DOSE: T+ 0:00	2 hits	smoked	Cannabis
T+ 0:00	2 hits	vaporized	Cannabis
T+ 24:00	2 hits	smoked	Cannabis

A year a go I went through psychosis and depression, this was caused by several different factors. Mainly that my dad had passed away, although I had not had any contact with him for a number [of years] the fact that I did not get to see him before he died played heavily on my mind. I was also traveling a long distance every day for work and was experiencing insomnia. As I slipped more into depression I started to heavily abuse cannabis.

When I developed psychosis I began to hear negative voices, became really paranoid at home and at work and I also believed that everyone I saw on the street knew what was going on in my life and that television adverts were specifically aimed at me.
All of this resulted in a psychotic episode where my mum called the police and ambulance and I was taken to A&E where I was assessed and put under the care of the home treatment team.

For the first few months I was put on escitalopram for the depression and Olanzipine for the psychotic symptoms. The Olanzipine was very effective, however it was very sedating. This was useful as it helped with the severe insomnia that I had.
After a few months I was transferred to the Early Intervention team, they decided that I no longer needed the escitalopram and that I should switch the Olanzapine for Aripiprazole as I had gained weight. In my experience Aripirazole was one of the worst experiences I have had so far, it was effective in terms of psychotic symptoms but the constant restlessness in my legs, nausea and blurred vision whenever the dosage changed was overall pretty hard to deal with for months on end.

In the end I spent 1 year on medication and have now been off of it for two months. The main reason for me writing this post is that I tried cannabis again for the first time in a year and this is my experience:

The first time that I tried it was with two of my friends at their flat, I had two hits of a joint followed by two hits of a vaporizer.
I became very high after what would be a small amount in terms of my use before psychosis, however I felt comfortable that I was with my friends then went out for some ramen in the central London with no problem.

The second time that I smoked cannabis was the next day at my flat. I had two hits of a joint then became really high to the point where I was really uncomfortable. I live on the ground floor of the apartment and my window is right next to the front door.
As the other people who live in my building would leave and enter I became really anxious that they would smell the smoke and then my mind fixated on all the negative things that they could be saying about me. My mind was focused on this and I was unable to follow a documentary I was watching on T.V. Overall it was a pretty bad experience.

My personal care co-ordinator suggested that if I do start using cannabis again I should go for hash as it is less psychoactive, the problem is that I am finding it hard to get a hold of anything other than pretty strong skunk in London.

Exp Year: 2015	ExpID: 106083
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: 25
Published: Nov 20, 2020	Views: 719
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Cannabis (1) : Retrospective / Summary (11), Difficult Experiences (5), Depression (15), General (1), Small Group (2-9) (17)