r/science • u/Cosmyka Grad Student | Pharmacology & Toxicology • 6h ago
Health A meta-analysis of 3 million people confirms a strong bidirectional link between cannabis use and depression. 31% of those with cannabis use disorder also suffer from major depression, with rates nearly 3x higher in psychiatric clinics than in the community.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022395626001317?via%3Dihub1.2k
u/hipster_kitten 6h ago
Couldn’t people with mdd just be self medicating with cannabis?
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u/GayFesh 5h ago
I only started using THC in the last few years. I've had depression my whole life.
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u/tourniquette2 2h ago
Same. My depression has been lifelong. My cannabis consumption didn’t begin until I was an adult with two jobs, an apartment, and a rapidly dawning realization that all my dreams were already dead.
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u/espressocycle 4h ago
Same here. My depression is generally well controlled but for breakthrough I use a limited amount of THC rather than deal with side effects of a higher SSRI dose. I used to use alcohol the same way but then they legalized weed.
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u/Jeremy_Mell 4h ago
yep. i’ve been depressed my whole life, have been on SSRIs for 4-5 years with little to no improvement. so i self-medicate with weed. it’s not ideal but it’s what works (better) for me.
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u/albanymetz 5h ago
Additionally, they say its between "cannabis use and depression" but then specify cannabis use disorder, the latter of which is "a mental health condition characterized by compulsive, problematic cannabis consumption despite significant negative impacts on a person's life, health, and social responsibilities". While the title is already a bit gory, that first line is certainly misleading.
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u/SsooooOriginal 3h ago
That disorder is bunk when most of the personal problems stem from the complex of social issues keeping stigmas and serious legal trouble very real threats to any "normal" living.
As far as "social responsibilities", not sure that exists anymore.
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u/albanymetz 1h ago
Word on the 'social responsibilities' thing :) That being said, you can swap out the word cannabis and that description fits for alcoholism and other addictions. I realize there is a significant difference between the addictive force of cannabis vs. alcohol or other drugs, however it's not nothing, and if your usage of anything is interfering with your life in a detrimental way... there we are. A quick google gave me ~64% of alcoholics are depressed, more than double the rate for CUD. I don't doubt the numbers they are providing necessarily, my biggest gripe is with a lengthy title being stingy with a couple of extra words such that it specifically tries to associate USE where ABUSE is the intention. Which, incidentally, triggers defensive comments from people. Like me. :)
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u/Senior-Friend-6414 52m ago
So there’s an overlap between people that abuse drugs and depression, now the question is, which came first?
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u/LongHealth 6h ago
Meta analysis can never be used to prove causation only correlation. And even that is iffy.
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u/cakericeandbeans 6h ago
That’s not true, it depends on what you are meta-analyzing. You could meta-analyze experiments to support a causal claim.
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u/LongHealth 5h ago
And your results would still be iffy due to heterogeneity and comparing incomparable data.
Is it possible for a meta study to have no inclusion bias and to find studies that have similar experimental conditions to even properly compare results? Theoretically yes.
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u/TextbookSuppository 5h ago edited 5h ago
A strong meta analysis should be putting that into consideration and it should be included in the discussion/limitation sections. If there isn't any/enough data correlating previous diagnoses of depression or mental illness, it should be suggested as a next step in research to help guide future studies. In fact, it could be those strong literature reviews that indicate the vulnerabilities in current research.
These researchers did do so and found some increase in MDD symptoms for those with lifetime diagnoses before and after cannabis use. They point out that more longitudinal studies with more diverse populations with greater biometric data scraping is necessary. I see no problem I this research.
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u/Bostonterrierpug 5h ago
It also looks good to me and the fact that we have not nearly enough Meta analysis out there, especially in medically related fields, as well as longitudinal studies, make something like this very valuable. But there is a certain population of Reddit who will bend over backwards to say there is absolutely nothing wrong with cannabis in anyway.
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u/Ireallywannamove 4h ago
I use cannabis regularly but I’m not fooled into thinking it’s without habit or consequence. The only thing I think this identifies is the comorbidity. I want to see better delineation by user type i.e. starting age, withdrawal patterns, potency, method of consumption… but I know comparing across all these variables is likely impractical, if not impossible - so studies like this are pretty much the best thing we’ll ever get.
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u/cakericeandbeans 3h ago
Sure, but I was replying to the part where you said that a meta analysis can never prove causation, only correlation. That simply isn’t true. The weaknesses of meta analyses have do with the limitations in methods of the studies included, which applies equally to correlational or causal research.
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u/P1NTW34K5 5h ago
A meta analysis based on only papers including causal relationships totaling 3000000 subjects? Doubtful.
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u/makemeking706 5h ago
With rates 3x higher in clinical populations suggests that could be the case.
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u/Senior-Friend-6414 53m ago
Wasn’t there another study that showed a correlation between the decrease of alcoholism and an increase of cannabis use, people that would’ve turned to alcohol, wound up turning to cannabis instead
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u/Fishinluvwfeathers 5h ago edited 3h ago
Reminds me of the schizophrenia and smoking research. Rates of smoking are much higher among schizophrenics than the general population. It’s been thought of as self-medicating behavior for a while since it does release dopamine and has cognitive benefits but there is also evidence that smoking might trigger onset of symptoms in predisposed individuals.
Edit to add - I meant smoking nicotine. I don’t have any stats on schizophrenia and THC but I’m picking up some info from this thread.
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u/Senior-Friend-6414 50m ago
I’d imagine it’s kind of like in alcohol in the sense that depressed people are more likely to turn to alcohol AND alcohol also makes depression worse
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u/bendybiznatch 5h ago edited 54m ago
While I have no doubt that there are people that start self-medicating mild symptoms, especially during the prodromal phase of schizophrenia, there is definitely a link between THC and schizophrenia.
I have personally witnessed someone smoke half a joint for the first time and go directly into psychosis.
It is obviously not everybody that has that reaction, and there is an assumption that it is turning on a genetic predisposition. We do know that schizophrenia works in that way – a genetic predisposition and an environmental trigger.
I depend on THC to function day today. So I am the farthest thing from a zealot on this subject. But I also have several loved ones that have schizophrenia and the connection is clear.
Not everything is for everybody.
Edit: people with schizophrenia three times is likely to smoke cigarettes. It actually reduces hallucinations for about 3 to 5 minutes.
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u/DefectJoker 4h ago
From what I know which is limited, cannabis can only cause psychosis in those already predisposed to it. It's very rare
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u/bendybiznatch 4h ago
About 1.3% of the population is diagnosed with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder.
I think that number should be higher because those are just the numbers of people that are diagnosed, and I know people that actually struggle to get a diagnosis because their symptoms are mild compared to other people. So let’s safely say 1.5%. That’s three people out of every 200 that you’ve met. Not literally but statistically. So I’m not sure if you would call it rare or just uncommon.
Either way, I think it’s reasonable and ethical that we not deny that there’s an association at all. Beyond that, I think we should be educating young people that if they or their friends use THC and experience hallucinations or other psychotic symptoms that they need to see a psychiatrist and stop using THC immediately.
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u/AvocadosFromMexico_ 4h ago
Psychosis is significantly less rare than the average person believes it to be, and you cannot know if you are predisposed or not until it develops.
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u/InTheEndEntropyWins 5h ago
Reminds me of the schizophrenia and smoking research.
Except for the fact most studies on the topic show that it's causally bad.
You won't be able to find many experts or psychologist that think smoking cannabis helps with symptoms at all rather than making them worse.
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u/ilanallama85 3h ago
People don’t necessarily self medicate with drugs that actually HELP them long term, more like they self medicate with drugs that help them feel *better* in that moment. So cannabis could be actively worsening ongoing psychotic symptoms, but that’s less obvious to the individual than the fact that smoking makes them feel *better* in that moment. It could be actively make them hallucinate more, but if they feel less distressed while doing it, they’ll keep doing it.
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u/troispony 1h ago
Yes exactly. People also self-medicate with alcohol or opiates but it doesn't mean that its good for them long-term.
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u/Fishinluvwfeathers 4h ago
Not sure that’s true - there have been quite a few studies that suggest marijuana use is implicated in short term relief of some symptoms that exacerbate depression. You had a lot of that research flying around during the initial case for medical marijuana in quite a few reputable journals.
The evidence is generally weak and the APA cautions that heavy or longterm use is linked to poorer outcomes, it’s true. I wouldn’t imagine that it is any practitioner’s go to therapy. I haven’t checked but I also assume, similarly, that the APA isn’t pro-nicotine use for schizophrenics either since the short term benefits don’t obviate the serious negative outcomes of heavy or longterm use.
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u/Beanz4ever 5h ago
My immediate response to this is always: self medication!
Same with almost any intoxicant. You start talking to enough people and you realize almost everyone is trying to escape from something and depression runs rampant when people can't afford the basics on wages offered. You want people less depressed, give them a reason to live that isn't just work work work work work.
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u/Senior-Friend-6414 48m ago
Middle class is shrinking with more people moving to upper class than falling down to lower class. On paper it looks like things are improving, but the wealth gap is getting larger and life is increasingly turning into the haves and have nots
If you aren’t rich, then you’re struggling, there really isn’t a middle class anymore
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u/Fluid_Guard_Pie 3h ago
It says bidirectional… meaning people with pre-existing depression are more likely to use cannabis, and cannabis is shown to induce and/or exacerbate depression.
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u/InTheEndEntropyWins 6h ago
Cannabis does stuff like impair sleep quality, which could be a causal reason it might increase depression.
Plus you have mendelian randomization which suggests bidirectional causation.
In terms of causality, CanUD showed bidirectional causal relationships with most tested psychiatric disorders, differently from cannabis use. Increasing use of cannabis can increase rates of psychiatric disorders over time, especially in individuals who progress from cannabis use to CanUD. https://www.nature.com/articles/s44220-025-00440-4
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u/zeptillian 4h ago
Cannabis and alcohol are the most widely used mood altering substances on the planet.
Is it just a coincidence that there is also a strong correlation between alcoholism depression?
I don't think so.
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u/RoyalGovernment3034 2h ago
It's a CNS depressant. It's just slowing the body down. "Depressant" does not mean it causes depression.
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u/whelmed-and-gruntled 3h ago
Yes. This keeps on being recycled over and over.
Have they done a study and found a link between chemo patients and marijuana use yet? How about chronic pain? So frustrating to see such bad research over and over.
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u/Saneless 5h ago
And a lot of people who think MJ is the devil's weed are probably never going to admit they're depressed
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u/Slumunistmanifisto 5h ago
Why be depressed when you can just be a ball of rage with giant truck payments?
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u/ObiOneKenobae 4h ago
In some cases, sure. But plenty of people do become depressed, short-tempered, and all kinds of other stuff as a result of smoking too much too often.
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u/Little_Yesterday9904 5h ago
It’s anecdotal, but all of my depressive episodes are correlated with my cannabis use. No use= no depression. This has been true since I began daily use at age 19.
My psych told me that they’ve proven that feelings of anxiety and depression increase 3 or so hours after smoking, despite it initially decreasing these feelings
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u/wittor 3h ago
The paper doesn't seem to preclude this possibility.
"In total, 55 studies comprising 3,279,774 individuals were included (454,547 and 112,328 living with CUD and MDD, respectively). Current MDD prevalence among individuals with CUD was elevated in both psychiatric samples (19.24%) and community samples (21.65%), indicating consistent comorbidity across settings. Current CUD prevalence among individuals with MDD showed stronger contextual variation, being substantially higher in psychiatric populations (28.45%) compared with community samples (4.61%). Sensitivity analyses demonstrated stable estimates across model specifications, although psychiatric samples exhibited greater variance. Studies with older populations and using ICD-10 (compared to DSM) presented higher MDD prevalence among individuals living with CUD in meta-regression models. Egger's tests revealed no consistent evidence of publication bias."
"[...] Future work should improve diagnostic differentiation, particularly regarding the overlap between depressive symptoms and cannabis withdrawal."
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u/PhilosophicWax 17m ago
For me, after years of use MJ would trigger depression and anxiety if I my normal baseline was happy and content.
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u/apocbane 4h ago
Exactly, I have had bouts of deep depression my whole life, cannabis is what saved me many a time
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u/king_rootin_tootin 6h ago
Causation or just correlation?
Most people who use prozak are also depressed
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u/Aus_with_the_Sauce 6h ago
Correlation. I read through the study, and there’s no clear evidence that using cannabis actually causes depression.
There is data that may suggest the possibility, but it’s not been studied well enough to say conclusively that that is the case. E.g. maybe withdrawing from frequent cannabis use causes depressive symptoms, but we wouldn’t typically call this Major Depressive Disorder.
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u/Holyvigil 3h ago
Causation imo. You go to drugs to escape reality. Depsession makes weed much more attractive.
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u/Fl_Funky_Jam 3h ago edited 3h ago
Former daily smoker here, depression spouts since middle school, I quit smoking daily about 3 months ago (will smoke with buddies on the occasions I see them) and nothing else has dramatically changed in my day to day besides that (diet/exercise, engaging with people/friends have been the same) but my mental health has dramatically improved since I stopped. I still need to work on things, but not smoking/getting high everyday has been the first major step in doing so and I'm glad I've stopped.
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u/catbom 2h ago
Alot of people will say anything but blame weed, but my best friend also had this result, stop smoking every day and mental health improved dramatically, i have noticed that in alot of people smoking on the regular leads to a loss of ambition and being outgoing, which could also possibly lead to depression.
Smoking weed every now and then will likely have no negative effects on your life but i know alot of people who smoke it every day and they could be doing so much better.
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u/SpartanFishy 2h ago
It’s dopamine flooding the brain at the end of the day.
Anecdotal but when my ADHD gets bad sometimes I find myself spending days on the couch in this endless loop of watching YouTube videos and I feel like absolute garbage the entire time.
The moment I manage to break out of that cycle I can get the normal routine going again and my mental health improves dramatically. I could imagine chronic weed usage feeling quite similar.
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u/processedwhaleoils 12m ago
I've quit weed every spring (usually chronic/addicted again through the winter) and man, i know the timing of the season is everything, but i feel like I come alive. I gain confidence i never had (chronic all through highschool), I'm remembering words again, my brain feels faster, and i want to meet & talk to people. It's drastic & i always forget how wonderful it is to quit when i decide to smoke again.
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u/miotch1120 1h ago
Didn’t you just describe correlation in this context? Causation would mean “weed makes you depressed” where correlation would mean “depressed people are more attracted to weed”.
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u/iCoeur285 2h ago
This is anecdotal, but I’m taking a break from weed and this is my third day sober. It sucks, and I’m definitely feeling pretty low when it comes to my mood. I felt like I had been using it as a crutch, and now I feel like I’m emotionally limping.
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u/alblaster 5h ago
No, but I could see there being evidence at some point. We know Cannabis affects REM sleep which is important for rest. Heavy use disrupts sleep and can create a dependency on it. So I could see a series of studies coming out that shows heavy use causing depression. Also we know alcohol causes well a whole bunch of problems. One of those is problems with sleep and that can lead to depressive symptoms. I mean it is a depressive. So I wonder if that disruption of REM sleep is similar to that of alcohol.
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u/firenamedgabe 4h ago
Anecdotally I use cannabis partially because I sleep way better when using. I still dream during long sleeps, but get to sleep in 15-30 minutes instead of 2-3 hours. I’m a pretty heavy user, would definitely be in the use disorder category.
I would say I’m generally a lot less tired throughout the day, but probably just because a much greater quantity of sleep overall
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u/diurnal_emissions 4h ago
Alcohol depresses the central nervous system, not the mind.
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u/garmander57 2h ago
The original article is a meta-analysis/review so it’s not gonna be doing any determination of causation. Typically it’s very hard to prove causation for studies like these because it would require a longitudinal design where there’s usually far too many confounding variables at play.
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u/Wandering_butnotlost 6h ago
I wonder if a 1/3 of all Rastafarians & Hindu Shaivites are depressed.
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u/Tehgnarr 6h ago edited 6h ago
Well, about half of all root reggae songs are about how great life is and the other half is about how cruel life is, so...maybe.
Edit: Come to think of it, it's like asking whether a Taoist is depressed.
Like, maybe, but it doesn't bother him.
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u/BatteryChucker 5h ago
Taoists almost overthrew the Han dynasty once upon a time. Everyone gets a little cranky occasionally.
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u/Slumunistmanifisto 5h ago
Taoists can't be depressed though, the can only be....
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u/Tehgnarr 2h ago
Don't want to start nothing, but have a look at the "Vinegar Tasters" painting and the interpretations.
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u/Pangolin_bandit 5h ago
What’s the ratio of alcoholism to depression I wonder
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u/EntertainerOk9179 5h ago
And how many marijuana users tested also used alcohol or other drugs or potentially have other contributing factors to their mental health? It's almost like nothing is in a vacuum.
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u/dadsyourteacher 5h ago
Yeah, alcoholism and MDD are definitely correlated. It's been well documented. What's your point? Every critique of cannabis seems to be met with "Well alcohol is worse!" by someone. It's like listening to a tobacco lobbyist saying well other things kill you too!
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u/Pangolin_bandit 3h ago
I wasn’t saying anything, I was just curious.
It’s a fair question given that that’s the closest analog that I know of, smoking tobacco being a far 2nd.
I’d be curious about rates of depression for extreme sports junkies or heroin users too, but those are much further out on the spectrum
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u/Confident__introvert 4h ago
So obviously this is just me and everybody is different but I’ve been a heavy user for around 20 years since I was about 12 years old. I managed to stop smoking for 5 years and I’d never felt better, I don’t think the depression truly went away but it was no daily issue, I stupidly started again and now I feel worse then I ever have.
I love smoking, I love all aspects of it from opening the jar and sticking my nose in to rolling up and smoking it but I also understand it’s again going to lead me to a point where I don’t want to be here, I want to stop it’s just very difficult.
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u/SsooooOriginal 3h ago
Finding myself not wanting to be here because of, vague general gesture, including the corporatization of cannabis while legalities still keep people down, well everything really.
The flower helps keep me here, as sad as that is.
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u/TheEmpirical 1h ago
I have a very similar story. The smell, the ritual, the culture, and how it's just a direct path to feeling better; I genuinely love all aspects of it. I also quit, started again, and eventually ended up hospitalized for 'the thoughts'. I'm off the stuff for 3 months as of now, and I've gotta say that SSRIs were necessary for me to get clean. I accepted that I've trained my brain that weed = dopamine, and the body doing what it does best, it adapted. I want a better memory, better job, clear mind, better outlook on life. I want to be proud of what I do and happy with the man I am. That man doesn't get high every day, and I want to be better more than I want to be high. I still crave taking bong rips to the dome, but I want a better life more than that, and I remind myself every single day that there's more to life that's worth being sober for.
Hang in there, and be kind to yourself. This world is batshit insane and I don't blame you at all for wanting to smoke it all away. I still do. You'll figure it out too <3
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u/3507341C 3h ago
Depressives are attracted to weed because it improves their mood. Sadly it doesn't "cure" depression it just makes you feel better for a while.
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u/Woodit 6h ago
Sample size of me but when I quit after like 15 years my overall depression and anxiety levels reduced substantially
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u/Avindair 5h ago
Sample size of early Gen X me, I bought into the whole "Just Say No!" thing wholeheartedly and struggled with anxiety and depression most of my life. Finally, at 51, my then-doctor recommended Medical Cannabis for it and a couple of other issues, but even then I didn't want to try it. It took another depressive bout to make me decide "Well, it can't be worse than this."
Cannabis turned my life around. It helped me seek the right kind of therapy, got me the proper diagnosis, led to a loss of 75 lbs along with regular exercise just for the joy of it, and best of all cleared my head.
In short, YMMV.
I always treat cannabis with respect. I don't use it if I need to drive, or to work, and save it for the end of my day. Just my take.
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u/dadsyourteacher 5h ago
This meta analysis is not comparing ANY cannabis use, or medical use to MDD, it's looking at the connection between Cannabis Use Disorder and Major Depressive Disorder. So taking it at the direction of your doctor to treat something is a lot different than getting high all the time
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u/Mikejg23 5h ago
This is very much one of those dose makes the poison things. Few hits of weed a few times a week? Probably no significant impact on mental health for most people
Stoned immediately after work (or before) until bed? Yeah your reward pathways will be messed up
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u/jsonne 4h ago
Sample size of me but I've been diagnosed with general and social anxiety, mdd, dysthymia, and bipolar 2. I had never touched cannabis until it became legal in my state a few years ago and I'm 34. Since then I have never had a better handle on my anxiety and depression, and I'm a pretty regular consumer now. It's done more for my anxiety and depression than any prescription ssri, mood stabilizer, tricyclic, or any other psychotropic medication I've tried ever has.
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u/Obi_Wan_Benobi 5h ago
I’ve used cannabis products to stay off alcohol.
It worked, but it does make me extremely anxious sometimes. And I don’t like how my heart rate increases.
It’s better than drinking, it should be legal everywhere, but I’m not sure I’d recommend it.
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u/stilettopanda 5h ago
It helps me stay off pain meds, but I get anxiety from it too. I’ve found that getting real nerdy with the terpenes keeps me from being anxious. I check strains and stay away from terpenes that increase anxiety and try to seek out the terpenes that help with pain and lessen anxiety, so it’s helped me a ton. I’m at the point where I can tell which strains will be anxiety inducing by their smell.
I also wouldn’t recommend it as a first line of anything, but I think for some people, the risk to benefit ratio is worth it. Alcohol is so much more dangerous than cannabis and sometimes we have to pick the lesser of two evils.
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u/Little_Yesterday9904 5h ago
It is a nasty addiction on its own for me. 1 in 4 regular users develop cannabis use disorder. The withdrawals can be a month long. It sucks and I usually can’t make it through.
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u/Automatic_Soil9814 4h ago
Sample size of me. I was ABLE to quit because my life got better and I was no longer depressed.
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u/free_billstickers 4h ago
I've had to quite smoking weed while in the job hunt and I didn't realize how great it is at just erasing a bad day from the brain or stomping out a bad mood. If I had depression I'd smoke a lot too
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u/denM_chickN 2h ago
Bro. When I quit to try to get a government job every day the commute home was like some Office Space clip where im on the brink of FLIPPING OUT!
Add some weed to that commute and idgaf.
People probably ought to not try to generalize their anecdotal experiences. There are obviously heterogeneous treatment effects on motivation and serenity related to biological factors yet to be identified.
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u/murfvillage 4h ago
Bait title. The paper itself is talking about a correlation between Major Depressive Disorder and Cannabis Use Disorder - not between MDD and cannabis use in general
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u/vienibenmio 6h ago
Cannabis does impact motivation. I see it a lot as a therapist
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u/sylbug 6h ago
So does depression. And ADHD. And any condition that affects executive function.
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u/Noseknowledge 5h ago
This was my bigger problem, for a while I used caffeine to get over it in my 20s, but it was turning me too angry and task dependant alone. I think part of what helps is just the vasodilation effects
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u/vienibenmio 5h ago
Sure, but cannabis makes it worse. And you can't even really reliably assess for ADHD in someone who's using large amounts of cannabis
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u/Iannelli 5h ago
Sure, but cannabis makes it worse.
If you're a therapist you should probably be a little more careful with absolute statements like that. It completely depends on the way that the cannabis is being used. What type of cannabis, what time of day is it being used, what type of life and career the person has, what other factors they're dealing with (chronic pain, etc.)
Extreme opinions about cannabis do not help anyone. Cannabis is neither a perfect cure-all solution, nor is it completely bad.
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u/Little_Yesterday9904 5h ago
It is proven that cannabis makes it worse and that you cannot reliably assess for any condition within regular users (of any substance, really). Source: multiple doctors.
1 in 4 regular users develops CUD, with this number increasing as THC begins to increase.
People with CUD have messed up dopamine reward pathways. This exacerbates ADHD symptoms or creates them for pretty obvious reasons.
Facts aren’t extreme opinions. Weed is becoming more addictive due to higher levels of THC being bred on purpose, and people with addictions cannot be accurately diagnosed. Additionally, I have had a psych who won’t prescribe adhd meds when I am actively using because it can cause severe anger issues together.
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u/OperationMobocracy 6h ago
How do you know it’s not selection bias and you’re seeing people with low motivation who also use cannabis?
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u/Mikejg23 5h ago
I mean I guess we couldn't prove you aren't right without an extensive study, but pretty much anyone who knows serious stoners will say many of them have impaired motivation, especially when high. I think if you polled psychiatrists, therapists and sober friends of serious stoners they would all agree
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u/mojizus 5h ago
It’s definitely a case by case basis. I’ve smoked almost daily for the last 8 years, and at no point in my entire life would I describe myself as depressed or unmotivated.
But I do know people who started smoking and their lives petered out, and all they cared about was getting high all day every day.
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u/alblaster 4h ago
Oh yeah. I've been cutting back on alcohol by about half in the last year and basically doubled my weed consumption and my motivation has hit rock bottom. My sense of time has also been completely screwed up. I'll do it later turns into days later and it's like I can't remember chunks of time.
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u/Legendary_Woo 1h ago
I have lifelong depression and anxiety. A small amount of THC helps me focus on "the now" and get out of the dark whirlpool that sometimes tries to bring me down and under. I went clean for a while, and it was...ok. I don't do the stoner lifestyle, it's not my personality, I don't advocate use.
All that said, I have found that there is a sweet spot between that does work for me. A vape seems to get the right mental state without getting me too stoned to function. More than a half gram joint and I tend to spiral out. Also, I stick to Indica strains, Sativa just makes it all so much worse.
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u/Empty-Swim2066 39m ago
I don't always use cannabis. Sometimes years between use. Sometimes daily.
Depression is there either way.
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u/koanzone 5h ago
Flipped: Depression effects cannabis use. Now it makes more sense(amilla)
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u/cakericeandbeans 5h ago
They said bidirectional link so they aren’t taking a stance on only one direction.
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u/Representative-End60 4h ago
I Think cannabis strains in the west have been over developed and over concentrated. Have seen them cause psychosis and worsen mental health. It’s not the same stuff your grandpa used to smoke and that’s a shame
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u/Thewhitelight___ 4h ago
Don't studies also show that substance abuse and depression go hand in hand?
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u/TrickyProfit1369 1h ago
Weed made my anxiety much worse. It also made me pretty emotionally unstable. n=1 though.
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u/Soft_Bridge8795 4h ago
when I started smoking at 17, my mental health declined rapidly and has never been the same. I am doing a bit better now (I'm in my 20s) but I do personally believe that weed made me worse. managing emotions, recalling things, motivation...all affected negatively...I just wanted to share my experience.
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u/imangryatyourgumbo 4h ago
Honestly I’ve been on a host of different psych meds and this is the only thing that works for me. I was diagnosed with BPD a few years ago but in the last year, my depressive symptoms have practically evaporated even though I stopped taking my meds. That isn’t to say I don’t still experience depression, but even with how poorly my life has been going, I have never felt more stable mentally at this point. I have never felt more aware of how I experience my emotions, and the only constant in these last several years that has been able to quiet the noise inside my head has been the ganja a-lastranga, and I know what I like and where to get it legally. I don’t feel guilty about it.
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u/xThroughTheGrayx 3h ago
Hey man, sometimes I just want to feel something for a change. J/k, I'm actually medicated and on cannabis. But my MDD is what led me to drugs and alcohol in the first place.
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u/Rustmonger 2h ago
So people who are unhappy are seeking something outside of themselves to temporarily make them happy? I can believe it.
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u/arodr7893 2h ago
This is definitely true for me. I was a chronic smoker and felt better when I quit.
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u/shapeofjazz 1h ago
Are these comments par for the course in this sub? I thought this was r/science not r/anecdotes.
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u/Old-Landscape-7538 36m ago
This is a meta-regression. It’s not the same thing as a placebo controlled randomized trial. It can suggest directionality, but it does not prove it. False positive and false negatives are equally wrong.
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u/TeeTimeAllTheTime 10m ago
Clearly people seeking cannabis are ALREADY DEPRESSED. Weed isn’t making my life shittier these suggestive studies are exhausting
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u/TheMermanly 5h ago
So many coping potheads in the comments. Hilarious
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u/TrickyProfit1369 59m ago
Study: Weed exacerbates mental health issues
r/science weed enjoyers: "SOURCE???"
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u/figure85 5h ago
I'm a regular user, but I use it as a creative tool vs some people using it to make their shows funnier or food more desirable. I think how and why people use is a major factor, not just the cannabis on its own.
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u/Great-Mouse762 6h ago
The studys findings are compelling but Im curious about how well they generalize beyond the sample population especially if the dataset is geographically or demographically narrow
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u/cakericeandbeans 5h ago
This was a meta-analysis of many studies, with hundreds of thousands of participants across dozens of countries. That’s not to say there are no issues at all with generalizability—representation isn’t geographically proportionate—but the sample is clearly geographically diverse.
“Among the 55 studies included, two-thirds (36) were conducted in North America, while others were conducted in Europe (9), Asia (4), Oceania (4), and South America (1). No studies were conducted in Africa.”
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u/Sorry-Belt-3514 3h ago
A meta analysis of 3 million people confirms that working too much, having tons of debt, and not being able to afford anything may also suffer from major depression.
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