Hi, I’m a new member and a long time atheist.  I’ll spare any of the boring details of my life, etc.  I would like to say, though, that I think I may have found a forum that I can call home. 

I find it hard to meet people who understand my view of the world (not just in that I am an atheist but a skeptic in general) in my daily affairs and as such no longer have people whom I deem friends, nor do I really have any family who understand (not due to lack of effort, in their defense) the reason for my beliefs (or more accurately, the lack thereof in most cases) although I do have a girlfriend who understands and agrees with me on most points.  I’ve opened her mind to a lot of things and in the course of our relationship she has also started considering herself atheistic.  Beside the point, but she suffers from a rare form of kidney disease and has been on dialysis on and off for the past decade. 

I’m 31 years old and I find it perplexing that people can make it past their 20’s and still hold on to religious ideology and other silly notions and ignore science and the obvious answers which are in the world around us to questions that have posed themselves to man since his origin.

As a starting question, what are some of your feelings towards the use of Medicinal Marijuana, and on a scientific basis do any of you believe that it can be used in cases of mental conditions/disorders instead of SSRI’s?  I have no scientific background, I am not an MD or anything of the sort, and I’m on the fence as to whether or not it actually provides any benefits in this area.  Any links or information on studies in the area would be appreciated.

DC

Welcome DC,

There are several threads on the subject. Do a search of the word marijuana and it’ll link to several discussions here on that topic.

I’ll send that welcome. Sounds like you’ll fit in around here.

As for your marijuana question, I think it should be legal; not just for medical use but also for recreational use.

Welcome to the CFI Forum, DC. I hope you can find some friendly voices here. I’d be concerned about losing your old friends, unless you can find a way quickly to gain new ones. It’s always better to have friends than not—and one can’t always agree on all things with one’s friends. So long as they are friends you should be able to get over differences, either by discussing them maturely or by leaving them conveniently to one side.

Cheers,

Words of wisdom, Doug! I couldn’t agree more.

Welcome, DC.

Thanks for the welcome.  Thank you also, for the help on the search feature, I did find one thread on the subject last night.  I’ll keep it up, and keep current with any other topics of interest.

As for my former friends, I know it’s beneficial to have friends and I assure I am by no means some kind of hermit.  I’d just say that I’ve gone through a period in life where I realized who was really important to me and who wasn’t, and not many people made the cut.

Thanks again for the inviting welcome.

Welcome, DC.  I agree with what’s been said here including the legalization of marijuana.  However, I’m not sure about its use for mental problems since I’ve seen a close friend suffer.  He taught literature at a local small college, and was a concrete contractor on weekends; he had a wife and five kids and a nice, expensive home.  Then he was introduced to marijuana.  He started smoking it more and more frequently (almost full time), borrowed $6,000 under false pretences (I got a tax write-off), published a full page ad on some bizarre world saving movement in a local paper, ended up in the psychiatric ward of a V.A. hospital.  He lost his home, and his wife and kids finally had to go on welfare.  So, I’d say, use it for enjoyment, but if one has mental difficulties, try to work them out before trying it as a solution.

Occam

Welcome DC. I agree with all of the above WRT marijuana and SSRIs. They are apples and oranges. SSRIs don’t make you happy, they just keep you from being in the “dark”. Marijuana is a big deal primarily because it is illegal. It should be legal, but there are plenty of other issues that I’d place ahead of that. 

Thanks Occam.  I wasn’t particularly intending to use it myself for this purpose, although I was misdiagnosed as bi-polar (but these days it’s hard to find someone who hasn’t been) and I later found out that I have an anxiety disorder.

The reason I asked the question is that I know it isn’t a legal drug and hence standard trials can’t be held for it, but I’ve heard that for some people with some conditions in may be helpful without the terrible side effects that SSRI’s can cause.

I’ve been on Seroquel (an anti-psychotic) Effexor, and Paxil.  I drew the line when my doctor wanted to put me on Depakote, as I thought it was a bit extreme and was attempted within 2 months of changing the dosages of other medications which I had been on.  I sort of blame this on Kaiser Permanente and their staff more so than the medical field in general or mental health, but I still don’t think I was properly evaluated or cared for.

I’ve been unemployed for over a year now and off of my meds, and while I still haven’t found work in my field I don’t feel nearly as depressed as I had been nor do I believe myself to be bi-polar.  I don’t think I’m smarter than the doctors who determined my condition, but I think they may have been hasty in labeling me bi-polar considering that I had an addiction problem for several years and even though I was treated as dual-diagnosis I felt they were moving into putting me on different and new meds too quickly without waiting for the effects that my addiction had on me to subside after quitting.

Now that I’ve mentioned the addiction problem, I’d also like to mention that as an atheist I really couldn’t deal with the AA approach to sobriety so I’ve had to really focus and attempt to understand my addiction in the terms of reality in order to save myself.  It’s been a difficult journey but I’ve been sober for a year and a half now without attending AA or faith, which some theists believe to be nothing short of impossible.  I feel, however, that they simply trade in one addiction for another.  They give up their drug of choice and become addicted to attending meetings or to “God”, which I see less as a solution to their problem and more as trading in a bad addiction for one that isn’t as bad (depending on who you are asking, of course).

DC, I certainly agree with you on the bias of AA, however, the humanist associations such as CFI and AHA have equivalent groups that are at least as successful as AA and don’t have all the theistic crap in them.  You may want to check and see if there is one near you.

Occam

I’ve looked into some of these support groups, although I haven’t tried attending any sessions as I currently have limited means of transportation.  When I resolve that issue, however, I will begin attending these meetings as I feel that even though I’ve been able to maintain sobriety up to this point, having a support group of like-minded individuals couldn’t hurt.