Can Medical Marijuana Replace Anti-Depressants?

Posted by healthyme246 @healthyme246, Jun 4, 2022

I have depression/bipolar 2. I really am not sure which since I don't take a mood stabilizer, yet I can tell the difference between my depressed days and my good days. Anyway, I was just wondering if anyone has used marijuana instead of an anti-depressant and/or Clonazepam? I realize there are other conversations regarding this, but, I have been on this big pharma ride for too many years and I do use mm as well. I think I can slowly go off the pharma stuff and replace it altogether with MM. Any thoughts?

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Hello @healthyme246 and welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. This is certainly a question that you are not alone in asking about. It seems as though there are some people who seem to feel as though marijuana has been helpful to them with regard to their depression, however, there just isn't enough evidence-based research yet to prove those claims.

You said that you are already using medical marijuana, presumably for something different. Do you notice it to be helpful when you use it?

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@amandajro

Hello @healthyme246 and welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. This is certainly a question that you are not alone in asking about. It seems as though there are some people who seem to feel as though marijuana has been helpful to them with regard to their depression, however, there just isn't enough evidence-based research yet to prove those claims.

You said that you are already using medical marijuana, presumably for something different. Do you notice it to be helpful when you use it?

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I do use mm for my knee replacement. It works better than opiates! I also use it for depression and anxiety as it works for that as well. I find the mixture of cbd and thc works great. I really don’t care if there isn’t any scientific evidence proving what I say is true. If it wasn’t listed as a schedule 1 drug just like heroin, there would be research. If there was never a movie made called “ reefer madness” then maybe there wouldn’t be negative connotations in regard to its use. And…….please don’t get me started on discussing the legality of alcohol and how much more lethal that is as well as totally socially acceptable. You can die from alcohol poisoning but I never heard of anyone dying from marijuana

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@healthyme246

I do use mm for my knee replacement. It works better than opiates! I also use it for depression and anxiety as it works for that as well. I find the mixture of cbd and thc works great. I really don’t care if there isn’t any scientific evidence proving what I say is true. If it wasn’t listed as a schedule 1 drug just like heroin, there would be research. If there was never a movie made called “ reefer madness” then maybe there wouldn’t be negative connotations in regard to its use. And…….please don’t get me started on discussing the legality of alcohol and how much more lethal that is as well as totally socially acceptable. You can die from alcohol poisoning but I never heard of anyone dying from marijuana

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You may also be interested in this related discussion that @lalyfa started a while back
- Does CBD oil help you with your depression and/or anxiety? https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/cbd-oil-and-depression-anxiety/

REPLY
@amandajro

Hello @healthyme246 and welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. This is certainly a question that you are not alone in asking about. It seems as though there are some people who seem to feel as though marijuana has been helpful to them with regard to their depression, however, there just isn't enough evidence-based research yet to prove those claims.

You said that you are already using medical marijuana, presumably for something different. Do you notice it to be helpful when you use it?

Jump to this post

Have tried it to help with sleep but found that over time it did not help with depression. Slowed my brain down.

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