Do Drugs Affect Moods?

By Jonathan D. Raskin, Ph.D.

Drugs can change mood. Just ask your pot-smoking friends. Marijuana often results in worried people worrying less! This doesn’t mean that cannabis “cures” anxiety or that those who smoke weed and feel calmer had anxiety disorders to begin with. It just means that drugs can alter mood. Thus, even if antidepressants can elevate sad people’s moods (and there is ample evidence suggesting they might, at least somewhat), this doesn’t necessarily indicate that the original depressed mood was a product of neurological illness. So, feeling better when on antidepressants isn’t automatically indicative that you suffered from a mental disorder before you started taking them. It just means that some drugs can improve mood.

• Jonathan D. Raskin, Ph.D.