Does cannabis use affect bipolar disorder symptoms?

Marijuana and mental health links continue to be explored. Questions like whether cannabis could be used as a mood stabilizer in bipolar disorder, or whether cannabis use affects bipolar symptoms are often raised.

In this video, I address the relationship between cannabis use and bipolar symptoms.
I summarize what is known from scientific studies that address the use of cannabis in bipolar disorder.

This is a recording of lecture given to a group of doctors, so it's a bit technical and long.
Here are the key findings:
→ There is not much evidence showing that marijuana helps with bipolar symptoms
→ People who use cannabis tend to develop bipolar symptoms at earlier ages compared to people who don't use cannabis.
→ Among people with bipolar disorder, those who use cannabis tend to experience more symptoms and more disabling symptoms
→ There are higher rates of suicide among people with bipolar disorder who use cannabis compared to those who don't use cannabis.

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#askapsychiatrist

[shaggyshwag]

watching this while high and bipolar rn

[sarahhoyt]

I have to agree with a lot of the folks commenting here. Even though using marijuana might not be a good fit for everyone living with Bipolar disorder, in my personal experience it has been the one single thing that has ever helped bring me to a normal or peaceful state, especially in helping to calm my mind in the worst episodes on either spectrum. As with any medicine, it should be used properly to get the desired effects. And too much too often can lead to other issues. But more research should be done in the healing benefits of the plant for those suffering with Bipolar disorder, and for many of us..it has literally been a life saver.

[ericr]

Cannabis use over an extended time causes a debilitating episode for me every time. Sober now for 1 week. I have learned my lesson

[samanyt]

Pot has drained ny pockets and makes me worse. I wish I didn't begin smoking at 14. I wish friends wouldn't laugh when I say it's hard to stop smoking. I even had to lie about opioid use just to get into rehab to detox from cannabis. Don't sleep on cannabis addiction. Now it's socially acceptable and makes you look weird if you shun it. Like "oh try a different strain bs" . Idk man I've smoked the best and some of the worse. Just all seems the same bud.

[nocturnalsingularity]

I was diagnosed with bipolar after being hospitalized during a manic episode. Prior to this awful night I'd been massively depressed. Wouldn't bath, never changed clothes, I even stopped thinking about sex, wouldn't speak or leave my bedroom. All the while I smoked pot. Eventually I stopped sleeping, I would stay in my room smoking and entertaining myself with my own thoughts. Laughing at my own jokes, starting one thought and jumping into another, watch the sun rise and seriously contemplate "why, if you don't have to, would you sleep " I'd even wake my brother up in the middle of the night because I really just stopped understanding sleep. I didn't even notice that I'd forgotten what it felt like to feel tired. All the while I smoked weed. Actually I used to think that my manic episodes weren't anything more then me just smoking good bud lol. All my friends are like "that shit knocked me out" I'm cleaning my room like "I HAVEN'T SLEPT IN DAYS ". So, sorry to the weed bipolar community but I myself did not experience any good results. Shit, I was stoned the night I got injected with Geodon, handcuffed and brought to an institution. Weed does nothing good for me or my bipolar

[buttercup]

I've noticed that weed tends to expand whatever episode I'm in at the time. Depression becomes more depressing and mania is more, well, manic... However, it has been useful as a sleep aid occasionally but in times when I've stopped usage cold turkey, I would get very bad insomnia which would induce hypomania/mania. Interestingly, when I'm hypomanic/manic, I have a bit of an aversion to weed as it will tend to slow me down and I don't want to be slowed down. I feel as though I'm already sharp as a tack and that it would impede whatever the mania is facilitating in my thinking.

[sarahloyd]

Sativa to treat depressive episodes and Indica to treat manic episodes. My own routine is 2:1 cbd sativa in the am and Indica in the pm. It has helped me tremendously.

[fugazi]

Started microdosing cannabis 2 years ago, gradually increasing use until COVID hit and I stayed high 24/7. Using higher THC concentration strains interfered with my bipolar II treatment regimen (Lamictal, Wellbutrin XL, and Celexa) and I became hypomanic. Eventually quit my job, sold my truck, and decided to wean off of my meds and try to use CBD, CBG, and THC to manage bipolar and depression. After quitting Lamictal I became extremely depressed and suicidal, ended up in the hospital and had to restart all meds one at a time and taper back up very slowly. I was in the hospital at New Years and have been suicidal up until the beginning of May. Slowly feeling better. I still can’t believe I never considered how using marijuana could interfere my with my medical treatment. Would have been nice to have seen this talk a couple years ago.

[amirrastgoo]

Any BP dudes here preparing, getting, or being SO high and is taking it mindfully?

Well done!

And thanks to the Dr making this video

[blank]

I’m high right now and the calmest I have been in days

[cclark]

It’s actually crazy how as soon as I tried marijuana after a long 6 month bout from it I was INSTANTLY triggered into a deep depression, three weeks since I still haven’t recovered and it’s taken me 16 years to figure out this vicious pattern that’s been ruining my life

[juanjohnsonvideo]

I love how people who don't have or experience something feel they can have such a expert opinion w no real life experience

[LegionOfShrooms]

I take my meds if I get angry I smoke. It chills me out but must be indica

[tommygurreri]

I found your channel after seeing your ad on Upwork; great stuff!

[puffing_bear]

ive had two episodes of psychosis before... the first one was daily smoking morning lunch and night... for about 7 months my memory got very bad eventually and i had to quit smoking, thats when i couldnt sleep and ended up in psychosis believing cops/gangsters were after me but was all in my head... eventually my dad got me out the psych ward since the conditions in there were so bad (due to corrupt south african government that has messed up everything the Europeans built here)... i struggled to work after this... i was on anti psychotics and well i just didnt have any fight in me those days, sometimes i wonder if these meds just take the fight out of us.... and put us in a permanent flight state of mind... how can one live and thrive this way when everything feels like it's not you it's the meds that are in control.... anyhow the private psych i was seeing at the time put me on mood stabilizers and that too felt quite depersonalizing nothing in my life felt real, i didnt feel in control and thus life lost its meaning to me, its funny how in psychosis you see meaning in EVERYTHING then they extinguish your fire and you struggle to see the meaning again... anyway i got myself off the meds and starting puffing again... this time a bit more conciously would abstain from smoking in the week for the most part.... eventually i got a better job and bought my own apartment, although ive noticed i didnt have so much luck with the ladies whilst smoking (probably coz i picked up a bit of weight from all the munchies during the smoking years) and perhaps my loss of romantical witt whilst being stoned. I kept my job and lived a nice free life, some sort of "mania" is probably what kept me productive throughout the years, I feel far smarter on a EQ level when im off the meds, compared to when I'm on it, how can one navigate life successfully when you lose your EQ completely, this world entails navigating other people, and I think a drugged up zombie loses all ability in that sense... anyhow eventually i hit quite a depressive phase in my life of living in my apartment alone with my cat and mostly smoking to get any feeling of joy and furfillment... around this time we had to back to the office after covid... I didnt want to go back and deal with people on a almost daily basis, i rebelled, acted out... started smoking more and eventually quitting my job, my easy high paying job that is, sigh. I ended up having to dig into my retirement which ive only been paying for about 3 years (im 27 now) this kept my bills paid, but the impending doom of finances running out was always hanging over my head. I smoked myself in the next couple of months very much to the breaking point, some family drama ensued and seeing a family member being far deeper in poverty and despair than I caused myself to very well break, another episode of psychosis ensued... month in a pyshc ward inbetween gang ridden neighborhood folk, being the only white guy in there... eventually got discharged and tears of joy overcame me. well now its 5 months later, i got myself off the anti psychotics after the first 2 months, trying to be an outpatient to our government's intituations just makes you lose all hope in humanity and you really just feel like a piece of livestock being fed pills without them giving a F. i had a smoke of the goodol mary jane again recently, and man, i feel like ive been more alive this past week compared to the past 5 months combined... I was in a very depressive slump and a smoke of mary jane got me right back out of it... im on my second day now again of not smoking and while the craving is there im instead induldging in writing this short story on a youtube comment, ultinately I really want to write a book. May you all that made it this far get the most out of life and love yourself no matter what label they paint you with, realise that you have far more power than your average Joe, just learn to harness and control it.

[yourgirlchase]

I was a daily smoker for 5+ years, and then I slowed down a little, but still smoked quite a bit. Then I started taking Abilify and my tolerance disappeared; weed started making me anxious, paranoid, irritable, it was awful. I haven’t gone near THC in over a year now. I still use CBD from time to time, but more for my chronic pain than BP symptoms. I really miss weed sometimes.

[shannonstearns]

Thank you. This is an excellent synopsis of the relevant and recent literature, and elucidates my clinical observation.

[argentodawg]

I am diagnosed with Bipolar 1 w/ Psychosis, and cannabis actually HELPS keep me distracted from any psychosis that occurs, to the point that it even goes away. Everyone's brain is different regardless of whether you have the same disorder(s).

[aguest]

Personally I had to go back to using some form on hemp to help with manic episodes. I've tried many medications throughout my youth that either didn't work or made me feel worse overall (Depression, more anxiety, robot feeling, lifeless). I had been on and off using Marijuana and came to realize it was a great way to suppress a manic state for me as there was a year I had quit using and was undergoing ongoing manic episodes throughout the year, once I switch back to using hemp my symptoms were Immediately relieved and I have had no ongoing manic episodes since then.

Basically it helps level out mood for myself over the years and for me it prevents manic episodes from occurring. The episodes I would have would cause mostly Grandiose ideas, racing thoughts, and an overall disassociation from reality. Even when not going through a manic episode hemp helps relive the general racing thoughts issues I have outside of Bipolar Disorder.

[Roscoesadie]

I've been taking medications for 10 years and they ruined my life now I just smoke weed all day and I feel great.