Marijuana and Depression - Is it Time to Quit Smoking Marijuana?

There is much controversy surrounding marijuana and depression. Some people say it helps the depressed to get rid of the symptoms if they smoke weed, other people claim that marijuana just adds to their illness. I wanted to write this article to let you know what happened in my case as I used to be a depressed marijuana smoker.



It seems like it helps.



When you're depressed, you really don't care about much. You don't even want to do anything or see anyone. I remember there were times in my life when I didn't even want to leave my bed. I know, it sounds scary and strange but it's true. You really lose the drive for life.



As you probably know, weed makes some people very happy, and to be honest with you, when you first start smoking it, you actually feel that it's helping you a bit. You start to regain the desire to go out and actually do something productive. You start looking at the world in a more positive way...



Then the dreadful day comes...



Unfortunately, after using weed for a long time you start to feel that marijuana and depression build on top off each other. The more you smoke, the more depressed you get, which obviously causes you to smoke even more. It becomes a vicious circle.



What's more, if you smoke enough, you can't really perform all that well. All you do requires a lot of effort and it just seems like your general ability to do things is much lower than it used to be before you started smoking. I know this sounds wild, but again, it's true.



You can regain your ability to function properly!



So, speaking of marijuana and depression, I don't think weed is a very effective way to fight depression. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. It might seem like you're doing better at first if you smoke, but then after some time things get much worse than they were before you first started.



Of course, I can't make you to do anything. After all, it's your life and you're responsible for it, but I would like you to at least consider becoming clean. When you do, it will be a great achievement that will definitely make you feel great about yourself and might even serve as a basis to getting rid of your depression all together. This was my path, and I am enjoying my first winter, without the winter blues!

Stop Smoking - It Can Worsen Depression and Bad Moods

Just when we thought there were enough cancer, heart disease and stroke reasons to stop smoking, comes another research finding that should help convince smokers to dump the habit. A new UK study has discovered that cigarettes can make depression worse in people who smoke. The research has also revealed that long-term nicotine addiction can deplete the brain of natural mood-boosting chemicals. This addiction, which some say is harder to beat than coming off heroin, seems to actually act the opposite way to anti-depression drugs. The study found that all too often, people who suffer from anxiety and other mental disorders mistakenly use smoking as self-medication, when, in fact, it is directly contributing to their bad moods and depression.



Up to 90% of smokers who quit smoking by cold turkey, go back to cigarettes in the first three months of quitting. Many people addicted to nicotine make five or more attempts to quit, before they are successful. A key mistake that many make is to turn to alcohol to replace cigarettes, which is like jumping from the frying pan into the fire because alcohol causes its own well known serious health problems. Others use the excuse that they will gain weight if they give up cigarettes, when research shows that smokers normally will not gain more than 10 pounds when they quit cigarettes.



Regular exercise and a change in your routine will also help reduce your craving for nicotine, by introducing mood-enhancing endorphins to your brain. Exercise will also help offset any weight effects of giving up cigarettes. Some simple ways to develop a non-smoking lifestyle are to throw out ashtrays and any packets of cigarettes you have lying around, because they remain keys to temptation, almost silently asking you to light up again. You should also avoid any usual haunts where you mingled with other smokers, in smoking environments. Make you new environment reflect your new non-smoking life. Smokers become accustomed to having something in their mouths; something for their hands to do, so chewing gum may help, or, better still, keep some healthy carrots or celery around to munch on when you feel the urge for another cigarette. One method, which has demonstrated up to a 60% success rate in helping smokers quit, is hypnotism. People have used professional hypno-therapists, or recordings of professional hypnosis sessions, to ensure that both their conscious and subconscious minds are aligned in their desire to give up nicotine.



By using readily-available recorded stop smoking hypnosis sessions, people seeking to quit can listen to these regularly, in the comfort of their own home, to actually develop a non-smoking habit.