More and more I find myself surrounded by people
“self-medicating”. Whether they’re
prescribed drugs from their doctor or get their medicine from the street
pharmacists, the purpose is commonly for the same reason: an escape. But when does self help become more
detrimental than beneficial, more of an addiction than a treatment plan?
One
could argue that the answer to that question lies within which drug a patient
chooses to medicate with. For
example, fighting pain after surgery or some trying medical treatment with
opiates like codeine or morphine can prove to be successful in escaping the
inconveniences of the hospital hallways.
However, dabble to heavily with these highly addictive psychoactive
drugs and you could find yourself searching for rehabilitation for more than
the bum knee you started with. But
what if you choose marijuana to help you self-medicate, that not addictive or
risky right? Well Dr. Gabriel Nahas would say “nobody can argue that habitual
use of marijuana does not exists” and regarding behavioral responses “the
appropriate response to an extremely wide range of stimulus demands, all can be
impaired by marijuana”.
Recent
times have transformed the general fear that most people have about using
marijuana to self-medicate into more of a small concern, though abusers of opiates are not so well
received. However, an even greater
danger that either of these two methods alone is the hazardous combination of
marijuana and prescribed antidepressants.
Studies have found that it is “impossible to precisely define the
effects produced by cross-medicating marijuana with antidepressants”( USA
Today). Going to the doctor is the
best way to seek medical attention for any number of alignments from depression
to insomnia, but when your doctor prescribes you a drug it is important to
inform them of what else your taking at home, or are currently on. Continuing to self medicate through marijuana
while ingesting prescribed antidepressants is reason for concern and can lead
to accelerated heartbeat, hypertension and transient delirium (USA Today). So next time you fill up the
prescription from your family doctor, be sure you tell him about what you
bought from the neighbor hood physician.
Sources:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/spotlight/2001-01-24-tyson.htm
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