Marijuana making things worse...

[Dave G]

This is a test to see if my edits work this time, as they would not apply just a few days ago.

[miss_mac666]

i know how you feel. when i used to smoke i would get crazy paranoid and my heart would race sooo incredibly fast i thought i might die. i couldnt swallow at all. butt i have alot more knowledge on differant strains of marijuana now. ok sativas are more like a head high, thats the strain i did not like at all!!! and the other is indicas, this strain is more of a body high and great for people with anxiety. i smoke a little at a tme and it actually helps alot.

I have GAD, panic disorder, anorexia, BDS ( Body dismorphic syndrome) i rarely eat at all and i never sleep. when i smoke, i can eat and i can sleep a bit better. i dont smoke it alot because i still feel like i may freak out but Indicas is the best marijuana to smoke if you have anxiety. if your interested i will give you names of the specific types.

Claire

[miss_mac666]

[QUOTE=Dave G;42532]Loneliness is one of my biggest issues. I hate feeling lonely. But I can see before my eyes how marijuana is making me more and more lonely, since it makes me neglect social interactions. Then, when I don't smoke and I actually do something social I feel anxious. It's like, "Shit, I have been a recluse for the past 2 weeks and now I'm out... I need to make it worth it!" That puts pressure on myself to be social and makes me nervous.


If you really feel lonely, just come on here and go in the chat and talk. we are all here helping eachother. i know when im down and anxious there are tons of support here. pm me if you ever need to talk

Claire

[laurandisorder]

I used to smoke a lot and I mean A LOT when I was a student at Uni. In fact, I probably smoked almost daily for 6-7 years until very recently.

For me it was more of a social thing. The people I knew and loved did it, so I did it too and for a number of years I experienced no problems. In fact it probably helped me get through uni and I had some great times.

After anxiety struck, it took on a different light. I had to stop cold turkey because my stoned feeling mimicked the symptoms of a panic attack so clearly that it would induce them. The paranoia and boredom also didn't help.

Now, I don't have a lot of time for the drug at all. In hindsight, I believe that for recreation and medicinal purposes (in certain illnesses) the drug has great benefits, but for people who smoke every day it can be a trap in a vicious cycle of being content with not living up to your full potential.

And for the record, my mental health issues pre date my usage by a long time, but ALL of my friends that smoke weed have developed degrees of mental health problems, depression, anxiety, panic attacks. These are people who have used it for 10-15 years. I can't just believe its a coincidence.

If you can live your life to the fullest and smoke, by all means go ahead, but if it is affecting the quality of your life and relationships... Give it a break. Being high doesn't compensate for real connections and friendships, especially of you crave them.

[alankay]

Best to work with a doc for whatever meds or other treatments used for anxiety since it really should be monitored to be sure the use is therapeutic and safe. Just my atek. Alankay

[MainerMikeBrown]

Many people who use marijuanna don't know much about it.

If I wanted to use marijuanna, I'd do some research first. Using marijuanna is a major life decision. I would never want to make a major decision without becoming informed about the positives and the negatives of doing so first.

[joolz5108]

I used to smoke quite a bit, until I experienced the paranoid feelings that you are describing too. Now, when i smoke my heart races, and I feel like everyone is judging me. At first I ignored the fact that marijuana no longer made me feel good because I had smoked it for so long that it was hard to believe it was all of a sudden affecting me negatively. Eventually I realized if its not fun anymore for me, why even bother.

If you feel paranoid and uncomfortable from smoking, why are you doing it? Think about it.

[Dave G]

Well the thing is, I don't always feel paranoid and uncomfortable when smoking - only when I'm around other people. And even then, If I'm around someone I'm comfortable with when smoking it's a blast! I live in a new area and haven't met a whole lot of people yet, so I have more down time than I would if I lived in my old town - so when I get bored it seems like a good option - and I enjoy it a lot when I'm alone. It's when I'm not high and realize that I spend more time alone smoking than I do interacting with people that bothers me. I know what most of you would say to that - "You need to find activities or hobbies to fill your time." Well I golf on occasion, mentor a child once a week, fish at least once a week. I'm not a complete recluse - I just haven't found my niche yet, and that kills me. I've been patient, and put forth a good amount of effort to make friends - but I let my anxiety get in the way and make me nervous. I'm not the real me when I meet people. I guess I'm straying from the marijuana topic, but that is just one contributing factor to my anxiety. Fear, self-consciousness, perfectionism - these are some of the other things I'm letting ruin my life.

[Dave G]

Yesterday I was supposed to golf with some coworkers. Instead, I told them I couldn't go, went home after work and smoked, and played video games and watched tv all day. I have a load of laundry in the dryer I've been wanting to fold since Thursday of last week.

I know I'll be happy if I stop smoking - but it always seems to be the first thing on my mind once I get off work. I could go wash my car, or i could smoke. 9 out of 10 times I'm gonna smoke. The worst part is (which many people wish they had) I get my stuff for free. I have a buddy who gets a ton and just gives me a bunch every week or so. So it's not even like I'm wasting money on something that's hurting me - so it makes it very hard to stop.

Just really finding a lack of motivation here. I keep taking the easy way out, and I know it's gonna come back to bite me if I don't fix this.

[biceps72]

pot and anxiety is not a good combo.

booze and anxiety is not a good combo either.

I would never EVER recommend either.

I do know several people who drink very modestly (e.g. 1 glass of wine, or 1 beer or 1.5 oz of hard liquor daily) and get along well with anxiety. Again I don't recommend it but npeople that can indeed drink modestly can get along ok.

Doing pot in moderation is different to me. I really don't know what a moderate amount of pot/day is??????

[Pbeatrice]

Oh boy. Pot can actually be very helpful in helping to manage anxiety symptoms. For a person who is too anxious to relax or fall asleep it can be very soothing. And of course as we know, really doesn't harm your body, whereas alcohol is horribly harmful to your body. There is a big difference, though, in smoking to reduce some symptoms of anxiety and smoking so much that you're missing work and not following through on other responsibilities. It sounds like it's causing you to be super unmotivated, and you don't seem to be happy about that. So you need to think about how important (or not important) it is for you to get shit done and whether you're ready to maybe cut back a bit. It can be really helpful to ask yourself what you were thinking about right before you thought, "I wanna go home and smoke," because those thoughts are what's causing the anxiety that leads you to smoke.

[bhamlaxy]

Pot is such a funny thing. Helpful to some, but for people like me, it actually set of an anxiety disorder.

I used to smoke daily, but as I got out of college and started working it just appealed less and less to me. It would usually just make me a little anxious and I couldn't smoke as much.

I was working a super stressful job and decided to smoke one night. Just two hits. Triggered a massive panic attack that has had me reeling for weeks. Will NEVER smoke again.

Just be careful with it.