[Paleopsych] Richard loses his keys

[Richard Metzger]

> Another way to frame that is to say if Richard had NOT smoked tons of
hash, he would
be president today

It's *possible.*

Steve's question here is interesting:



> If you have clients who are on psychiatric meds,
> and some who aren't, do you notice any difference
> in their responsiveness to talk therapy?
>

I would have to say --and as a psychologist, Lynn, you may not be
prescribing the meds, but still you should find this relevant-- that on one
level (never minding the obvious "addiction" and "he just *liked* being high
for 23 years" points one could make) I think that I was *self-medicating*
and that it helped me, rather than hindered me because I have a tendency to
be hyper --too hyper-- and I used marijuana to stay calm, the way someone
else might use Xanax or Valium perhaps, which to my mind (and trust me here,
I am a world class, internationally known *expert* on drugs) are FAR, FAR
worse for the body and mind than marijuana which --I'll point out the
obvious-- comes from nature, unlike these and other psychiatric drugs that
leave you feeling like a zombie for days when you overdo it.

It makes perfect sense, obviously, when you are aware (I write this both
objectively and subjectively here) that marihuana stimulates dopamine levels
in the brain.

There is something to be said for having lived 23 years in bliss, I must
tell you, but I am nevertheless happy (and so are my lungs) not to be an
"all day every day" pot smoker. After 23 years and reaching my late 30's, it
was time to stop for several reasons, not the least of which I'd been
overdoing it for far too long anyway!

I have a friend who was severely depressed and on Prozac for two years
before he started to investigate other options. He credits Prozac for
"saving his life" but when he realized that he was unable to cry for his
mother when his parents got divorced, he got off it and started taking
various combinations of amino acids that he read about in "The Way Up from
Down" (online in its entirety in several places) and now feels amazing,
never a hint of depression.

Richard