ADHD and Cannabis: Can Cannabis Treat ADHD Symptoms?
Cannabis, marijuana, weed, hash, grass… it doesn’t matter what you call it, it’s an illegal substance and many people with depression, mood disorders, or ADHD are using it to self-medicate and make them feel better. But is it really helping those who take it for ADHD? There are many points of view on this matter, and getting to the bottom of things is going to take quite a few years of research and study. This, however, is what we know right now about the effects of marijuana on those with ADHD.
What ADHD Sufferers Are Saying
Many of those with ADHD who are using cannabis say that it makes them feel better, more relaxed, and that it helps them function. It’s long been known that whether you smoke it, make tea out of it, or even eat it, it is very relaxing and gives the person under its influence a sense of ‘not caring’ about what is going on around them. It can be hard to get that feeling, even fleetingly if you have ADHD, so this effect is rather desirable for many.
Using cannabis can also help a person to sleep. Again, many of those with ADHD have difficulties sleeping and may also suffer from some kind of additional disorder relating to sleep. So the cannabis helps to allow the affected person to get much needed rest during the night. Getting this rest can cause other symptoms of ADHD to be less noticeable, or to even go away completely.
What Doctors Are Saying
While some doctors are not against treating ADHD symptoms with cannabis, others are strongly opposed to it.
According to Fernando Rodriguez de Fonseca and his colleagues who studied the effects of cannabis in late 2004, the long term use of weed shows diminished learning abilities and moderate to severe memory loss in patients that have ADHD, as well as those patients who do not. Cannabis comes with its own separate set of actions that can add to or change the symptoms that a person already suffering from ADHD is experiencing. This change in symptoms may lead ADHD sufferers to believe that the marijuana is helping them, when in reality; it is only masking symptoms with different ones.
Smoking pot can also lead to a lack of motivation to get out into the world and take on responsibilities, such as relationships or jobs. Oftentimes, ADHD users of marijuana spend too much time indoors, on computers and video games that they forget what real life is about. It makes it even harder for them to adjust to a social life when and if they were to ever spend more than just a few minutes socializing. And of course, not having a job can lead to problems such as not being able to pay their bills or never being able to get out on their own.
Conclusion
While there are some who abuse the use of cannabis to ‘self medicate’ and relieve their symptoms, many who use the drug casually and in moderation find that it helps to relieve many of their symptoms without the harsher side effects of prolonged and excessive use.
Resources
Dr. Paul Latimer: Does cannabis help ADHD?
Cannabis ‘scripts to calm kids?