Monday, October 22, 2007
My girlfriend is bipolar and also has very bad depression and is a cutter, but she says when she smokes pot it makes her feel so much better. Can this do harm or really interfere with all her meds?
The short answer is yes and yes. While she may feel momentarily better when smoking pot, over the long term marijuana use causes many changes to neurotransmitters in the brain – thus possibly directly counteracting the effects of her medications and increasing her depression.
Very recently, a review paper came out in the British medical journal, The Lancet, which exhaustively reviewed the literature on the relationship between cannabis use and mental health outcomes. The researchers found that cannabis use significantly increased the odds of developing a psychotic disorder. So for someone like your girlfriend, who already is dealing with a serious mental illness, I would strongly advise against marijuana use.
Learn more in the Bipolar Disorder Center.
Last Updated: 10/22/2007