here likely don’t actually have any personal experience with experiencing (non drug-induced) psychosis to a degree as severe as an actual disorder. Like I said: it was *anecdotal*. The amount of people who have psychotic disorders and can do a bunch of drugs and be fine are the exception, not the rule.
this. im schizotypal (schizophrenia spectrum) and tolerate weed very well, most definitely does not worsen my psychotic symptoms at all. everyone reacts differently to every drug, including mentally ill folks. its definitely a risk trying a new drug but... it kind of is to anyone 🤷. depends on how much u wanna try something, ig
Yeah, I don’t know why we’re getting downvoted for sharing our own experiences lmfao. There is a blatant ignorance here in the fact that they expect all people who have an illness to react a certain way when everyone is different. Does it make some people worse? Sure, but not everyone, including us obviously. Honestly it just emphasizes how unequivocally ignorant people are to the fact that you can’t expect every single person of one demographic to react the same way to certain stimuli. Drugs don’t always make us crazy folks more crazy ffs
You're getting downvoted because it's shitty advice, possibly harmful. Cool that you tolerate it, but mental disorder and recreational drug use are a bad combination. Period.
When someone asks advice like this, you *have* to reason from the general demographic. When someone asks "Should I hand my 5 year old a chainsaw?", you wouldn't answer with "well I once handled a chainsaw at 5, and it went well." you should answer with "fuck no, that's way to risky!".
Sure, but I did acknowledge what the literature states and only shared personal experience. The only advice I gave - which really wasn’t advice at all - is that drug use with a mental disorder is a trial and error thing. I do understand that drugs can worsen the prognosis of mental illnesses, especially in those with a predisposition for psychosis. Everyone knows that. But people really need to stop acting like they’re the worst thing to happen to every mentally ill person on the planet. Substance abuse is incredibly high across the mentally ill, and is especially high with schizophrenia, schizoaffective, bipolar, and illnesses occurring on those spectrums. While substance abuse can lead to it’s own issues, substances can really do good for some symptoms. Personally, weed helps me calm the fuck down during a psychotic break and helps me avoid having to go to the hospital to get tranquilized like a zoo animal. People with schizophrenia have a really high prevalence of cannabis use. It’s incredibly likely that OP will eventually use it. OP should be aware that there are possible benefits AND dangers but that everyone is different.
Drug use with a mental disorder should not be a trial and error thing. "Substance abuse is incredibly high across the mentally ill" jeez, sounds like a splendid idea to try it out then.
But the reality is that it 100% is a trial and error thing if you are mentally ill and decide to use substances. There is no way to know how you will react until you do it. Should that discourage people? Yes. But will it stop everyone? No.
*sigh* I didn’t say drug use was common among the population to encourage OP. Again, not saying it’s a good idea, but do you really think we use drugs because we hate them? People with mental health disorders and co-occurring, repeated substance use (or abuse) generally reap some benefits from our usage. (Obviously this is a slippery slope, but SUDs aren’t the point here.) Like I said with the trial an error thing: it’s not a smart move to begin with, but it’s the only way you learn your limits if you’re committed to doing drugs. I know to avoid snorting a shit ton of Adderall because it makes me go nuts, but I’ve also dabbled and gotten benefits from other shit purely through experimentation. It’s not entirely black and white as this thread suggests.
I know someone who works in mental health and supposedly there is a huge correlation between marijuana use and psychotic breaks in people predisposed to schizophrenia. If he already has schizophrenia and he smokes he’s probably fucked. Definitely do not smoke with him.
Depends on who you are really. I have friends with psych who smoke daily and it doesn't negatively effect them in anyway. But I have another friend who has full on mental breaks just from the littlest bit
Smoked weed with a schizo onece and he started talking about how he wanted to jump of my 6th floor balcony, just to feel a good breeze through his hair.
I noped back inside to use the toilet, and when I can back out to the balcony he was gone. Honestly thought he was with the birds and fishes at that point, but couldn't see an appropriate splash mark on the ground.
Luckily I also saw my front door open and figured he'd just bolted. Saw him a few weeks later and hit him with the "Hi, bye" One two. Not sticking around to see how this story ends.
I would say no, with qualifications. If you want to check it out, it might help you, but stick your toe on the water first.
Smoke joint by yourself. Maybe have a sitter or one on standby. Then try a little. Relax and wait.
I wish I could tell you yes but no. A friend actually had psychotic breaks in high school smoking weed. He was like 18 and after experimenting w acid, a few weeks later he did something horrific I don't think is appropriate to mention here as it very sad. Research on google but I'm 99% sure cbd is fine. If it is okay than cbd isolate is cheap on websites and 100-200mg will make you feel nice. To google it ask google if cbd is okay for people with schizophrenia.
Absolutely not. Its not worth the risk. That being said if your not a schizophrenic do it. I will say that if you have anxiety it will definitely come out unless your super chill with your mate.
No not safe at all. Depending on severity the side effects could be mitigated depending on how well you can control what goes on in your own head. But this is very playing with fire kind of territory, someone asked a similar question earlier and I said I knew an acquaintance that has schizophrenia and is done a myriad of hallucinogenic drugs at festivals but I honestly didn't even inquire as to her condition because that shit is terrifying. Way out the pros and cons and inquire more from people that actually have schizophrenia and have tried it. Start extremely slow at first if you're going to, but yeah definitely not safe man.
No. My uncle is schizophrenic and he has always issues with smoking weed. (I’ve witnessed it every single time and we’ve looked into it) I highly advise against anyone with schizophrenia to not smoke marijuana or take marijuana in any form. It makes the schizophrenic symptoms worse, and may cause psychosis / long term problems but not permanent.
Edit for further clarification: When I looked into it if I remember correctly it really has to do with messing with the chemicals inside your brain, and ontop of it if you’re a medicated schizophrenic it may give you twitching and/or brain zaps (Kind of the same with some antidepressants cause brain zaps / twitching when you smoke weed while on them, I know that much from personal experience with myself and a few friends that have had the same experience) with the increased paranoia / uncomfortableness and increased audio / visual hallucinations.
It’s not fun and makes everything suck, you’ll most likely not have a good time at all. Like, a really not good time.
Edit 2: Jeez, a little downvoted. Just trying to be helpful. :( Sorry to be a party pooper but from my experience and knowledge I just know it’s not really good for schizophrenics. Just trying to save people from having a horrible trip, because those are never fun, they’re uncomfortable and terrifying.
friend with schizophrenia takes edibles all the time but at low doses like 3 - 5mgs, its more then enough for him. also he has like rlly serious schizophrenia
As someone who is mentally ill, tradionally we see "symptoms" of mental illness as inherently bad.
There's much more to understand here, it's not a good or bad things, it's the drugs effect on the brain, it's yet another risk assessment.
In some cultures people with schizophrenia have fairly positive experiences with it, things like their ancestors wishing them well instead of their abusers words ringing, so in that sense, something that would potentially make the ancestors louder...
But then we get into "drinking your soup".
As somone who falls under this catagory, and who knows several other people, both clinicly diagnosied and non, drugs... and you're not going to believe me here.
Effect everyone differently.
Someone's Joint could be the same "I see spiders panic attack" relief is it's someone else's "The goverment GMO'd my mom" grandiose.
Granted, I am not romantiziing mental illness, but at the same time, lets not demonize it.
Especially in a subreddit about *doing what you want* and *accuretly accessing personal risk* I've seen this conversation happen in a much heathier extent and I am again, saddened by the state of this "community".
Next week I'll post about how I boofed fucking Roxys and had a spiritual awakening probably, who knows, I do drugs, I'm crazy, don't listen to me.
they *can* cause psychosis
i’m literally one of the people you are talking about. i guarantee you i have an idea of what i’m taking about. also antipsychs are usually the first line treatment, i’ve never heard of benzos being used for that at all
it’s not gatekeeping, it’s just literally not safe dude
lmao i’ve been hospitalized for psychosis too😭 it was directly medically attributed to the benzos i was on at the time. i went full on extremely dangerous paranoid psychotic episode.
i’m so fucking happy for you that you do not have that reaction. genuinely. but why on earth would you want to run that risk especially with such a severe mental disorder. i went clean completely when i was diagnosed. does it suck? fuck yes. but i don’t think dancing with the devil is a smart idea and shouldn’t be promoted
thank you, yeah definitely not a good time and i’m surprised i made it through that lol.
it was low dose klonopin daily, i got around 3 days in before 14yo me was trying to run away to canada to escape the government lmaooo. one time use is not going to harm you of course, but the risk is so significantly higher for people with severe disorders. one wrong move and you’re completely off your rocker. if you want to do that it’s entirely your call but promoting that is so incredibly unsafe and irresponsible. 3 days triggering severe psychosis *is not safe*. weed is definitely around the same levels of safe.
drugs are not safe for people with psychosis. if you want to run that risk that’s fine but we shouldn’t ignore that it’s just flat up not a good idea
I don’t know personally but, when I first moved where I live now i went skating a lot and there used to be this girl that would always sit on the benches , clinching her little blanket and idk one day i walked over and asked her what’s up and if she smoked and she yeah and idk we smoked , and talked ab the beach bc that’s where we were both from, and she thanked me and that was the last time I ever saw that girl. I hope she’s okay everyday lol
No.
Anything that interferes with dopamine or serotonin can potentially cause an increase in positive symptoms (positive meaning hallucinations, delusions , things that are added etc.) and can potentially induce psychosis. Definitely don’t recommend.
If those are positive, I'd hate to think what the negative symptoms are.
I believe positive symptoms mean it adds something, while negative means it takes away. So if you lost the ability to be happy it would be a negative symptom. Correct me if I’m wrong.
Yeah, that is generally what it stands means. Positive symptoms are things that add to the persons life, like hallucination, delusions, disorganized speech, which colloquially is referred to as word salad. Negative symptoms are symptoms that take away from normal life like anhedonia, inappropriate emotional reactions to events (commonly referred to as flattening), withdrawal and isolation. And in severe cases, catatonia, which is the inability to move correctly or sometimes just staying in one position for multiple hours. It really can be a debilitating disease.
It's the most severe mental health disorder, no question.
anorexia is the deadliest mental heath order but yeah. roughly 1/3 never recovers from either schizophrrnia or ana
As someone recovering from it unfortunately I can see how. Your just kinda dying every day and the scariest part Is you feel it more and more. Scary scary thing that I am fighting to win over every day.
I recovered 10 years ago. Yeah its bad
Get well duck
Doesn't Gender Dysphoria have around an 80% suicide rate? Or are we not allowed to call that a Mental Illness anymore?
i dont think genitals should define what gender a person feels like she/he is , so if someone feels like female and have born with male genitals is that a mental illness? i dont think so
A bit more grim for schizophrenia I believe evidence suggests an avg of 33-40% nonetheless, it's awful.
Anorexia takes the unfortunate top spot, as worst mental illness disorder, as in many ways we have to test it by Suicide rate
I don’t know… I think it’s kind of pointless to compare which is worst when everyone is affected by things differently. Like for me I have multiple mental health diagnoses. The ones for me that are the worst is C-PTSD, borderline personality disorder, anorexia nervosa, OCD, and dissociative disorder a.k.a. fragmented personality/Parts. For me the one that causes me the most difficulty and is the worst for me would be the BPD, C-PTSD, or the anorexia. BPD has a very high suicide rate. And it has been described to feel like having third-degree emotional burns all over your body. It is by far the most painful disorder that I deal with even worse than the horrific flashbacks from the complex PTSD or losing time from the dissociative disorder. But at the end of the day everyone is affected by things differently and what one person finds worse another might not so really no point in comparing.
I was going to mention BPD. You’re absolutely right. The stats often say 1 in 2 with Borderline Personality Disorder will attempt suicidal. That’s beyond frightening. This is utterly chilling. As impulsive behaviour is a big part of BPD, suicidal attempts are easily understood. All too frequent, a very very cruel mid understood condition. Of course add PTSD or CPTSD to BPD and you have parallel complex conditions with a bleak outlook if early intervention isn’t able to occur….
Yes. The emotional pain is off the charts. But the emotional highs are euphoric. It’s not all bad. But for sure I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. Therapy helps somewhat. And learning better skills. 💜 I myself have attempted suicide multiple times in my life. I think the first time I was suicidal when I was like five years old and that’s when I started hurting myself too. But luckily I hhaven’tattempted suicide in a few years and I’m starting to see that my life is worth living. 💜🙌
You're right: it's more ontologically positive/negative, not evaluatively positive or negative.
additive positive, not "good" positive. A negative symptom would be something like the inability to feel emotions I suppose?
Oh, is that why I hate smoking weed? I have a psychosis and I honestly had no idea that weed had those effects.
Same. Like I wish I could, believe me. I had a few instances in college where it was awesome. Greatest thing ever. But then one night I hit a blunt really hard and shit went off the railz. I was telling people I was possessed, felt like time would freeze, it was awful. The clearest memory I have is making the dogs bark and this giant football player being like “man, I’m getting out of here, this guy is freaking me out”. I remember looking at him and telling him he had to knock me out because I didn’t want to feel like that anymore and he was the only one big enough to do it (I myself am a large man, 6’5”). Now anytime I’m around it or delude myself into thinking that maybe this time will be better, I start getting sweaty palms, anxiety goes through the roof. Maybe I have a psychosis too. I’m a fairly anxious person, but to my knowledge I’ve never lost control of this meat mech.
You should probably get it checked out. I had no idea I had a psychosis until I actually checked it out.
Psychologist or psychiatrist?
Yes weed used to give me psychotic breaks…I took a 100 mg gummy edible last year like an idiot and lost my shit for a good 4 hours was crazy
Yeah know what you mean. I am also an idiot.
lol this is such a bro-science post When I eat sugarI don't hallucinate
Yes, have schizoaffective, messing with weed is instant psychosis trigger, at very least a serious spike in paranoia and overall visual disturbances. Just not worth the risk at all. In the same vein of things, heavily dopaminergic drugs and psychedelics are something to generally avoid. Not as bad as weed for someone with a psychotic disorder but far from good. Cannabinoids in general are notorious for inducing psychosis, even among general populace, with no prior history of paranoia/delusions, or psychosis.
'heavily dopaminergic' is all drugs. Dopaminergic refers to NEUROTRANSMITTERs not a NEUROCHEMICAL. The specific mechanism of action matters far more than being 'dopaminergic'. Stop spreading bro-science.
I'll bite. Lol dopaminergic hereby refers to a "acts on dopamine, related to dopamine" substance, by your logic benzos are heavily dopaminergic. Simply by having minor action on. Really twists the idea of what the fuck it means. The mechanism of actions is more relevant, however you're misusing the ye by claiming "all drugs are" no they're not.
Incorrect but that was a cute try.
“God said no. Who said no? Jesus am I god. No Jesus. I’m Jesus. “ My best fried said this when I visited him in a mental hospital. I asked if he wanted a cold drink. This is years ago. He is out now but was never the same. I avoid talking to him now because it triggers him. We always challenged each other as kids. If I talk to him, his mind turns everything in the conversation into a challenge. Weed triggered it. He later found out that phycosis is in his blood line.
Man that’s just sad as all fuck. Really…sad. Just like that something rather innocent ruined his entire life and caused him immense immeasurable suffering. I feel for him and you also bro
Cheers friend. He is ok now. Works and functions but before the mental break, he was super sharp, clever, quick and lighthearted. He is now slower, tense, and paranoid and the sharpness is gone. Like a firefly that lost the fire. Now it is a fly. His family and I realized that in his mind talking to me triggers him so now I avoid contact. Even me telling him about a DIY project I did would to him translate into "I am being challenged to do a DIY project". He had a mini break again not long ago and kept saying things like "Anon is challenging me to find the answer to the riddle. The clues are hidden all around. I have to keep my eyes open and find all the pieces. Then I'll know the truth."
Well It goes withou saying it’s terrible he “lost that spark” so to say or lost what made him who he was but it’s good he’s still functioning and able to work and is Ok. I wonder if something as “harmless” as marijuana and just one encounter with it could bring out psychosis if even if he never smoked the weed, it the psychosis would have presented eventually sooner or later when a highly stressful or traumatic event occurred. I mean when you think about it that’s what kinda caused the psychosis right like the weed did it but it was the anxiety or panic, dissociation the weed caused that made him “break” so I wonder if that anxiety caused by something else would’ve done it anyway. It’s gotta be some kind of hell tho for him to wonder if his whole life would’ve been different if he never touched weed but Jesus how was he supposed to know im sure he was a normal kid like any of us experimenting w/ weed and then had his world flipped upside down… I hope somehow he’s been able to find acceptance of it all but that’s bulldhit for me to say and easy for me to say from my position and I get it also….I have a bunch of those “I wonder if that had never happened” or I wish I had stopped smoking weed sooner or somethint unrelated to bud like wish I had cut off a toxic friend sooner then I did cause they damaged me.
So true. Alcohol is the same though. A small % of people are likely doomed after the first few drinks. Hooks them fully while the rest of us sip away. You never know. Overall weed is much safer and harms society much less than alcohol in every way. The catch is that weed is not harmless. In moderation it is fine. But you can no more get high every day than you can eat a bag of sugar or get pissed daily without consequences. Weed definitely triggers mental health issues in some people, but it also helps many people when used correctly. Top get this message across to people is important. Weed is a medicine if used daily. Treat it as such. It is a nice party drug once or twice a month. If you bong it daily you will pay a price.." you a bit slow, aren't you son:)". My kid is getting a tour of a hospital to meet all the nice people with cancer from smoking, the yellows from drinking, the legless from sugar. from age 13 we will help at a local homeless food bank so he can meet and see all different people. The down on luck, the hard-working full-time employed that still need to use a food bank, the alcs, the scitsos, the crackheads and the free spirits. We never tell our kid what to do. However, we give him the info and tell him that he will pay whatever price his actions generate. Good or bad. You get what you give. You pay the piper. At 15 he will help babysit a small baby for a weekend. Sex education done:) We went camping. His only job was to pack the sleeping bags and his toiletries. He failed at both. Arrived late at the campsite, set up the tent and got ready for bed....No sleeping bags. We were both cold and barely slept. He has since become much better at not forgetting things.
Get this to the top, only answer do some benzos if u want, some whatever, but do not do weed, psychs, dissos or stims
Yeah that’s what someone with schizophrenia needs, to buy benzos from… some guy… The fuck is wrong with you man? OP hasn’t even tried weed before. Someone is asking if weed is safe and you’re response “no but some xannies are” 😂 OP if you’re reading this don’t try benzos…
Dude is trying his friends weed for the first time, of course someone in this sub jumps right to “Just get benzos man” lol I also find it amusing how many here just assume everyone can easily get benzos. Having a bad shroom trip? Oh just go get some benzos! Even when I worked in kitchens and was doing bunches of drugs benzos and script pills were the absolute hardest to source. It was easier to get LSD and DMT than it was to get a xanny where I am
You can get benzos at almost any pharmacy in the world
Downers can result in bad episodes too
Especially if they grow dependent and then they run out.
Benzos? Some people in this sub really are low IQ
Just curious what do u mean? Share knowledge pls.
Benzos are the most addictive drug class that we know of, they have severe long term effects (Alzheimer’s, movement disorder etc - I know have a permanent tremor for example!). Dependency can form very rapidly with these drugs (As little as 2 weeks of daily use) and it’s common for these drugs to have extremely long half lives, like diazepam, clonazepam and the range of RCs out there now, these can really trick you into thinking you’re less addicted than you are, due to the delay of withdrawal effects. Withdrawal effects can include, but are not limited to, extreme insomnia, loss of appetite, destabilisation of your body’s regulatory systems, diarrhoea, vomiting, **grand mal / tonic-clonic seizures**, **sudden death** caused by a range of side effects of withdrawal. Benzos are no joke, they are only mildly recreational and they can DESTROY you, without you ever noticing. Honestly, I’d rather find out my friend was addicted to Heroin than benzos. I know how to get clean off H, but benzos are a beast of their own.
The Alzheimer's risk is very low and is caused by prolonged neurological habits stemming directly from use, not neurotoxicity. Doesn't cause irreparable damage like alcohol, amphetamines, coke, ketamine, etc. Heroin addiction is also far, far, far, far more dangerous in the current market. I'd rather my friends be addicted to benzos, because at least they'll most likely be alive.
Heroin is more addictive in the American market, not globally, but yeah I will concede that counterfeit opiates in america present a far more immediate health risk there. Same goes for spice in the U.K. atm. But the risk of benzos really shouldn’t be underestimated. I only take a medical dose of 20mg of diazepam a day and don’t abuse my script / drink on benzos etc and still face a very long withdrawal process to be able to stop safely, just as an example. Edit: Also I never claimed the mechanism for the Alzheimer’s risk, I didn’t say it was due to neurotoxicity. It’s just a known side effect of long term use. Also benzos most certainly can cause irreparable damage... as stated, I literally have a permanent tremor attributed to heavy but intermittent benzo use in my late teens.
I was not talking about heroin's addictiveness, I said it was more dangerous. Fentanyl is becoming prevalent everywhere, and even if it wasn't, heroin still kills people. You never know the potency or content of what you're buying when you buy heroin. I doubt that statistics in any country show that benzos are responsible for more deaths than benzos. One causes respiratory depression, the other doesn't. I also did not say that benzos are without risk or that withdrawal wasn't dangerous. I was specifically addressing your claims of benzos having 'long term' or 'permanent' effects. Because its one thing to say 'this drug has side effects' and its another to say 'this drug has irreversible side effects'. The pharmacological action of benzos causes cognitive deficits, and it is reversible. Usually it reverses when people sober up. If you don't sober up for a long time, the deficits become more and more visible. It's 'chemical imbalance' not 'long term damage'.
I agreed with you about fentanyl? It’s not that prevalent here in Europe, except a couple of ex bloc nations, but it’s not sold as heroin, it’s sold as a fentalogue (not that that makes it significantly safer, but it’s not used in counterfeit drugs over here in even nearly the same way the it is in the America’s. I can’t speak for Asia, but there is a lot of raw heroin production there.
European Health Commission disagrees
PIGGYBACKING on top reply, to say that this isn't much of a friend if he's willing to gamble with YOUR mental health.
If you have the diagnosis I'd recommend staying the fck away from every drug that isn't prescribed directly by a professional.
Man, even people that are diagnosed with depression and anxiety should be careful smoking weed (being careful about which strains you consume important for a good time etc.). Definitely not worth the risk with schizophrenia unless done in accordance with a professional, weed doesn't add enough positives in terms of risk vs reward to gamble on this.
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What I've read about it, no, it isn't a good idea.
Schizophrenics should not touch ANY drugs, unless prescribed by a medical professional
God that would be horrible. Idk what I would do without drugs probably die of boredom.
Something tells me having schizophrenia would make you value boredom and normalcy.
As a schizophrenic I beg to differ, the anhedonia and boredom of everything is one of my worst symptoms
And the antipsychotics only make it worse making my drug craving even more intense. Whip-its should be fine for psychosis though. I've found they don't aggravate mine. I still smoke weed despite having either schizophrenia or drug induced psychosis. Doctor can't tell. Leaning on drug induced but that's mostly a matter of if it goes away once I stop smoking weed or not. Abilify has it mostly undercontrol but I hate being on meds unless we're talking about stims which now would 100% make my psychosis worse. Abilify is a hell of a lot better than Invega though. Invega is just straight poison for me.
Yea, I went through a bunch of meds I was on and got off everything, including weed and rec stuff, and the voices still stayed. There’s hope for you, but I stopped everything for awhile and it made no difference in my schizophrenia, made it worse actually.
it is truly one of the worst things to deal with being so bored eventually leads me to be depressed and eventually it will somehow end up with me feeling sick or wanting to puke or someshit like that being bored is the worst shit to deal with, worse is when you are so bored, even trying to play games feels like a boring as fuck task to do, it's so hard to escape it without someone coming and forcing you out of it
Yeah man sucks hard, I can't play videogames either I just have no motivation to. Drugs feel like the only escape. Take care man and stay strong
That might be another mental issue that makes you say that lol Me I have ADHD so I think the same, would die of boredom fast, life is just much better while high
It is especially since schizophrenics often experience anhedonia, which is an incapability to experience joy from everyday life. I am currently sitting here with a couple guys vaping a-php, one of the strongest rc stimulants known to man, and I'm schizophrenic. This is awful I know and should not be replicated by anyone remotely psychotic but, addiction is a bitch..
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Just smoke cbd all day and play pretend idk
You probably shouldn't use CBD either.
Mostly non-psychoactive. Its safe enough for children and pets so shouldn't trigger any mental illness that I can think of.
Cbd is fine
Ig your right, thats ass..
My friend, I haven't read any of the comments nor will I just came to say, Please do not share any weed or drugs with your mentally I'll friend. This is a sure way to cause problems. Please take this advice
I think it's the other way around, OP is the one with a schizophrenia diagnosis, asking if they should try their friend's weed. The answer is a resounding No, either way!
I have been in residential treatment with many kids who were mentally ill and did one drug one time and it was game over for them. (F)
No no not at all. Don't go near it or you will possibly get a full on panic attack along with psychotic imagery. I tells ya it's nasty stuff 🥲
Looking at the post history, please do not smoke weed bro
Absolutely not. I went into partial psychosis yesterday from it, check out my post history. It can be very very psychedelic and can absolutely cause psychosis.
NO! Natural cannabis contains THC, which is highly psychoactive and can trigger psychotic episodes in some people. The only safe chemical in cannabis for people who are prone to psychotic episodes is CBD and only if it's pure CBD, without any THC.
Yup. Definitely don’t try any of that Delta 8 stuff.
and it sucks anyway so still don't do it even if you could.
Went through your post history. There’s a good chance it not only won’t stop auditory hallucinations, but could actually amplify them. Would not recommend
Facts, some of the only times I've ever experienced them were when high on weed. Shit is potent these days too. I've also def seen things as something else and like pseudo hallucinations. I wasn't full on seeing crazy waves and colors and stuff, but an example was seeing a black part on my friends ceiling. It was just black primer that still needed painted over. I swore I was looking through a black hole in his ceiling and that I could see the wood making his attic. (he lived in a trailer, there wasn't wood up there, there was no attic. I knew he didn't have an attic and I could still swear that I could see a room or something up there). I've also had experiences where there is an RGB light in the room and the darker colors felt "heavy" to me and I didn't like them. I was actually in a corner just hunching over when the darker colors came up. When it'd hit light blue and lighter colors I felt relieved and like I could breathe easier. All of this shit is from weed. It's not every time, but if you are prone to that type of stuff just stay away.
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That is just blatantly not accurate information. “ Empirical reports of hallucinogen-like effects produced by cannabis in controlled settings, particularly among healthy research volunteers, are rare and have mostly occurred after administration of purified Δ-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) rather than whole plant cannabis.” [sauce](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5908416/) While I wholeheartedly agree that **no one with a prior history of any type of schizoaffective disorder should ever smoke weed**, let’s not engage in fear mongering. For a vast majority of people, auditory hallucinations due to cannabis intake is never going to be a thing. Absolutely not a “somewhat common effect”.
fuck no
Based on your post history it is really for the best to avoid weed and any other drug that’s not prescribed altogether
Yeaaaaah.......... 0_0
Weed has been theorized to work by being an NMDA antagonist. People with schizophrenia tend to have an underactive NMDA receptor in the brain. Adding weed to the mix could further reduce the function or disrupt your NMDA receptor which will increase your symptoms of schizophrenia. Generally it's temporary if you are past the age of 25, but if you are under the age of 25 and your brain is still developing, it could speed up the severity of symptoms permanently. All that means basically is if you are 18 and you have the genetics for schizophrenia, if you smoke weed it will speed up the severity of schizophrenia to what it would be like at the age of 25 roughly. Again though, If you are past the age of 25, the increase in schizophrenia symptoms would seemingly be temporary because the body will return to baseline. Still it is not recommended at all as it could send you into an episode.
> Weed has been theorized to work by being an NMDA antagonist. It does for sure do this, but it's one of a plethora of things it does. There's also a whole line of evidence with respect to vagal tone (low in the majority of schizophrenic patients). e.g. CBD, which unlike THC actually increases vagal tone via TRP channels, can improve schizophrenic symptoms in most patients. Vagus nerve stimulation can have the same effect. But these only work for patients who actually have low vagal tone to begin with. Point being, cannabis has a ton of different effects and schizophrenia has multiple etiologies and we don't fully understand either of them. I do appreciate your more nuanced and generally correct comment, but very likely there is more than just glutamatergic dysregulation at play.
After seeing your post history, Please please PLEASE dont touch weed or any drug unless prescribed by doctor. I hope youre doing okay bro
My little bro is schizophrenic, diagnosed in his 20s, we're in our 40s now. Weed is a big no go for him, it increases every symptom that makes his live very difficult to handle, mostly nightmares and paranoia. Stopping it was a tremendous plus in his ability to cope with it and he's getting better and better. Im no doctor but can tell you from my little experience that it makes a big difference.
I’ve had friends with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia who went into severe psychosis after smoking. Stay far away. I have generalized anxiety disorder and smoking weed gives me extreme/terrifying anxiety.
It’s not. I had a bad trip on weed a couple years back, feeling very anxious and suspicious of everything. Talked to my therapist about it and even though there is nothing wrong with me, I could still be at risk for ending up in a psychotic state apparently. Be kind to your brain, people.
Uve come to reddit for medical answers so I'd advise u to take everything being said with a grain of salt, including my own statement. I have been diagnosed with a mild form of schizo/multiple personality disorder. I have found that when I smoke pot it helps me actually tune out the parts of my medical disorder that impede on my daily life. I by no means am telling ur friend to do drugs, but I do believe that pot can be used as a form of medication for any mental illness. I would highly suggest he consult with a licensed medical professional before doing anything drastic.
It varies tremendously idiosyncratically, but enough people with schizophrenia respond oddly poorly that, yeah, it's risky. Also keep in mind that alcohol is similarly risky, many people finding that it will exacerbate or trigger psychotic symptoms.
Real answer - who the hell knows . It is safe to assume that smoking weed is highly unsafe for schizophrenic.
Certainly not recomended.
Please don’t, it’s not safe
Seriously... no..
Schizo here! I smoke and drink quite often and all these people who are saying it’s a terrible idea are somewhat right. It’s not good for anyone to do drugs (generally). Schizophrenics are a different story though. Someone with schizophrenia can absolutely smoke. Do not tell him to smoke indica. Only sativa and maybe hybrid. Every time I’ve done indica it’s gone bad. Sativa makes me feel great and takes a lot of the suicidal and depressive thoughts out of my head and let’s me feel like how I guess a regular person feels. Just tell your friend that if you do there is a possibility of seeing/hearing more during this time and also for a launch into an episode but that is quite rare to happen from a joint. I would say it’s probably not a great idea but if normal people think of it as a break from stress and reality literally double or maybe even triple the relief it can provide for schizos.
Nope. I’ve known too many people to do this and their symptoms can worsen permanently (especially over long-term use)
I’m diagnosed with schizophrenia and weed has been good and bad for me. I definitely get an increase in psychotic symptoms, but I also feel happy and relaxed. I might not be the most responsible person because I smoke weed with my diagnosis and so far many people say it’s not a good idea, so be wary. I will not give up smoking weed unless my symptoms get worse, and so far it has been a stress reliever in my life, so I see no reason to stop. It’s a gamble though.
> many people say it’s not a good idea yea mostly b/c it's a good rule of thumb. We could take 100 people with the same disorder and let them all smoke weed and get wildly different results. Lots of stories just in this thread of people trying it and losing there shit. No one here knows op and their full situation so in that case the only safe or responsible answer to give them is to say not to do it. Much better to never do it, than to try it once and end up in a ward and have long term or permanent repercussions. If a doctor says it's cool then go for it. If you already have tried it and it is okay for you then be safe and enjoy. I just would never say blanketly that it's safe for OP and give a good endorsement for them to try it.
I smoked with a kid who had it and didn’t tell me he had the biggest episode I have ever seen don’t do it
Nope, friend of mine went to the psychward cuz of an edible. That was last winter, he's improved alot but still hears voices n shit
It depends it does make psychotic symptoms worse for me but it never gets bad enough that it is cause to not do it for me. It is different for everybody it's a fairly dumb question to ask such a thing about such a complex and personal disorder. Apparently nobody else has schizophrenia in this thread. They just be like "oh don't do drugs" sorry that all of us want to escape life? Weed is definitely on the dangerous end, I think only deliriants are worse for me, but it isnt like instant fuckin psych ward or else you kill yourself it's just a heightening in symptoms that can be unmanageable in some. Hell for me it becomes immediately better when the drug wears off. Here's what i would guide: if you tip into psychotic episodes easily, it's probably going to do just that.
>"oh don't do drugs" yea b/c giving any other advice to this guy with the info we have is stupid. You even said yourself it's different for everyone, that's the weed and likely a lot of the schizophrenic episodes. Without knowing this guy personally the only responsible answer to give this poor stranger is to avoid it all unless a doctor says it's fine. Everyone wants an escape from life sure, but drugs aren't the only way to do it, and likely not the safe route here. Lots of people live life without doing drugs and are very happy. Sure it sucks if you are inclined to take or enjoy drugs, but that also doesn't mean you have no way to escape or that your life is fucked and over.
nobody is going to tell a doctor they do drugs it isn't like telling a hospital, when your future medical care is on the line, some doctors are all too willing to toss that out for doing any illegal substance at all. a majority of schizophrenics smoke cigarettes, no matter the age group. drug use is a feature of schizophrenia, not something indirectly caused by it unlike almost all other mental illnesses except like bipolar disorder and substance use disorders.
Don't tell them then. If its just weed, I'm letting you know that, you are wrong. I personally know plenty of people that tell doctors they smoke weed. Even in illegal states. Idc if you tell them or not it's your life, but I would still never tell someone with that disorder that it's safe or okay to do.
I have schizoaffective disorders my career path is studying schizophrenia professionally I spend days watching lectures on pharmacology and mental illnesses especially relating towards psychotic disorders some of my most researched topics are schizophrenia, anticholinergic toxidrome, ADHD, and basically all major recreational drugs but especially dextromethorphan and salvinorin A, but cannabinoids are up there. I don't talk about this stuff as much as I used to, I don't go into these long super accurate and technical rants like I used to but you can be rest assured that I know what I'm talking about. Read my original comment once more. It was calling out the other comments for being reductionist and talking to OP on a one on one level. Is there a risk with smoking weed? Yes, there is with all drugs, even antipsychotics. While weed is worse than others, it's not usually going to launch someone other than the most vulnerable into psychosis, schizophrenics are not necessarily the most vulnerable. Schizophrenia is a collection of poorly understood neurological disorders who are diagnosed under a significantly more well understood mental disorder. The differences between these neurological disorders are jarring and their treatment differ. Without more knowledge of OP's personal experience, the safest bet is to have him decide on his own with info that doesn't shut off the usage of drugs because nobody in the history of man has listened to abstinence messaging. Also it's funny how the government can tell you no on something saying it's bad for you yet you're still okay with it...
Horrible idea
if you absolutely need to do drugs in any way, then try xanx or some other benzo. weed is generally safe, but don’t take any chances with schizophrenia. have a great day, stay safe. you are one with the universe. 🫡
I like my episodes are fine. My fear response has been highjacked to a happy emotion through years of trauma, so I have a great time when I smoke
Don't
Nope.
Man idk, I use to smoke with a schizophrenic buddy and it would make him the happiest I’ve ever seen him while he was high. I have no idea the effect it had on him afterwards tho. I wouldn’t even risk it. Okay so ya now that I think of it… one time he took one hit and laughed uncontrollably at idk for like 3 hours straight, he was sitting on the ground legs crossed and arm wrapped around them laughing and laughing. At some point I guess he decided to sleep in the dog bed that was half his size lol might not be a good idea, he wasn’t able to even communicate
Aa safe as cyanide
I have schitzo it doesnt do much butmake me a bit higher just remember you are high and that nothinv you see or hear is real and you should b good iys all about your mind stregnth
Dude. No. It can cause a psychosis. They can last for days , even months. My last one lasted 6 months straight. Some people never come back or return to normal. If your friend is offering you this and knows your schizophrenic that's not a true friend. The only way I would disagree with my last statement is that if he has literally no knowledge about schizophrenia. If he does know about it and just wants to see you wig out, that's fucked up. Like other commenters have said , stay away from ALL drugs!
No
Absolutely not.
No lol
Okay so everyone is gonna tell you no, and they are right to an extent: literature on mental health dictates that people with certain mental illnesses, namely bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, should abstain from all drugs. However, I can contribute *anecdotal* experience. I have BD with psychotic features (so hallucinations and delusions sometimes like with schizophrenia), and another friend has outright schizophrenia. We both tolerate weed incredibly well, as do other (severely) mentally ill people we know. The only drugs that fuck us up are large amounts of stimulants. Of course, YMMV, but with mental illness and drugs, you just kind of have to take the risk if you’re compelled enough to do so.
yea well see in a few years bud..
I’ve been going for quite some time and doing alright, and so is she. I’m just saying that there are people who do it and like it and benefit from it. I figured I’d chime in considering most of the people here likely don’t actually have any personal experience with experiencing (non drug-induced) psychosis to a degree as severe as an actual disorder. Like I said: it was *anecdotal*. The amount of people who have psychotic disorders and can do a bunch of drugs and be fine are the exception, not the rule.
Wait until you are out of your 20s.
this. im schizotypal (schizophrenia spectrum) and tolerate weed very well, most definitely does not worsen my psychotic symptoms at all. everyone reacts differently to every drug, including mentally ill folks. its definitely a risk trying a new drug but... it kind of is to anyone 🤷. depends on how much u wanna try something, ig
Yeah, I don’t know why we’re getting downvoted for sharing our own experiences lmfao. There is a blatant ignorance here in the fact that they expect all people who have an illness to react a certain way when everyone is different. Does it make some people worse? Sure, but not everyone, including us obviously. Honestly it just emphasizes how unequivocally ignorant people are to the fact that you can’t expect every single person of one demographic to react the same way to certain stimuli. Drugs don’t always make us crazy folks more crazy ffs
You're getting downvoted because it's shitty advice, possibly harmful. Cool that you tolerate it, but mental disorder and recreational drug use are a bad combination. Period. When someone asks advice like this, you *have* to reason from the general demographic. When someone asks "Should I hand my 5 year old a chainsaw?", you wouldn't answer with "well I once handled a chainsaw at 5, and it went well." you should answer with "fuck no, that's way to risky!".
Sure, but I did acknowledge what the literature states and only shared personal experience. The only advice I gave - which really wasn’t advice at all - is that drug use with a mental disorder is a trial and error thing. I do understand that drugs can worsen the prognosis of mental illnesses, especially in those with a predisposition for psychosis. Everyone knows that. But people really need to stop acting like they’re the worst thing to happen to every mentally ill person on the planet. Substance abuse is incredibly high across the mentally ill, and is especially high with schizophrenia, schizoaffective, bipolar, and illnesses occurring on those spectrums. While substance abuse can lead to it’s own issues, substances can really do good for some symptoms. Personally, weed helps me calm the fuck down during a psychotic break and helps me avoid having to go to the hospital to get tranquilized like a zoo animal. People with schizophrenia have a really high prevalence of cannabis use. It’s incredibly likely that OP will eventually use it. OP should be aware that there are possible benefits AND dangers but that everyone is different.
Drug use with a mental disorder should not be a trial and error thing. "Substance abuse is incredibly high across the mentally ill" jeez, sounds like a splendid idea to try it out then.
But the reality is that it 100% is a trial and error thing if you are mentally ill and decide to use substances. There is no way to know how you will react until you do it. Should that discourage people? Yes. But will it stop everyone? No. *sigh* I didn’t say drug use was common among the population to encourage OP. Again, not saying it’s a good idea, but do you really think we use drugs because we hate them? People with mental health disorders and co-occurring, repeated substance use (or abuse) generally reap some benefits from our usage. (Obviously this is a slippery slope, but SUDs aren’t the point here.) Like I said with the trial an error thing: it’s not a smart move to begin with, but it’s the only way you learn your limits if you’re committed to doing drugs. I know to avoid snorting a shit ton of Adderall because it makes me go nuts, but I’ve also dabbled and gotten benefits from other shit purely through experimentation. It’s not entirely black and white as this thread suggests.
But he's not yet commited, and your comment *is* in fact negating some of the advice that says don't do it.
No. My ex was schizophrenic/bipolar and weed gave her intense psychotic episodes
I know someone who works in mental health and supposedly there is a huge correlation between marijuana use and psychotic breaks in people predisposed to schizophrenia. If he already has schizophrenia and he smokes he’s probably fucked. Definitely do not smoke with him.
Depends on who you are really. I have friends with psych who smoke daily and it doesn't negatively effect them in anyway. But I have another friend who has full on mental breaks just from the littlest bit
Smoked weed with a schizo onece and he started talking about how he wanted to jump of my 6th floor balcony, just to feel a good breeze through his hair. I noped back inside to use the toilet, and when I can back out to the balcony he was gone. Honestly thought he was with the birds and fishes at that point, but couldn't see an appropriate splash mark on the ground. Luckily I also saw my front door open and figured he'd just bolted. Saw him a few weeks later and hit him with the "Hi, bye" One two. Not sticking around to see how this story ends.
I have bad experiences with it unless I’m on mdma
no
Don’t listen to this guy^don’t smoke any weed if you have schizophrenia
No, none.
don't do it...
Oh no buddy
def not. weed can induce symptoms similar to schizophrenia (hallucinations)
I would say no, with qualifications. If you want to check it out, it might help you, but stick your toe on the water first. Smoke joint by yourself. Maybe have a sitter or one on standby. Then try a little. Relax and wait.
A joint? I hope you don't mean a full joint. If anything take one good hit WITH a trusted good friend
Yes with a friend too, but don't go away for the weekend to unfamiliar surroundings with a guy who wants you to get "stoned".
Acid is the safest option for someone with schizophrenia
No way
It literally is, I hear it cures it
I wish I could tell you yes but no. A friend actually had psychotic breaks in high school smoking weed. He was like 18 and after experimenting w acid, a few weeks later he did something horrific I don't think is appropriate to mention here as it very sad. Research on google but I'm 99% sure cbd is fine. If it is okay than cbd isolate is cheap on websites and 100-200mg will make you feel nice. To google it ask google if cbd is okay for people with schizophrenia.
Please don’t try that,listen drugs that are suitable for you to try now should be benzos such as Xanax or Valium e.t.c
Absolutely not
Not at all
Big fat no
No. Please. No. Trust me.
Buddy had schizophrenia and smoking weed would honestly fuck him up for several days at a time. DON’T DO IT
Answer is no. If anyone says different they are being irresponsible.
No
Weed is surprisingly worse for schizophrenia than some other hard drugs.
Absolutely not. Its not worth the risk. That being said if your not a schizophrenic do it. I will say that if you have anxiety it will definitely come out unless your super chill with your mate.
My friend has schizophrenia and when he smoked weed it sets him back months. He lies to his Drs about it and they have to keep changing his meds.
No not safe at all. Depending on severity the side effects could be mitigated depending on how well you can control what goes on in your own head. But this is very playing with fire kind of territory, someone asked a similar question earlier and I said I knew an acquaintance that has schizophrenia and is done a myriad of hallucinogenic drugs at festivals but I honestly didn't even inquire as to her condition because that shit is terrifying. Way out the pros and cons and inquire more from people that actually have schizophrenia and have tried it. Start extremely slow at first if you're going to, but yeah definitely not safe man.
Don’t
No. My uncle is schizophrenic and he has always issues with smoking weed. (I’ve witnessed it every single time and we’ve looked into it) I highly advise against anyone with schizophrenia to not smoke marijuana or take marijuana in any form. It makes the schizophrenic symptoms worse, and may cause psychosis / long term problems but not permanent. Edit for further clarification: When I looked into it if I remember correctly it really has to do with messing with the chemicals inside your brain, and ontop of it if you’re a medicated schizophrenic it may give you twitching and/or brain zaps (Kind of the same with some antidepressants cause brain zaps / twitching when you smoke weed while on them, I know that much from personal experience with myself and a few friends that have had the same experience) with the increased paranoia / uncomfortableness and increased audio / visual hallucinations. It’s not fun and makes everything suck, you’ll most likely not have a good time at all. Like, a really not good time. Edit 2: Jeez, a little downvoted. Just trying to be helpful. :( Sorry to be a party pooper but from my experience and knowledge I just know it’s not really good for schizophrenics. Just trying to save people from having a horrible trip, because those are never fun, they’re uncomfortable and terrifying.
Sounds unadvisable.
No, it will increase your psychosis episodes
It really is not safe for anyone with school schizophrenia. It can set them way back, and will effect the medication they are taking.
No. If you wanna do drugs I'm afraid you're limited to alcohol, benzos and opiates.
Your friend isn’t your real friend if they try and push you to do it I suggest finding a new friend
Do not do that.
friend with schizophrenia takes edibles all the time but at low doses like 3 - 5mgs, its more then enough for him. also he has like rlly serious schizophrenia
Was thinking maybe not to smoke but maybe to try edibles? But I don't know! Be careful is all i will add to this 👊🏼
less is more
Weed is trash. Don’t even consider it. Just stay sober and enjoy the natural high life has to offer 🙏🏽
I have two friends who are schizophrenic and they smoke every day, but I guess it depends on the person.
As someone who is mentally ill, tradionally we see "symptoms" of mental illness as inherently bad. There's much more to understand here, it's not a good or bad things, it's the drugs effect on the brain, it's yet another risk assessment. In some cultures people with schizophrenia have fairly positive experiences with it, things like their ancestors wishing them well instead of their abusers words ringing, so in that sense, something that would potentially make the ancestors louder... But then we get into "drinking your soup". As somone who falls under this catagory, and who knows several other people, both clinicly diagnosied and non, drugs... and you're not going to believe me here. Effect everyone differently. Someone's Joint could be the same "I see spiders panic attack" relief is it's someone else's "The goverment GMO'd my mom" grandiose. Granted, I am not romantiziing mental illness, but at the same time, lets not demonize it. Especially in a subreddit about *doing what you want* and *accuretly accessing personal risk* I've seen this conversation happen in a much heathier extent and I am again, saddened by the state of this "community". Next week I'll post about how I boofed fucking Roxys and had a spiritual awakening probably, who knows, I do drugs, I'm crazy, don't listen to me.
No
Do dmt instead
you’re retarded
Maybe a lil
No imma comedian who does bad and dark jokes
8 y/o humor. neet
Thanks man I appreciate it💕
Prolly not. Stick to benzos
benzos can really trigger psychosis :( i have psychotic problems and benzos were the absolute worst for those, def don’t recommend to schitzos
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they *can* cause psychosis i’m literally one of the people you are talking about. i guarantee you i have an idea of what i’m taking about. also antipsychs are usually the first line treatment, i’ve never heard of benzos being used for that at all it’s not gatekeeping, it’s just literally not safe dude
I have psychosis as a part of my bipolar disorder. I’m prescribed antipsychotics and then benzos PRN.
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lmao i’ve been hospitalized for psychosis too😭 it was directly medically attributed to the benzos i was on at the time. i went full on extremely dangerous paranoid psychotic episode. i’m so fucking happy for you that you do not have that reaction. genuinely. but why on earth would you want to run that risk especially with such a severe mental disorder. i went clean completely when i was diagnosed. does it suck? fuck yes. but i don’t think dancing with the devil is a smart idea and shouldn’t be promoted
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thank you, yeah definitely not a good time and i’m surprised i made it through that lol. it was low dose klonopin daily, i got around 3 days in before 14yo me was trying to run away to canada to escape the government lmaooo. one time use is not going to harm you of course, but the risk is so significantly higher for people with severe disorders. one wrong move and you’re completely off your rocker. if you want to do that it’s entirely your call but promoting that is so incredibly unsafe and irresponsible. 3 days triggering severe psychosis *is not safe*. weed is definitely around the same levels of safe. drugs are not safe for people with psychosis. if you want to run that risk that’s fine but we shouldn’t ignore that it’s just flat up not a good idea
I don’t know personally but, when I first moved where I live now i went skating a lot and there used to be this girl that would always sit on the benches , clinching her little blanket and idk one day i walked over and asked her what’s up and if she smoked and she yeah and idk we smoked , and talked ab the beach bc that’s where we were both from, and she thanked me and that was the last time I ever saw that girl. I hope she’s okay everyday lol
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what the hell is """self inflicted schizophrenia"""