marijuana and anxiety levels

[Guest melancholic]

I've been a regular smoker for nearly a year now (previous use was scattered and rare), and I've definately paid a price for it. I've found that, not only are my anxiety levels increasing, but I'm finding it harder and harder to experience new situations, I'm withdrawing into my own mind too often. I've always been a quiet and shy person, and ever since I learnt enough about myself to understand, I've been trying to be more confident, and build more self-esteem.

 

As much as I love my weed, I think it is the worst thing for me right now! I know I should stop smoking, or at least reduce my intake. I don't smoke very much, but only because I don't need much to get stoned. I always find myself thinking on the way home from work "god I'd love a cone" then in the next breath "no! You shouldn't smoke, its fucking you up!". In the end I just say "fuck it" and have a smoke. I've found I'm beginning to enjoy some things only when I'm stoned, and I get frustrated when I can't smoke. Its like I've developed a psychological dependence on weed, and I'm going around in circles. I don't want to smoke - because I feel shy, anxious and unhappy, and smoking makes these feelings more overwhelming (not while stoned, just in general); but then I keep smoking - because I'm feeling unhappy and alone, and its easy to get stoned and forget about it!

 

 

I doubt that I'm alone in experiencing this sort of personality change from marijuana use, so I'm wondering if anybody else has come across some good reversal techniques? I'm not interested in taking more drugs (legal or otherwise), just some tips.

 

If you recommend I just stop smoking altogether, then please do tell, the more I'm told, the more likely I am to take up the advice!

[Oblivion]

Smoking is like a gazillion other things that you can hide behind when things arn't going right..... instead of really worrying about something you can go fuck it and get stoned and volah you forget about your problems but sure thing when you straighten up back ya problem is back...... hiding behind anything aint cool (i know i do it to m uch) let alone using weed as escapism. My suggestion is either quit (aint that easy but not shit hard) or treat ya weed like having a phew beers when you come home from work and live the rest of your life how you want...... weed is good as part of your life but is bad if it is your life.

[white_cluster]

stop smoking the shit then, It don't suit some minds and over the years I've watched many schoolfriends go wacko, I'm probably included there. i'm not to mentally well. Just dont smoke the shit.

 

Also with any drug, even a drug as weak as pot, you must have a positive attitude about things. All drugs generally exaggerate your current feelings. If you are sad and depressed when you smoke that will generally get worse the amount you smoke.

 

Take a positive attitude about this shit, pot obviously doesn't effect everyone like it effects you, so maybe you are the problem, maybe you are just a paranoid, unhappy guy.

 

Anyways there is no point in smoking pot if you are paranoid about the effects it will have on you. Even though it seems like you are stoned off your nut, you gotta realise that pot is a weak drug and once you have a tolerance most of what you feel is just the habit of your mind.

 

Try changing the situation in which you smoke, if every session is just sitting in your longue room watching TV, then try something new, go climb a mountain and take a sandwich and sit up there smoking pot and looking at the views..... or something like that, something that will get your mind off other shit.

 

Just dont judge pot as a drug that makes you anxious and paranoid, it obviously can, but it also has the effects of making people really happy, or just put them in a peaceful melancholic state. You are paranoid about getting paranoid, so your obviously gonna get paranoid, even if we replace your pot with parsley.

 

Maybe you should just try 1 smoke a month or something like that, and when you do have that smoke, sit back and really concentrate on the effects its having on you. Read some books or something that will get you inspired to think of something totally outside your life then smoke some bongs and philosophise.

 

What I'm trying to get across is, I been a heavy smoker for 10+ years, there was a stage as a teen where I was mental, and pot was doing funny shit, like my friends would pass me a bong and say "here ya go" or something like that, and I would hear "Im gonna fucking kill you motherfucker.", I was mad, I always felt that I had shit myself and i was sitting on my shit and everyone could smell me, i'd even go so far to think those childish thoughts that everyone is an actor or robot merely here for me to live my life, fucking crazy, but it wasn't nothing to do with the fact I smoke pot all day.

 

These days pot makes me happy almost all the time, Because I love pot and I know after how much of my life I've dedicated to her she is gonna love me back. Shes a woman you see, and women need to be told how you feel about them, there is no point in starting a relationship with pot if there is no love and commitment to begin with.

[Guest Babybear]

I been smokin pretty regular for the 2 1/2 yrs or so , i find it hasnt changed my mentalness to much , if anythin weird, my vocabulary has expended accordering to friend of mine i dont see to offten..

 

With guys , i find that most of the smokers i know get "bitchey" which i find smokers seam to get Alot bitchyer thena woman do , so mabie that thing about weed lowering testosteronce is right..

 

 

so mabie it makes the womens testosteroner higher? just some things about my self an other girls iv notuced,

But like i saw in the about posts,

It don't suit some minds and over the years I've watched many schoolfriends go wacko,

as some ppl from just one cone go wacky an i seen it happen ,

[Joe]

if anythin weird, my vocabulary has expended accordering to friend of mine i dont see to offten..

 

 

 

I don't want to smoke - because I feel shy, anxious and unhappy, and smoking makes these feelings more overwhelming

 

I think you have answered your own question there. Perhaps you should give it a break - at least until you deal with the other issues. If you can do it pot can be good for examining yourself and seeing the root cause of these issues and more importantly, how to overcome them, what to do so to no longer feel them.

 

Next time you have a cone, or (if you wanna stop) instead of having your next cone, sit down and list all the thyings you have ever done that make you feel happy about yourself. Focus on them and on the fact that you have the ability to do stuff you can take some pride in.

 

Thats always a good start.

[Buster]

I think most people have experienced the paranoid side of pot at one time or another, I know I have! One thing you have to remember is that YOU are in control of things you do.

 

About 6 years ago I was traveling a very similar path to the one you feel you are on right now. I used to smoke all the time, I mean ALL the time. I used to get to work in the morning and everyone there smoked so it would be a J before work, a J for a break at 10, a J for lunch..... and this is how things went for about a year. I started to get very paranoid about my life and how people saw me. All my friends were heavey tokers too but they never meantioned anything about feeling the same way I felt. I became quite shy, I had low self-esteem and spent most of my time in my own head and to be honest I was getting pissed off with my own company.

 

It got so much in the end that I decided something had to change and I made a drastic move and decided to go into the British Army. I have no regrets about the choice I made. I still had a smoke when home on leave, it was sorta like a well earned rest and one I enjoyed very much seeing as most (but not all) of the time was spent drug free.

 

Anyway, to cut a long story short, I don't think there is any need for you to make such a full on choice as I did, just remember you are in control of what you do and you are best intune with yourself to know what to do. If smoking pot starting to get to you then the answer is simple..... stop for a while, have a break, find a new outlet and achieve something that you didn't think you could do and you'll feel a lot better about things!

 

I rekon that that way you feel about things at the moment is being magnified 100 times in your mind and you're probably in that loop of worrying about being worried. Am I right?? Take a break bruv, crack open a slab of grog and get ya mates round for a good 'ol piss up

 

*disclaimer*

I am no longer in the Army so a big fat finger to you Mr Blair. If only you knew how many people in the british defence force use drugs you'd be opening 11 downing Street as a head shop!

Edited July 29, 2003 by Buster

[RobbieGanjaSeed]

I understand what ya saying to a degree, and agree with the idea that you should lay off for a while maybe. I mean, it's just grass, a plant. It shouldn't be the thing to rely on in life, especially if it isn't agreeing with you. I didn't ever get as unwell as yourself from what I can make out, but I've seen it in people that I've been close to.

 

I grew up in a pot culture, with my parents smokers, and a lot of my extended family. I started in the late 70s and am still in the scene, and still very fond of grass. You aren't alone in this at all, and I've seen a few close friends and a member of my own family fairly need help from too much grass, a couple even landing in Richmond clinic, a spin out hospital in Lismore.

 

I don't hold that grass is a "weak" drug at all. I use a lot of opiates as well, mainly for pain control. Through that use, I've come to know a lot of opium and heroin users and of course poppy tea drinkers. A lot of these people, who are using a seriously strong drug refuse to use grass anymore, because it's just too intense for them. There's an old thread on poppies.org that became fairly long on this issue if you want to look it up. I can't remember what the thread was called, but someone over there might remember it. I think it just asked if people that use gear still smoke. Something like that. There were some interesting objective responses.

 

There was a time about 5 years ago that someone dared me to abstein for 40 days, and I accepted the challenge with a laugh. I didn't last a day. A few days later, I was horrified just how much I was relying on it to deal with troubles. I had to give it away for a while.

 

It's no big deal, it'll still be there if you decide you want it again one day, and if not, well that's no big deal either, remember it's just a plant. Enjoy it if you want, and don't if you aren't.

 

stay healthy.

 

rob

[Mr Putard]

Me an a pile of mates used to jump in a corona station wagon real early in the morning an go hang at some friends house...our favourite trick would be to bust into someones bedroom an poke a bong under thier nose Crazy shit man.. i never ever knew where i was..hehe But then again i smoked soo much i ended up thinkin i was a vegetable an had soo much brain damage i'd never be able to do anything i dreamed about as a young kid.. But i was wrong... I started doin lots of acid an a bit of speed.. only done about a gram or so of speed in my life an i found that really quietened me down alot.. i dunno what it was but i just wasn't as mentally quick after a few really good doses Acid just made me feel abit lonely an detached...like i was always lookin for a way out of my situation I found that smoking pot will make me really talkative.. i can talk non stop for like 2-3 hours.. even longer if the other person has lots to say .. hehe .. I used to drink like a fish when i was in high school an uni... me an my flatemate used to sit up all nite an move the lounge out onto the veranda an drink profuse amounts of cheap goon... like cheap immatation bottles of tia maria ... an drink it out of those icy cup holders.. uno the ones where ya take the centre of the cup out an put it in the frezzer then put in soft drink an it turns intoa a slurpie? anyhow.. i guess i've always been a talkative sorta guy... but smoking pot makes it much more enjoyable. Yeah .. i ended up just bein a loner for a few years..then i got really focused an got an education an things have been ok since.. I think alot of peoples anxiety is partly due to the way it's consumed.. would eating pot as a heated oil mix be a less stressed stone.. you think???

[RobbieGanjaSeed]

I dunno what should be called stressfull, depends how things are going. In the case of our guest here, maybe so.

 

I was opposed to smoking anything for years. So my wife and I only ever ate grass. For probably 5 years or so. Karen got the hang of making these buiscuts that tasted so terrible there just aren't words to describe it. It was a bit like eating luceren must be like for a horse. We had 5 kids in the house, and were always afraid they'd stumble on them and have a feed. We didn't want them to go on a trip unexpedly, so we made them taste like crap, hoping they'd spit it out, and believe me, they would have .

 

She'd make a very bland anzac buiscut mix, with no sugar, and just mix in well chopped heads until they couldn't hold together anyore, and then add a bit more mix to make em hold.

 

The buiscuts were a few inches in diameter, and just a 1/4 was enough to send ya on a real trip for hours on end. In the end, just one 1/4 in the morning, took ya back up, although you were still flying from the night before. One more 1/4 later around 4 or so, and we lived perpetually stoned to the gills for years like that. Sometimes ya needed a half, or even more, depends on the mix I guess.

 

A good feed of heads is far more intense than smoking. Far more fun too if ya young enough for your body to cope with the abuse .

 

I wouldn't reckomend eating grass to anyone that isn't very experience with it, or very game. With smoking, you can stop when ya had enough, and in a short enough time, the peak will pass if ya went too far. When ya eat it, it's a different story. The stone, or rush comes on, and if u dont like it, bad luck. It's gonna keep coming on for some time yet, and ther's no stopping it. it's like a roller coaster with a madman on the control, who wont let ya off . If ya into that sort of thing, then that's fine. but I do remember when I first started eating it, I went too far one night, and had a long night ahead of me waiting for it to pass.

 

In time, we were so saturated with grass we smelled of it, and were completley off our face without a break. Which is what our friend is looking to avoid I think.

 

Good thinking but

 

rob

[Oblivion]

The reason i would define pot as a weak drug is that it is more easily mentally controlled. By this i mean with any drugs i believe the sort of high/experience you have depends on your mental state at the time it hits you and how you handle the wierd things going on in your head. A good example of this is what people call bad trips. The acid wasn't bad it's just you were not in a good frame of mind when it hit you (eg thinking shit what'll i do if my parents catch me etc). Mental strength in the form of drug culture only comes slowly from experience...... having the ability to go "things are okay, i will come down, just have to ride it out". If you can do this to yourself when you realise you've gone to far then you are one step closer.... anyway thats my rant sorry if it didn't really make sense