Green Pee and Depression- What Alt-Med Got Me

Guest Post by Anonymous I served in the U.S. Navy from 2002 to 2006. I saw no combat-- I was a radio operator on an aircraft carrier-- so I had no idea how hard it was going to be to transition out of the military. After a 14-month-long deployment, I was honorably discharged, and in my first year as a civilian, I ended up in an abusive relationship and suffering from a serious drug problem. I didn't know it at the time, but these problems were caused (and worsened) by serious mental illness that was completely untreated. Pulling myself up from rock bottom was hard and painful. After a night in jail my abusive relationship was over. After a week locked in my best friend's guest bedroom crying, sweating, and puking, my addiction to prescription drugs and crack cocaine was over. When I emerged-- weighing about 100 pounds and with a shaved head-- I set out to “fix” myself, but I had no idea where to begin. The anxiety and delusion caused by mental illness makes it easy to believe things that aren't true, especially when they're comforting and when you've been burned by "the establishment." My hippie friends told me all about remedies and therapies they'd read online, and I accepted them. They said that I was depressed, so I should take Saint John's wort. They said I was malnourished so I needed to eat all organic, raw foods. They said I was manic, so I needed to use lavender oil and drink 25 cups of tea a day. They said I had no enthusiasm, so I needed to learn yoga and meditation. They said I was in pain all the time, so I needed acupuncture and herbs. I spent so much time and money pursuing these treatments, and they didn't help at all. I was beginning to think that the feelings I was having, and my inability to function normally, must be my fault. Those feelings of self-blame spiraled out of control for years and grew worse and worse. When my grandmother passed away last Thanksgiving, I went to bed and did not get up for a month. I was enrolled in school, but I didn't care and instead of studying or doing homework, I would climb into bed and cry. I kept telling myself that the vitamins and herbs had to be working and that if they weren't, I was to blame. But instead of relief, they gave me bright-green urine and a horrible case of depression. My grades suffered and I lost many of the things I once loved and valued. Finally, one day, I realized it: something was wrong with me, and I needed to go to a doctor. I regret that it took me as long as it did, but when I went to the doctor, he finally gave me hope. He diagnosed me with post-traumatic stress disorder and prescribed me Cymbalta, which I have been taking ever since. I started in cognitive-behavioral therapy. I threw out my herbs and potions. I started eating food that makes me happy, whether it's organic celery or a donut, and I don't feel guilty about it. I'm studying biology (thanks to this experience!) and I'm doing great. I have hobbies again. I get excited about things again. I finally have my life back thanks to evidence-based mental health care, and it pains me to think that I could have had this relief so much sooner if I'd just gone to a doctor instead of listening to my friends. If you are suffering, please seek treatment-- real treatment, not the kind that your friends suggest. You don't have to suffer anymore.

What if Pot Were a Pharmaceutical Drug?

Let's play a game for a minute. Let's say that Big Pharma has released a new line of medication that, they say, can treat almost any condition. Although there isn't much evidence to back its use for anything besides nausea and anorexia, they recommend it to treat everything from cancer and epilepsy to depression and anxiety. They even say it's safe for kids and suggest giving it to kids with autism to control their tantrums. Pregnant women take it and so do nursing moms, even though the risks of this are unknown. Doctors are given kickbacks for prescribing it, and it spreads like wildfire.

But, soon after it hits the market, it's clear that it has some serious side effects. A lot of people say it makes them sleepy or dissociated. Although widely prescribed as a treatment for anxiety disorders, most patients find that it causes panic attacks in people susceptible to them. It becomes famous for causing paranoia. Some people using it experience delusions and hallucinations. Others make irresponsible and reckless decisions they would not ordinarily make. Some people experience full-blown psychosis that becomes chronic and are later diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. It seems to increase the risk of suicide, especially in teens, and driving after taking it proves to be dangerous. It also acts as a powerful appetite stimulant and causes unwanted weight gain in many people using it. Long-term, people taking the medication show decreased IQ and higher rates of some forms of cancer. People who are unhappy with the side effects try to quit, but, for some, it is psychologically addictive.

In the end, the American Medical Association, American Society of Addiction Medicine, and American Academy of Pediatrics reach a consensus that the risks of this drug are greater than the benefits. They say that the evidence of benefit is small and that the risks are unacceptably high.

Surely, in this situation, the crunchy community would be up in arms about how dangerous it was for the FDA to ever approve a drug with so many side effects and so few benefits, and how horrible the physicians were for prescribing it with so little evidence. So why is it that, when the drug in question is pot, so many people are willing to wave aside all the side effects and risks? Why is it that, when the people recommending it are laymen and not doctors, it is assumed to be safer and more effective than prescription alternatives?

Despite what it may sound like, I'm not a Reefer Madness type. I smoked enough weed in one summer to last a couple of lifetimes; I'm not a stranger to it. I support the legalization of recreational marijuana and, hey, if someone gets a medicinal benefit from it, that's fine too. I understand that it is no more harmful than tobacco or alcohol and I don't think that banning it entirely is a good solution. However, it's worrisome to me that the crunchy community so overwhelmingly supports medicinal marijuana even though it would not support the use of a pharmaceutical drug with the same side effects and the same very limited number of benefits.

We can't ignore the risks of marijuana. It's not poison-- smoking it one time, or even regularly, probably won't kill you. But if you're unlucky enough, or stupid enough, you could be one of the people who gets in a wreck while driving high. Or you could be one of the many people who experiences the onset severe depression or anxiety after using it. (I was one of those people and found that my mental health improved dramatically after I stopped smoking.) Or, worse, you could be one of the people who develops schizophrenia or bipolar disorder after smoking it for the first time. That's not common, but it happens: we can't ignore science just because it makes us uncomfortable. More likely than any of these things, though, you could become one of the many people who gets high all the time and turns fat, lazy, and stupid as a result.

All of these risks exist-- some of them to a greater degree- with alcohol, and that's why I don't have an issue with recreational marijuana use. If you want to light up because it's fun, I don't see a problem with it. What I see a problem with, is people encouraging each other to smoke weed for medicinal purposes, when they would never recommend a prescription drug that caused the same number of side effects and risks. Unless you'd also tell your friend to pop a prescription medication that would likely make him hungry, sleepy, and unable to safely drive, it's time to stop suggesting that everyone use pot as a DIY treatment for every medical condition in the world.