Do patients use marijuana as an antidepressant?
Several lines of evidence suggest that cannabis may have antidepressant effects. However, methodologic limitations in available studies make the results difficult to interpret. We review this literature and present five cases in which the evidence seems particularly clear that marijuana produced a direct antidepressant effect. If true, these observations argue that many patients may use marijuana to "self-treat" depressive symptoms.
Gruber
A J
AJ
Biological Psychiatry Laboratory, McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts 02178, USA.
Pope
H G
HG
Brown
M E
ME
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect / Q000187:drug effects*; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000523:psychology; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D002189:Marijuana Abuse / Q000523:psychology*; D009042:Motivation; D011247:Pregnancy; D012651:Self Medication / Q000523:psychology