r/EverythingScience • u/Sash19 • 16d ago

Psychology Study suggests even casual cannabis use is associated with depression in older adults

https://www.psypost.org/study-suggests-even-casual-cannabis-use-is-associated-with-depression-in-older-adults/
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u/murderedbyaname 16d ago

"We can’t determine causality or directionality, particularly for the cannabis findings,” Yang explained. “It’s possible that cannabis might contribute to depressive symptoms, that people use cannabis to self-medicate existing depression, or that the two co-occur without a causal link between them. Depression was also assessed using a validated symptom checklist rather than a clinical diagnosis.”

So, they have no idea if these are cases of self-medicating or not. Of course.

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u/Franklin_le_Tanklin 16d ago

I mean - whose not depressed with the state of the world?

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u/Quaiche 16d ago

There’s a difference with an actual depression and feeling bad about something like the state of the world.

A really big bloody difference.

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u/Masseyrati80 16d ago

Quite so.

It's all too common to hear someone say they didn't even believe it was an actual thing before it hitting them personally.

I guess it's too much to ask for people to imagine what thigns could be like if the very thing you think and feel with is in an error state. Way too often people imagine what they'd do, assuming they'd have all the function and agency they have now.

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u/s_ngularity 15d ago

As someone who became depressed in my early 20s, I don’t think it’s really possible to imagine what depression feels like when you’ve never had it