Some people says it helps them. Alot of people say it makes them worse, more paranoid as you say.

I fall into the camp of it being very individual, when it clearly makes things worse it's a mistake. I wouldn't recommend trying it if you've never tried it before either because it is incredibly variable in strength and content.

A lot of people have the misconception that because marijuana is "natural" that somehow it is okay to use. It's not. It's a drug. If you use it while on another medication, it can really mess up the efficacy of the other medication. And even if you're not on another medication, marijuana has a huge impact on the biochemical balances in your system - it is simply bad for the body, bad for your metabolism, and in turn, bad for your mental health and stability.

People who are bipolar and people who are not bipolar self-medicate, and some self-medicate with pot. Marijuana is addictive, don't believe all that bullshit mumbo-jumbo about "natural remedies" - anything that makes your blood sugar drop like a stone is obviously affecting you in a negative way. (That's where the "munchies" come from in case you didn't know.)

Your boyfriend is avoiding becoming stable, and he's lying to his doctors if he's not telling them that he is smoking dope and screwing with his treatment. And he must ne getting it illegally, and thus committing a crime each time, too, right? I can't see anything good about that, can you?

The only time marijuana has legitimate medical uses is when it is being prescribed by a qualified, licensed medical doctor. Usage for chemo patients, diabetics with eye problems, that sort of thing. That's not your boyfriend's problem.

Well said Cliffskat, I completely agree. I found out recently that my husband had been using pot & other street drugs either with his psychotropic meds, or instead of them and it had disastrous results! Please encourage him to work with his psychiatrist to stabilize him with meds, and leading a healthy lifestyle.

My husband is exactly the same, he couldn't see what smoking dope was doing to him, but I could, it made him more paranoid and certainly didn't agree with the meds, but no amount of telling him what was good for him, would work for him, he was determined to carry on smoking cause it, cause it made him feel good, but there was always a downside to it, with the depression. He left me 5 years ago and it breaks my heart to, to see how unstable he is now. Keep talking and encouraging him to listen to his psychiatrist, that and a healthy lifestyle is the only way forward

My boyfriend has BP2 and says that it helps him a lot. While it can increase my anxiety and paranoia, it seems to calm him down significantly when he is upset or depressed. He gets this feeling I call "cement brain" where he says things like "I can't think good right now." He is incredibly smart, articulate, and creative. We used to smoke a ton together when we first started dating. It is only in the last month that I have stopped in order to undergo ADD testing and get an accurate result. He doesn't have a job but finds money to spend on weed and eats hotdogs and mac and cheese. Love him dearly and can see the ways in which it has helped him in the past but also am worried about the way it messes with his brain chemistry which is so relevant to his moods.