I've had students that fit that description, right down to the football type gear some of us had to wear while working one on one. The day I was bit, on top of my hand (that left a bruise for weeks) was when my typically calm and peaceful autistic student was placed on Risperdal. It was after the change in moods (to aggressive and restless)that bite happened and the mother told me he had been recently placed on risperdal. It was sad to see this happen to a 10 year old, and that was before it was approved for use in kids back in 2005.

I've never heard of anyone using pot, but I have been under the magnifying glass from schools about behavior control when my daughter was raging on psych meds. Schools DEMAND parents DO something to control their kids at school and often won't let the child return if they are not. Even in special ed! The pressure on parents is ridiculous and always psych med use pressure by schools. IF the child IS on meds and they have a bad day, parents get called and asked (undignified)if they forgot to give their child the meds. I got those calls, and it was the meds doing it to my kid. (and yes she was on the meds, maybe they should think about THAT.)

It's odd but even the worst, and generally considerable not credible, accusation against marijuana, i.e. that it can cause psychosis, even if true would occur at a much, much lower rate than the legal drugs used for any of these "conditions."

I am a therapist at a school and have witnessed many teens self-medicating various conditions with marijuana. One of my students, who is on the autistic sprectrum, found marijuana to be very soothing for her anxiety. She unfortunately was caught, arrested and is now on probation. Her level of functioning deteriorated very quickly resulting in her psychiatrist prescribing various antidepressants and antipsychotics. She refused to take them after suffering major side effects and has since turned to supplements she found through reading online medical journals. She has unfortunately dropped out of school. I continue to be under heavy pressure to refer kids to psychiatrists when they present with mood or behavior issues. It is well known within the administration that many teens who are given antipsychotics gain a lot of weight, sleep many hours a day and usually cannot attend school. In the past few years this has created an ethical dilemma for me due to the increase in antipsychotic prescriptions given to teens, in addition to the commonly prescribed antidepressants. I am so thankful for this site and others like it that are bringing awareness to this very important issue.

I hate to be an "n=1", but... I've been using marijuana in conjunction with my prescribed meds for years - with the knowledge and support of my family and health care team. Of course, there are all the usual caveats that what works for me may not work for others, etc., etc. and I happen to work in research so I'm very well versed in neuro/ psychopharmacology.

I'm currently diagnosed as Bipolar Type 2 - which I think is accurate, but I've had multiple anxiety / depression diagnoses for the past ten years, since I was 25. I've been on and off zoloft, wellbutrin, celexa and now take cymbalta, lamictal and seroquel. The main benefit of the MJ is to counteract the side effects I experience on the meds, such as loss of libido, insomnia, loss of appetite, etc. Also, in my case, it evens out the swings as I find it helpful when I'm anxious (mellows me out, quiets the monologue in my head) or depressed (helps me find perspective, stops the "awful-lizing", allows me space to relax or enjoy life).

The reason my family (who is anti-pysch / anti-med) supports me smoking pot is that, through bad experiences, I have discovered smoking is less destructive than drinking alcohol excessively. For the first six years of my troubles, I drank daily. I would use the alcohol and the hangovers in an attempt to correct the mania, which I absolutely loathe. I would also devour any sleeping pill or pain killer that I could get my hands on. If I allow myself unlimited access to MJ, I don't look for anything else.

There are many issues to explore, but I definitely believe that there are situations where marijuana use is beneficial.

What an idea! Medical marijuana to lessen aggression, but Pharma Co. can't make any money on it!!! I hope people try medical marijuana and it works better than tranquilizers-antipsychotics .

Most psychoactive substances involve some physical or psychological risk. The psychosis-marijuana link is not a myth; I've talked with too many people where marijuana was a factor in their first 'psychotic' episode, and a lot of solid research backs this up. I discuss this on madness radio shows with Mitch Earleywine of NORML and Robert Whitaker.

We'll be more credible in criticizing psychiatric drug risks if we are honest in our assessment of all drug risks.

"We'll be more credible in criticizing psychiatric drug risks if we are honest in our assessment of all drug risks."

Good point, will. I spent years nailing my shoes to the earth and undid most of that work with LSD in the last 60s. My peers had a great time but my trips were miserable and I backslid significantly. At that time "madness" was considered rather chic. I was unable to tell anyone it was a wretched state in which to be. Oddly, had I revealed to anyone the fact I was really grappling with mental illness I would have been stigmatized, not admired. I guess madness is chic only if you're not really mad.

I loved mj, really loved it. And it did work as a tranquilizer for me. I don't think I would have slept without it. Twenty years later, though, it had the effect of relaxing me so much it allowed memories to come up that I wasn't ready to cope with and that I had no effective help available to process them.

Now I no longer smoke because it acts as a depressant for me.

I don't do much alcohol, either, for pretty much the same reason. I believe marijuana should be legal. It's such hooey to lump it in with meth or heroin. I've never know anyone to get up and have a fist fight after smoking dope. Nope, you just mellow out and eat brownies.

In general, I believe if you have a legitimate social stance you shouldn't have to lie or deny. When you tinker with the truth it's going to bite you in the butt in the end.

Sherry

Will,

You write:

"We'll be more credible in criticizing psychiatric drug risks if we are honest in our assessment of all drug risks."

I've never known of anyone who became psychotic from smoking marijuana which certainly doesn't mean it has never happened. Marijuana makes me anxious thus I haven't smoked it in years.

Still, I know many people who do who are happy, functional members of their communities.

I know that being caught smoking marijuana can in itself be the sole diagnostic criteria for psychosis, but I don't think there's any research indicating marijuana causes psychosis but only unreliable research indicating that smoking marijuana leads to an increase in being labeled schizophrenic but then this could be explained by the fact that to many physicians and families due to the fear and ignorance surrounding marijuana would again diagnose schizophrenia solely on the basis of the fact that one uses or is suspected of using marijuana."

Meanwhile, antipsychotics and ssri's have real risks of causing "psychosis." I say this because if it made it into the warning insert and onto the tv commercial, the risk must be real.

Thus I was not being dishonest in my assessment of the risks of marijuana, simply recounting my experience and the information I have. I'm glad you spoke up about your different experience. Perhaps if marijuana were legal we'd have more real information about it.

Sherry, LSD, which is a lot more similar to ssri's than to marijuana, is a terrifying drug, which as you know was initially developed by Sandoz Labs and marketed as a cure for schizophrenia and treatment of the "problem child." Imagine AOT with lsd, terrifying. Just another wonderful big pharma product.

Sally,
"I know that being caught smoking marijuana can in itself be the sole diagnostic criteria for psychosis"

Is this so? I can't believe anyone would be that incredibly stupid as to confuse the two.

I must be seriously out of the loop. I've never heard of this. I'm not doubting you at all, just amazed by it and unfamiliar with it. Smoking dope is such a common thing in my experience that it boggles my mind to think anyone could possibly take it terribly seriously or confuse it with psychosis. I do understand about all the DARE "mj causes you to sprinkle heroin on your corn flakes" hysteria but this pychosis thing is new to me.

People continue to amaze me each and every day, and in so many new and interesting ways.
Sherry

Sherry,

This I get from my social connection to counselors and psychologists, folks who make a living as drug and alcohol counselors in teen drug rehab places who tell me that most kids come into those places because their parents caught them smoking pot and come out with serious psychiatric labels, purely anecdotal, but it's like they say, if you hang out at a barber shop eventually you'll get a haircut. What is psychotic after all? Can't you see how that label could pretty easily be applied to a stoned teenager?

If you check, I bet it would turn out that a huge number of people currently labeled mentally ill regardless of age, with the exception of the infant bipolar crowd, had first contact with the "mental health system" when caught smoking pot. Hence these folks if they accept their labels might well be of the opinion that pot caused their "mental illness," certainly drug and alcohol use is always referred to as being highly correlated with "mental illness," (so NAMI parents can further infantalize their kids by not allowing them to drink alcohol;). When something is highly correlated to mental illness to me that means if you get caught doing it you're more likely to get a psych label and furthermore since getting a psych label can keep you out of jail, you accept the label. Then you take the prescribed drugs which really do damage your brain, at least while you're taking them, and you stay in therapy where your every thought and feeling is recorded and viewed in the worst possible light. Voila, to the mainstream this process looks like marijuana causing psychosis.

Sally, I absolutely agree with how common it is for teens to be referred for therapy due to their getting caught for marijuana and walking out with a serious diagnosis. Especially if the family uses their insurance. Insurance companies need a diagnosis code to cover the cost of care and prescriptions. Many of my colleagues (Psychiatrists, Psychologists, Psychotherapists) used to smoke marijuana during their youth. Many of those same colleagues were ushered into their age of enlightenment through the use of consciousness expanding substances. After becoming therapists many are now spreading the "marijuana causes psychosis and Reefer Madness" marlarky to their clients. I call this Open Consciousness-Closed Mind Syndrome. Often the claim is that "they just don't make marijuana like they used to..." I personally do not enjoy marijuana, but I can clearly see that there are some people that not only enjoy it, they sincerely benefit from its use.