Posted on January 24, 2023 View all news
My son started smoking weed during his junior year of high school. He graduated with Honors and received a full scholarship to a private university where he worked on a degree in engineering, played basketball, wrote music, and held a job.
But there is when he began vaping and dabbing THC. He was able to order vape cartridges and THC vials online.
In his junior year of college, he totaled his car under the influence of THC and didn’t even get a ticket. Soon after, he started skipping classes and exams, lost his scholarship, ended relationships, stopped exercising, and lost interest in music and family.
At this point, he was vomiting regularly and went from weighing 145 lbs to 113 lbs.
Auditory and visual hallucinations were noticed when he was 20. At this time, I saw him high 24/7.
He agreed to admit himself to a behavioral health hospital and was treated for psychosis and Major Depressive Disorder. After discharge, he was not compliant with the medications he was prescribed or with his outpatient program and soon started using marijuana again.
Several months later, our family did an intervention, and he agreed to get help. At this time, my son was moving in slow motion and having trouble walking and talking.
We found a dual-diagnosis treatment facility, but my son told the staff that he had been sober for three months when the facility did the over-the-phone assessment. The facility refused to admit him because of this.
So, I took him to a psychiatric hospital where he was diagnosed with Cannabis–Induced Psychosis. My son’s hallucinations were terrible at this time, and he could not carry on a normal conversation. He told the nurse that the voices in his head were mean, and he struggled to calm them down, but they would not fully admit him because he said he was not suicidal.
Eventually, he was admitted to another behavioral health hospital, but after only 11 days, we were told he needed a higher level of care for his mental health issues. He was then admitted to another psychiatric hospital and was diagnosed with psychosis and anxiety. The hospital referred him to a sober living home and outpatient care upon discharge.
He had been at sober living for only four days when the owner called me and asked me to pick him up. The owner said he was acting strange and worrying the other men in the home.
I picked him up, and we got on a plane to California because I had secured a bed at a dual-diagnosis treatment facility. It was a miracle that we made it through security and onto the plane. My son was highly agitated, argued with himself out loud, and made erratic wild gestures. I gave him medication to calm him for the flight, but he did not rest. All he did was stare straight ahead for almost 3 hours.
When we got to California, he was pacing and speaking very loudly in the hotel room, talking to voices in his head.
The next day, he was admitted to the treatment facility. When I was boarding the plane to fly back to my home state, the hospital called and said my son needed a higher level of care. They informed me that they transferred him to a psychiatric hospital for acute cases and assured me my son was in good hands.
When I got home, the hospital called and said my son had refused to be admitted to the hospital and they would be releasing him. I got a family psychiatrist to call my son and convince him to accept being admitted to the hospital. Within a few days, this hospital called and told me my son had Covid and needed to be isolated before engaging in the treatment program. The psychiatric hospital said if I didn’t pick him up right away, the hospital would charge me a daily rate, which would cost me thousands of dollars.
Thankfully my son’s father flew to California and was able to pick him up from the hospital. He took him to a hotel for isolation to keep him safe.
But they say it’s just a plant and less harmful than alcohol. I disagree. This is happening to thousands of families across America.
This is a long-term uphill battle that is worth our sustained effort.
We wholeheartedly know that Every Brain Matters.
Please join Every Brain Matters.
Loving mother
With the mega demand for and supply of Marijuana in the US and Australia these psychosis cases must be occurring daily in our Public Hospital EDs and Psychiatric Units. Can someone please reveal to Every Brain Matters the reason why medical doctors and psychiatrists are not sounding the alarm and taking cannabis prohibitive action modeled on anti-tobacco education warnings.