Marijuana.com

yuri420

I hear a lot of people saying that weed gives you psychosis, or a psychotic episode but i don't actually know that this means, so i've got 3 questions:
1) What is a psychotic episode/examples
2) What is psychosis/examples
3) Has anyone ever experienced either because of marijuana?

__________________
Think a full-body contact, fast-moving and vicious game with no offsides. Think Aussie Rules...http://www.afl.com.au/

Know the truth about Israel..http://www.jpost.com/

 

casketfour

you're a thousand miles away from anybody you know
you live in an apartment with your fathers' family which is hosting two extra members of it's own
you sleep on a loveseat every night and have a couch to block your room from the living room,

during the day when you can't seem to stop sobbing about your life lost and (the many other torturings your mind is telling you that you are suffering) you blast yourself with music nonstop while effortlessly working on your art and writing about your life. You make occasional day trips to see friends and in the public light have the psyche of a madman dressing in crip atire from head to toe before prowling the streets looking for a victim

if you're lucky you'll get drunk to get the voices out of your head.
if not too bad. looks like another night of sitting at home praying to god you have the strength to stop whatever demon is violently taking all his aggresions out on you in the form of sucide notes and delusional writings. you cut yourself violently and constantly in a form of agression release. you try to strip away panic attacks and anxiety by exercising and eating healthy

and suddenly you're high, and everything is good. you're floating on coulds. you got lucky boo. aint' to many weed heads in this place ...."This is a Drug free Enviroment"

...did i mention that truck **** I know i saw that truck the other night what's this guy doing. who are you.

Yes I am a schitzophrenic living in the united states, but so are you.
and that was just an example of a one sort of pyschotic episode.
psychosis is knowing the difference between that and reality. Having the ability to channel all your energy directly into that para-reality. now that is real psychosis

yuri420

wow.....thanks for that...i thought i had a psychotic episode this morning or something like that: I can't quite tell if it was a dream or not, but i woke up and all of a sudden felt an body jump on my bed and grab me by the throat and i couldn't move. i heard my name being whispered and asked 'what' out loud, but there was no answer. i tried to move, but it was holding my throat too tightly(i couldn't wriggle my body either, cuz it had jumped over my entire body), it was like the thing was deciding whether or not to pursue talking to me and then i eventually moved and i was awake(if it was a dream). Now, every time i think about it, i feel a tingling sensation creep up from my toes to my chest and then back down again...

Buzzby

A psychotic episode is an event in which a person experiences a break with or severe distortion of what the average person considers to be reality.

Example: You are temporarily convinced that aliens are controlling your brain.


A psychosis is similar to a psychotic episode except that it doesn't go away.

Example: You wear an aluminum foil hat 24/7 to keep the aliens from controlling your brain.


I haven't. I've entertained all kinds of weird ideas when I was high but I always knew they were just weird ideas. I've been "paranoid" about getting busted, but I don't think it's paranoia when people really are out to get you.

There have been a few studies conducted which claim to identify a statistical correlation between the early use of marijuana and the development of psychosis, especially among people who are genetically inclined towards psychosis. My examination of these studies indicates flawed methodology. In one case, the sample examined was so small that the results were well within the statistical variance inherent in the method, i.e. if you report a 3% correlation and inherent range of error is more than 3% the results are meaningless. In another study, ten questions out of a hundred in a standard survey were used. They all related to paranoia. It is quite reasonable for a marijuana smoker to believe he is being threatened. His freedom and his future depend on not getting caught.

If I had a family history or personal history of serious mental illness, I'd be very careful about using marijuana. For some people it seems to help existing mental illness. For some people it makes it worse. If you're teetering on the edge of a psychotic break, the dislocation that is a normal part of the marijuana high might tip you over. If you're high all the time to avoid dealing with real problems in your life it's not psychologically healthy.

I suffer from bipolar disorder type II, which causes periods of severe depression. This is a non-psychotic mental illness and is well-controlled by meds. I find that marijuana improves my mood and is a great help in getting a good night's sleep. I know people with bipolar disorder type I, in which depressive lows alternate with manic highs. Marijuana helps some of them temper these mood swings. For others it makes them worse. One poster on these forums who is schizophrenic (a psychotic mental illness) reports that marijuana increases the occurrence of her delusions and hallucinations but enables her to not take them seriously.

My current take on the matter is that if you are strongly inclined towards psychosis, the psychological effects of using marijuana could push you in that direction. If you already have a psychosis using marijuana could help or hurt. I've never been psychotic, so I don't know how it would effect me. From an outsider's point of view, I don't think I'd want to use a drug that would dislocate me from conventional reality if I was already having a problem staying there.

__________________

aznp1noy

"A psychotic episode is an event in which a person experiences a break with or severe distortion of what the average person considers to be reality."

I have a question about what how the average person considers reality, do you feel more at peace or like you belong to where you are when your in this severely distorted state?

What an average person considers reality depends on where they were brought up. If you go to India, people there will tell you different things than what you thought and the Indians thoughts would be different from the Chinese people's thought. Stoned or sober the basics of our common sense is not the same as other cultures.

__________________
420

 

JussBL4ZE

I think every weed user is in a way expierences this.. Maybe you dont notice it, but after reading the post by casterfour Im postive that most to every heavy to moderate user expiernces something along those lines.

aposiopesis

I know that species of delusion too well...the verbose and tactile type that whispers, slaps, grabs, and paralyses. They're the most obnoxious of all my delusions, I think. An example of a psychotic delusion? "Revelation" is a probably the most famous. But following is a more contemporary one. It is all perfectly subject to dismissal as psychobabble, but it is the best understanding of the situation I can conjure that fits the disparate jigsaw pieces of my experience, and attempts to explain my current understanding of psychosis.

I've borrowed from a multiplicity of sources to construct a working model to rationalise my experiences. A fundamental tenet of quantum physics, is that the observer and an event are indivisible, that is: what the observer chooses to look for, will shape the way that reality unfolds. The more you focus on on something, the more likely you are to find what you are looking for. Paranormal research groups seem to get best results measuring electromagnetic energy, radiated by electrons, human understanding of which is plagued by an uncertainty that they really exist at all untill we observe them. A preobservation like belief could tip the scales in favour of reality coalescing in the expected manner. Disincarnate entities seem to have a predisposition to becoming distinctly real, on the strength of fervent belief.

A paranormal research group created a fictional ghost, under the auspices of a medical professor see here: http://www.pararesearchers.org/Ghost...icle_five.html
Philip, the ghost created, was an extroverted poltergeist. This phenomena has occurred from times immemorial, the fundamentals of the major religions are pretty psychotic, Moses, Mohammed and Jesus, all hearing voices, and talking to apparitions.

At my most lost, when I had created massive "demonic" apparitions, (like malign versions of Philip), at least two people told me (unprompted) that they had nightmares, when, and only when, I was around. The delusions have often seemed to affect other people in similarly interesting ways, telepathy perhaps? Einstein believed firmly in telepathy, which gives the idea some extra heft, to my mind. At times, if I called the demons to mind in the presence of a pet, the animal would flee the room, in one case yelping and wetting herself in terror. An impact beyond the usual conception of the limitations of the mind, but it seemed pretty bloody real, and became all consuming, and this way I'm telling you, leads to a clinical diagnosis of schizophrenia.

Milly, the dog in question, a little white maltese terrier, is not brave and fearless, she was shivering uncontrollably and wetting herself in terror, whimpering at the corner of the ceiling. My friend, her owner had never seen the like, I figured I knew what the dog was responding to, the self same apparition had been harassing me for weeks. But I didn't think it prudent to expound exactly what I thought. I am aware that my belief systems fail to match those of most people. The anonymity of the internet is quite disinhibiting, this is not a side of myself I discuss with people I interact with on a face to face basis.

This occured during a period of intense audio/hallucinatory activity in my life around June of last year. The psychosis seemed to me to be primarily precipitated by a woman I picked up hitchiking. As she got in my car, all darting eyes and firing meaningless gibberish at me, it was pretty apparent she was completely and utterly lost, deep in the grip of a psychosis. I drove her to where she wanted to go (where hard drugs are bought hereabouts), what else could I do? Coming from my perspective I wasn't going to drive her to a psych ward, or anywhere else against her will, I took her to where she wanted to go. I gave her my shoes, she had none, and didn't look capable of looking after her feet if she cut them walking around mean streets barefoot.

As I was driving home, admiring the view - (I live in a beautiful place), I heard a voice clearly ask "Will you help her?". In these moments I tend to accept these hallucinations as real, within the limits of certain parameters I'm attempting to convey. I assented, on the chance it's real enough to in some measure, relieve her suffering. As I assented, the delusions she had created, came slamming into my chest, with a force that sent me reeling in my seat. It was left to me to dispell whatever she had created, which I did with meditation. It took months and it was punishing beyond the telling of it, I inherited a really malevolent nasty cacophany of voices. A psychosis within a psychosis, really leaves no room for boredom.

Was your experience psychotic? Not if youre happy with the belief it's adream. You would only be vulnerable to conjuring a fearful delusion if you do, on some level, harbour fears of similar magnitude. Casketfour has mentioned in another thread, that deeply distressing psychoses appear concommitant with psychological distress and unresolved internal conflict, believe it because it's true. Given your posts, you are obviously capable of objective analysis, which is I think the only effective way of healing whatever psychological unrest is fuelling negatively oriented delusions like throat grabbing nightime visitations. Lucky if you can retain the ability to focus outside the subjective experience, and question it, not a common feature of the delusional, that. It took me a long while to get the hang of. Seeking within your mind for the reasons you lack peace of mind, and seeking a resolution to these conflicts, will resolve the worst of it. Then the delusions become more benificent and manageable. Hell, even enjoyable. You will probably need help fixing your head, but a counsellor or psychologist can only help if you yourself really want to heal the rifts that create the fear that drives a persecutory mental creation like this. Antipsychotic medication is sledgehammer - effective, but it's lacking all subtlety in unpleasant side effects, a method of last resort only.

What is real and what is not - in some areas, the line is very very blurry, it really depends on who you are talking to. A host of venerable figures eg Arthur Conan Doyle and Joan of Arc swear disincarnate beings communicated with them.

I would have quite liked some alien visitation delusions, in this infinite universe, I can't believe we are the only residents who've mastered space travel, the belief is there, but alas I never have met an alien, quite disappointing really, mere belief it seems is not adequate to the task with flesh and blood aliens, I'm limited to barely incarnate paranormal manifestations. My experiences reek of religious archetypes, demons angels and spirits of the dead. Most religious doctrines seem to me to be sinister psychotic delusions in themselves, no small wonder there's so many common features. Psychotics the world over seem to find solace in spiritual archetypes (from Charles Manson on up). I was an atheist prior to becoming a nutter, but I have found a spiritual approach the only efficacious method (for me) of managing psychoses. Personally I find the Buddhist meditation techniques most effective, I'm of the notion that I have to bring peace to these tortured creations of tormented minds. What I visualise has a direct effect on this entity (or delusion, if you will) it dispells it or feeds it. The mental control of meditation, to quiet the mind and discipline its wanderings somewhat, is essential. If you seek peace of mind, and actively make a genuine effort to pursue this course, it seems to me it restores psychological equilibrium.

Anyway above is propounded my current best-fit model of psychosis, it is patchy, inconsistent, and arguably merely a detailed delusion, but it does seem most conducive to a functional and happy life for me at the moment. In the case I have outlined above I never saw the crazy hitchhiker girl again, however, many cases I have been able to follow up, have served to reinforce my delusion that somehow this working model, seems to have some basis in reality, although it may be a purely subjective reality that doesn't neccessarily intersect with anyone else's.

Scooping someone's anomalous reality from their mind, and meditatively collapsing it's quantum wave functions. Some spin on the concept of telepathy. I suspect despite Einstein's belief in the soundness of the premise of telepathy, he'd still suggest psychiatric evaluation, he could never countenance the idea of quantum. My interpretion is that of a certified mental case, I'm open to the possibility it's utterly devoid of any semblence of reality. Noone can claim to have plumbed the the fundament of reality, however, the deeper you look the murkier it appears. I have some theoretical tributaries that neatly tie in hyperspace and string theory too, (another post, another day perhaps). I think of psychoses as my unsolved koan, although I am not a buddhist, I've adopted a few of their ideas into the model, real buddhists tend to gently suggest psychiatric treatment.

If you're confident that the entity in the night grabbing at your throat, is reality, you should be very wary of psychoactive substances, including marijuana, there is plenty of medical evidence to indicate it's potential to precipitate major uncontrolled psychoses, if you notice a correlation between smoking and negative psychological blowouts, stop smoking immediately. It works really well for a very few people though - makes me spend hours idly tying my mind in knots, which I really enjoy, so it does my head and heart good. Sometimes I think it increases the frequency of mind melting, but reduces the severity, a pressure valve. The majority of blowouts serious enough to incapacitate my ability to function, have mostly occurred during extended periods of nonsmoking.

Psychoses like this offer a choice: to either believe it is real, or to believe it is a creation of the mind. It is more manageable if you believe it is a product of your own mind, you have a modicum of control that way. I can't shake the belief it's real though, and so have accomodated for this within my belief structure also. By definition, being unable to differentiate between delusion and reality is psychotic, and to accept psychosis as products of the mind, is proof positive of sanity. It's a toss up really. I do prefer the term psychosis, to delusion, more of a ring to it. Hell I feel the need to apologise for this meandering post, I have the bloggiest early pick Sativa, and Yuri, you did ask.

__________________
"It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong."
Voltaire

Buzzby

Wow! That is one of the most impressive, lucid, and reasoned posts I've ever read! Brava! It's good to have you back. It's been a couple of weeks since you posted, no?


A good friend of mine, an English teacher and general man of letters, said the exact same thing to me in an email last week.


I'd like to point out that this is what everyone does, but unconsciously. Most people believe what their society teaches them to believe and belief creates their reality. What's insanity in one culture is prophecy in another. If your belief system is fairly congruous with your society's you are sane. If it differs somewhat you're "eccentric". If it differs a whole lot you're psychotic - or a holy person, depending on the local climate. I think that most people walk around with a positive delusional system that meshes with others and allows them to function as part of a community. It may be impossible for a human being to view reality in its raw state. We all filter it through our belief systems. The reality each of us experiences is only in our minds.


Telepathy exists, but I find the telephone and the internet to be much more reliable.


Rational analysis is a good starting place but I don't think it goes far enough. Emotions are a more fundamental level of the mind than the rational component, and thus have more power. In Tibetan Buddhist meditation we visualize (create visual hallucinations of) the various energies of the mind as external deities, both peaceful and wrathful. This gives us leverage to work with mental components that resist rational analysis. It's kind of interesting that we use self-induced delusions and hallucinations in the service of sanity.


I don't know if I'd go so far as to label most religious delusions as "sinister". One reason religion is such a powerful force is that it encourages in-group solidarity and cooperation. What's sinister is when demonizing out-groups becomes a primary tool in reinforcing in-group cohesion.


There's a branch of Buddhist literature called the Abidharma which deals with psychology and which talks about similar techniques.


I'd say the deeper you go the less susceptible it is to rational analysis. I'd also say that new ideas and new approaches come from people who are not tied down to the conventional belief structures of their society.


To take it one step further, viewing reality as a creation of mind, rather than as a bricks-and-mortar external absolute truth, gives you an opening for changing it. I find belief in that kind of external reality to be stultifying. Living in that kind of world is depressing and futile. It makes you a speck of meat on a speck of dust which exists for a moment in a universe that is gradually winding down to heat-death (maximum entropy). Being analytical by nature and living in a materialistic society, only meditation has kept me from terminal dispair.


And a dandy way to keep from being involuntarily hospitalized!


Don't apologize for such an excellent post! You should be doing seminars for functioning crazies like ourselves. It's a treat to have in insider's view of psychosis and how to cope with it.

unknown

Isn't it possible that these delusions are the human senses trying to make sense of something different, something that can not be understood at that time? Like, lets say that our senses are developed to rationalize and percieve our conscious world, and below our conscious mind is our subconscious. The subconscious is made up of kind of "coded", compressed information that, in lucid reality, is impossible to cope with and understand so we use our avalible resourses in this time of experiensing the subconscious information to translate into, what seems like rational, and very deep, perceptions. Some have said that the tapping into the subconscious is a way of re-discovering past/present problems, I think that this is just the surface of understanding the subconscious. I think that the subconscious holds much more than just memories, problems, and automatic responses; maybe it also hold solutions. Ever smoke some goood **** and your every thought is more complex and deep than when you wern't high? It's almost as if the marijuana tweaks your perception, possibly ableing one to understand more of the subconscious thoughts, and less of the conscious.

Mamabudz

Bravos and Bravas ...and Kudos to everyone on this thread.

The Mind is a fascinating concept -- it is not so much a place as a personal reality at any given time, over time.

The contributions being made here are true brilliance and I am honored to be a member of this site and able to share in them here.

...many cookies for all of you

Mama Budz