Just close this page when you are done. (thanks) All along I kept smoking my pot. It seemed to help more than most of my meds. I can’t say all the meds they put me on were in-effective. There were some that really and truly helped. There were also others that I didn’t think were very beneficial. Some were downright addictive. Over a 15 yr period I have evolved to a point where I no longer need heavy psych meds. I have discovered a drug plan that works for me. I still use my pot. It now takes the place of benzodiazepams and anti-depressants. I don’t think I’ll ever stop smoking pot. My illness is now under control. Through intensive therapy I have learned some very good coping strategies. I look at life a little differently. The illness will never be gone and I will still have to contend with bad times and I still have problems with anxiety and socialphobia. I find a small pipe or two sets things right and I can continue on my way. I use it as a PRN (taken when needed). The psychiatric meds I was on had nasty side-effects ranging from dry mouth to serious complications like organ dysfunction or permanent palsies for example. There are no such tragic side-effects with pot. The worst I can imagine it does is affect your lungs. I am also a cigarette smoker. The amount of smoke I get from a small pipe of pot is nothing to a pack-a-day tobacco habit. In the news the scare mongers are at it again. Trying to convince the world that smoking pot causes mental illness. Who thinks these things up? They say adolescents who try smoking pot have a chance of developing a mental illness. Then they give us statistics gathered from ill-informed doctors who are buying into the War on Drugs. Adolescence is usually the time when mental illness shows its ugly head. Puberty has a wicked way about it. All kinds of changes happen to the human body during this change from child to adult. These affected children, most likely, are seeking relief from disabling symptoms of mental illness and self-medicating. Others might be coming from an abusive background in combination with the mental illness and as their illness sets in they use pot to hide from their utter hell. The treating physicians are erroneously equating the on-set of a genetic illness with pot use when it is actually the other way around. Their equation is wrong. The media has run with this idea now and it is plastered everywhere you look. I find it very disheartening that people are still clinging to Harry Anslinger’s racial propaganda gone wild. It’s sad that a large portion of our prison population is in for the use of a rather mild intoxicant. Booze is worse. With booze you loose your memory, you can become aggressive, people cause fights, disrupt families and kill others. None of this happens when you use pot. Quite the opposite. People become calm and enjoy other’s company. I believe that if used responsibly, pot can be extremely beneficial to many mental health patients. Now, I don’t advocate it blindly to everyone. I have witnessed some patients also taking all forms of benzodiazepams, painkillers and alcohol had an increase in the effects of those drugs even after a small amount of THC was ingested. Some reacted to pot with anxiety and did not enjoy the experience at all. Like any product it cannot be beneficial to 100% of the population. Especially when used in con-junction with alcohol or heavy narcotics. Just as some psychiatric meds have one effect on one person and a totally other effect on another - so with weed. But I do believe that it does more good than harm and therefore should be considered as an alternative medicine. Prescription meds are considered by the FDA on how beneficial they can be. Even if someone can be deadly allergic to a drug it is approved if it helps a larger percentage of the population than it harms. Take penicillin as a prime example. It can kill some people. Most it helps. And so I believe in the beneficial properties of pot. It helps most who use it. I have never heard of it killing anyone. The worst I have heard is that at times it may provoke an anxiety attack in some people. The very fact that it can relieve stress could put major drug companies at a distinct disadvantage. I am sure they have a vested interest in keeping pot illegal. They wish to push addictive medicines with horrible side-effects for the almighty buck. If we could grow a planter of stress relief in our gardens they would be out of business except for those they have managed to addict. That’s right – pot ain’t addictive. Bonus. Mental illness describes a wide range of disorders of the brain that disrupt a person's thinking, feeling, moods, and ability to relate to others. Anyone, regardless of age, race or gender, can develop a mental illness. The risk to develop a mental illness can be inherited, just as a risk for diabetes or heart disease is passed down in families. However, other factors such as problems in development prior to birth, imbalances in brain chemistry, traumatic personal experiences and other physical problems have been presumed to be contributors as well. 
Just as the optical illusion of the skull/lady in the mirror presents its view on reality, so is the confusion in mental illness to assess what is and what is not. Mental illnesses are caused by disorders of brain chemistry and function that affect how a person thinks, perceives and gets along in the world.
Some people with mental illness will need no support, others may need only occasional support, and still others may require more substantial, ongoing support to get through the day. When apprehension and tensions interfere with a person coping effectively with family, job, school or other demands of daily life, the condition must be regarded as a serious psychiatric disorder and should be treated as such. Quite often the disorder prevents the sufferer from holding a job or functioning on a daily basis. Mental illnesses are not the result of personal weakness, lack of character, or poor upbringing. Mental Illness is a brain illness. Those with mental illness are usually of normal intelligence although they may have difficulty performing at a normal level due to their illness. In the past, "Mental health" meant only mental illness, and mental illness was shrouded in such shame and stigma that many people neglected the issue. Today, much has changed. Research has given us tremendous knowledge about the brain and new medications; and mental health services have improved significantly. People with mental illnesses still face great stigma and discrimination. The importance of mental health promotion is under recognized, mental illness is the second leading cause of disability, and mental disorders affect one in five. On-line Psychicatric Screening Tests
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