{"id":8930,"date":"2015-07-31T00:28:54","date_gmt":"2015-07-31T07:28:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/?p=8930"},"modified":"2018-05-15T09:56:49","modified_gmt":"2018-05-15T16:56:49","slug":"the-new-psychotic-pot-is-high-thc-marijuana-dangerous-for-people-with-bipolar-disorder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/the-new-psychotic-pot-is-high-thc-marijuana-dangerous-for-people-with-bipolar-disorder\/","title":{"rendered":"The New Psychotic Pot: Is High THC Marijuana Dangerous for People with Bipolar Disorder?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"rainbowpotleaf-200x200\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A quick explanation on why I believe bipolar disorder and pot smoking don’t mix.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I have bipolar disorder. I work as a coach for parents and partners of children with bipolar disorder.\u00a0Here are my experiences:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1. For over three years now, at least 50% of the coaching situations I experience involve POT smoking that leads to mania and abnormal amounts of psychosis in the person with bipolar disorder. In my experience, people who continue to smoke pot that causes bipolar disorder symptoms do not get better. At this time, three of the six clients I’m working with have children who are either in the hospital or are about to go into the hospital because of pot induced bipolar psychosis. It’s not a joke and\u00a0I hope it can be addressed rationally and reasonably without causing us to take sides.<\/p>\n

2. I broke my back and dislocated my hip in an biking accident three years ago. After two months of medical marijuana use where I carefully watched my THC intake, I had the WORST MANIA of my life. It lasted for four months after I stopped all pot use. I will never put pot in my body again. The following is an article\u00a0about my experiences as a coach and as a person with bipolar disorder who experienced pot induced mania and psychosis. I’m not staying in the closet about this- we are about to hit epidemic proportions in the mental health world as more and more states legalize this drug that has little to do with the ‘mellow shit’ we used to smoke in the 80s.\u00a0 Let’s educate ourselves and grow up and see the facts. It can be dangerous if we are not informed.<\/p>\n

With all due respect, this is not a forum for people to tell me how great pot smoking is and how it calms them and I don’t know what I’m talking about. My only goal is helping people with bipolar disorder and those who care about them get better. Please share pro pot comments on another page, not this one. Thank you.\u00a0I am not anti pot and do believe that cannabis can be a GREAT help in many areas. I’m talking about THC here and the focus is specifically on people who have bipolar disorder or a genetic predisposition for the illness.<\/p>\n

The New Psychotic Pot: Is\u00a0High<\/span>\u00a0THC Marijuana Dangerous for People with Bipolar Disorder?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

I’ve seen a very\u00a0disturbing trend in the bipolar disorder world\u00a0over the past five years and I\u2019m very concerned for the health of people with bipolar disorder. I see a large amount of pot smoking in our community that leads to obvious and serious psychotic symptoms that are being missed because people don\u2019t have the information needed to make informed decisions about the pot that is on today\u2019s market. \u00a0We are smoking, supporting and ultimately legalizing a strain of marijuana that presents a very high risk of psychotic symptoms for people with bipolar disorder due to an abnormally high THC content in the pot as a result of intense\u00a0genetic modification. (THC is the hallucinogenic component of marijuana.)\u00a0When I first voiced my concerns about the psychosis I saw that was caused by pot smoking, many told me I was crazy. \u00a0\u201cPot is for relaxation Julie! The pot now is no different than the pot you used to smoke in the 80s! Pot helps people calm down!\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

I originally wrote about this topic for my Bp\u00a0Magazine<\/em> blog over three years ago where I called this marijuana the New PSYCHOTIC POT. \u00a0The responses were off the charts in terms of the DON\u2019T TOUCH MY RIGHT TO SMOKE POT! comments I received.\u00a0 Years later, the research is out. The pot on the market today has little to do with the pot from even ten years ago. The pot today is ridiculously strong due to THC levels that are over ten times higher than found in more cannabinoid intense (the relaxing component of marijuana) \u00a0and traditional \u2018mellow out\u2019 pot.<\/p>\n

This high THC marijuana\u00a0can cause psychotic symptoms that mimic full blown psychotic bipolar disorder episodes after just one hit of the pipe. Please, if you are someone who doesn\u2019t think this is possible, please keep reading as I share my story about my personal experiences with THC induced psychosis. I am also seeing personality disorder type symptoms from this high THC pot and will certainly write about it in future blogs.<\/p>\n

In my opinion, this psychotic pot (especially where the THC level is higher than 10%) \u00a0is often too strong for people with bipolar disorder.\u00a0 Pot has always caused a bit of paranoia, but it was the kind that made you glance over your shoulder and spook yourself for fun. Not anymore. This pot with its high THC content causes psychosis that rivals the worst bipolar disorder episodes.<\/p>\n

\"ozzy\"<\/a>I\u2019ll let Ozzy Osbourn from\u00a0his book, Trust\u00a0Me, I\u2019m Dr. Ozzy<\/i> explain it more eloquently: \u00a0\u201cWhen I used to smoke pot, it was happy stuff: you\u2019d get the munchies, have a laugh and go to sleep. These days, when you have a joint, you end up having to hold on to your drawers and hoping you don\u2019t go insane.\u00a0 They f#@% around with marijuana now, creating all of these genetically altered mutant varieties. In the old day, a joint\u2019s THC content- the chemical that gets you high basically- used to be something like 4%. Today, you hear of it being 20 percent or 40 percent.\u201d<\/p>\n

He continues, \u201cIt\u2019s a bit like walking into a bar one day and being given a Bud Light, and the next being given something that looks exactly like a Bud Light, and it tastes exactly like a Bud Light, but which has the same effect on you as four bottles of vodka.\u201d<\/p>\n

I respect Ozzy as he is so open about the hell he went through due to his drug use. \u00a0I naively smoked this psychotic pot once about five years ago when I was trying to get help for stomach problems due to my medications and I remember thinking, \u201cWhat is this stuff? This is nuclear compared to the weed\u00a0I smoked in college in the 80s! What is it doing to my brain? Why am I thinking all of these thoughts, but I can\u2019t actually speak? Why can\u2019t I move my body! What the hell is going on?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0I\u2019m not out to tell you that pot is the boogeyman and that I want you to stop smoking because I have some control complex. I honestly don\u2019t care if you smoke pot or not as it\u2019s a personal choice. My goal is to educate people with bipolar disorder about the dangers of High THC POT so that they can make informed decisions that protect the brain. \u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

The argument that smoking pot is safe if you have bipolar disorder is\u00a0an argument\u00a0based off of a pot that no longer exists.\u00a0\u00a0The conversation about pot smoking and bipolar disorder\u00a0must be re-examined in the context of the pot that\u2019s being sold on\u00a0the market\u00a0today.<\/b><\/p>\n

Yes, many people smoke this high THC pot\u00a0and don\u2019t have psychotic symptoms, but they don\u2019t have bipolar disorder and aren\u2019t my concern!\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0People with bipolar disorder are my concern. People with bipolar disorder have brains that are more susceptible\u00a0to the THC in today\u2019s pot and we need to get the word out that comparing what used to be on the market to what is on the market today can be deadly.<\/p>\n

Why\u00a0do I know so much about this New Psychotic Pot?<\/b><\/p>\n

I broke my back and dislocated my hip in a biking accident in 2012 and have lived with severe chronic pain ever since. I very, very reluctantly tried medical marijuana once I found out I could\u00a0100% control the amount of THC I would put into my body.\u00a0 I charted my moods from the first time I tried the medical marijuana by asking for a low level THC.\u00a0\u00a0The THC in the medical marijuana strain I chose was the lowest level possible- well under 10% and I felt ok using it as part of my pain management plan. That was at the beginning. Months later, after a lot of unexpected and unexplained mania, I had to face the fact that even the lowest dose of THC marijuana was making me ill.<\/p>\n

Dispensaries Don’t Always Know the Risks<\/strong><\/p>\n

Even more worrisome was the lack of information in the dispensary. One day the regular medical marijuana I get from the dispensary was out and I very stupidly didn\u2019t do my research and tried a strain that had a slightly higher THC.\u00a0 Even though the THC level was considered low at 19% as compared to what the majority of recreational pot smokers use, I had a full on psychotic episode that lasted six hours and scared me to death. My main memory is being awake while being asleep and seeing people come out of my dreams into my living room while my body was rooted to the spot and unable to move.\u00a0My chronic bipolar psychosis has been under control for years and ONE experience with pot that had a higher THC count sent me over the edge. I will never let that happen again. I respect my brain too much to put anything in my body that will cause bipolar disorder symptoms.<\/p>\n

I worry about what this pot is doing to people with bipolar disorder who smoke it every day. I work as a coach for family members who regularly deal with pot induced psychosis in their loved ones who have bipolar disorder. This is how I was originally introduced to the problem. \u00a0We can\u2019t be ignorant on this topic anymore. For years, this new psychotic pot was underground and wasn\u2019t as accessible as it is today. Now it\u2019s sold like candy. Literally.<\/p>\n

I want us to be open about the risks posed by THC for those with mental health disorders. If you are someone who wants to smoke pot to calm down or deal with anxiety, please avoid pot with a THC level over 5%\u00a0\u00a0just to be safe. This is simply an opinion.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not for the legalization of marijuana in its current form as I believe easy access to the drug without highlighting the very real mental health dangers of THC is going to cause an epidemic of psychosis unlike anything we have ever seen in the mental health world. \u00a0I believe in labeling. A friend of mine has an opposite view- he believes that legalizing pot means people can see the THC content in what they are buying and as a result will make more informed choices. Maybe this is true.\u00a0 I\u2019m not naive. People are going to do drugs. It\u2019s part of being human. \u00a0Much of this comes down to minimizing risk. If you or someone you love has bipolar disorder and smokes pot, keep the THC low\u00a0and stay safe. Otherwise, it\u2019s a psychotic brain time bomb waiting to go off.<\/p>\n

Click here to read a study with the apt title Pot Smoking Boosts Mental Illness Risk Fivefold.<\/a> \u00a0Here are two quotes from the study:<\/p>\n

\u201cCompared with those who had never tried cannabis, users of high potency skunk-like cannabis had a threefold increase in risk of psychosis,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe risk to those who use every day was even higher \u2014 a fivefold increase compared to people who never use,\u201d she added in a statement.<\/p>\n

I ask that all of us in the bipolar disorder community talk openly\u00a0about the inherent risks of such easy access to marijuana. Let’s\u00a0not confuse the old pot with this new and highly dangerous psychotic pot.<\/p>\n

Can High THC Marijuana Use be Dangerous for People with Bipolar Disorder? \u00a0The answer is yes.<\/b><\/p>\n

This is not about politics, big pharma or the legalization argument. I simply want people with bipolar disorder to know the very real dangers of\u00a0what they are putting in their brains.<\/p>\n

Julie<\/p>\n

Update: \u00a0I would like to stress that the bipolar disorder and pot issue has many positives- unlike other drugs that can alter the course of a person\u2019s bipolar disorder permanently, such as cocaine and meth accelerating a person\u2019s mania, \u00a0the psychosis (and mania) caused by pot smoking can end \u00a0once the person stops smoking the pot. And from what I have seen so far, it doesn\u2019t come back unless the person starts smoking again. People with bipolar disorder often use substances to feel better- my issue is sugar, so I certainly understand the problem with self medicating. \u00a0 Once we decide the substance is not working for us and we want to change, it\u2019s essential that we have a healthy replacement for what we stop doing. \u00a0For example, if a person just stops smoking pot cold turkey and doesn\u2019t replace it with a positive alternative, \u00a0the pot remains inviting and the person will start smoking again. \u00a0This is a complicated problem, but one that CAN be solved.<\/p>\n

Here are more links to current articles and research:<\/p>\n

Cannabis-Related ED Visits Rise in States With Legalized Use<\/a><\/h3>\n

Pot’s Dark Side: Delusions, Psychotic Symptoms<\/a><\/h3>\n

I will add more articles as they come online.<\/p>\n

Education is power.<\/p>\n

\"neon<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"rainbowpotleaf-200x200\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A quick explanation on why I believe bipolar disorder and pot smoking don’t mix.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I have bipolar disorder. I work as a coach for parents and partners of children with bipolar disorder. Here are my experiences:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1. For over three years now, at least 50% of the coaching situations I experience involve POT smoking that leads to mania and abnormal amounts of psychosis in the person with bipolar disorder. In my experience, people who continue to smoke pot that causes bipolar disorder symptoms do not get better. At this time, three of the six clients I’m working with have children who are either in the hospital or are about to go into the hospital because of pot induced bipolar psychosis. It’s not a joke and I hope it can be addressed rationally and reasonably [ Read More ]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8930"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8930"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8930\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11197,"href":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8930\/revisions\/11197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bipolarhappens.com\/bhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}