Depersonalization and permanent anxiety after smoking weed!

It doesn't mean your going crazy, It's something that can go away, it's minor.. Marijuana is not the cause of this,
I have depersonalization myself, and It started even before i ever smoked cannabis. In my occasion, i found out
after lots of research.. that the reason behind this state of mind is because I'm a coffee addict.. i drink coffee
every damn day, and have been for the past 5 years. this much coffee caused me anxiety, and from so much anxiety,
and from me ignoring all of it and still drinking coffee, i got the depersonalization, I'm still feeling it, but i haven't tried
cutting back on the caffeine. I'm going to soon.

hahahah this stuff is hilarious, im looking for some sort of real answers. This just seems to be propaganda every which way, spewed from conversative socer moms. haha. but no seriously anyone have a helpful serious answer with some fact be hind it ? HAAHH scratch that i know no one does.

I have recently quit smoking as a habitual marijuana smoker myself, I am now a 20 year old female living in LA. I started smoking on a daily to bi-daily basis when I was 18. I got high pretty often with a close knit group of friends. I was never able to be completely socially comfortable with a big group of people though, but I always accepted that as something that was just normal for me.

Up until recently, I'd say late 2010, Novemberish, I began feeling anxiety during my highs. I could say there were certain scenarios that occurred that could be the reason for the anxiety. But after that, the highs were never enjoyable as before. Following that, I felt episodes of depression, and depersonalization. Not knowing who I was, what I wanted, where my reality was, where my thirst for living was. It would get pretty bad, and my breathing would be abnormal and I'd just wanted to be alone. Negative thoughts would race through my head. And even when I was around my good friends I'd be really quiet. Afraid of speaking my opinion or putting in a thought in the conversation.

I began disliking to be around the people I've been around for years. I started using alcohol to socialize. Since the people around me were such dedicated smokers, I was tempted to retry to smoke again, in hopes that the negative highs have gone away over a period of weeks.

I tried resmoking with a clear conscious and positive thoughts, but it still wasn't enjoyable at that point.

When I'm buzzed from alcohol though I take hits from a pipe occasionally. The high mixed with alcohol is kind of pleasant but not as before for me.

So I've stopped smoking completely, it sucks because being high used to be such an enjoyable activity but I have now accepted that it is no longer a part of my life.

I have fully recovered from anxiety attacks but I do get anxiety on a irregular basis. A little anxiety is normal, but when I get it, it tends to be higher than the average. But its dealable.

As for the depersonalization, I have surrounded myself with people that I trust, and just try to act like myself again and to positively reinforce myself. I look at old pictures to remember how carefree and open-spirited I used to be, and in hopes that will remind me of my old self again.

It's been working, I don't have depressive episodes anymore. I had long talks with my mom and told her what was going on.

What fixed our problem for me was talking things out with someone I trust, cutting habitual smoking/ marijuana in general out of my life, and a positive lifestyle.

Eating healthy foods and having a healthy diet would certainly make things a 100x better, and I've been reading about putting faith in God as well?

I might as well give that a try.

Goodluck my friend~

xx

I was exactly like your boyfriend , funny , sing all the time loved music , girls used to ask me to sing to them all the time , charming , was sensative and feel for chicks very easy , you dont i understand how much i loved life . laughed at everything was very hard to get me mad like i was the guy everyone was cool with. Im a senior in high school and we had christmas break so im having fun my friends who came back from college they smoke weed i dont . they always getting on me saying its natural theres no reason to not smoke . so you know i said im gonna go with you guys but im not gonna smoke . i went with them to this dealer got the weed then where sitting in this car and there rolling it and i say ok im gonna try it . next thing i know im high as a kite . cant feel my fingers lauging at nothing . so i start having a racing heart after like 1 hour they say youll be ok then i say i cant breath they say youll be ok. so after they fall asleep for a lil while i dont i stay up watch tv . we go to my house the sleep for like 3 hours and wake up saying that was the best weed they ever had . i go to sleep later that night and wake up with a pressure on my head and like my mind was focusing deeply on everything i felt in a daze . when school came back in session i got on the bus and starting get real hot i had to get off and get back home i sat in room for almost 4 days just thinking why did i do this . i tell my friends they say it all in my head i tell my mom finally after all the fear in my heart she says when i was young i tried it to youl be ok its all in your head i even tell her good for nothing boyfriend who smokes weed he says you could have had bad weed and it wears off . it wasnt bad because my friends werent affected . so now that funny, smart , comicailly witty guy with friends , girls , clubs , who likes taking long jogs in the summer and shoveling for money in the winter . is like emotionless and it kills me to know that if i would had stayed with my values this would have never happened . I hope there is cure ive waited till the 24 th of january 2010 to go to the doctor hoping it will go away it been almost about a month . its gotten so much better but im want that guy back . emotions made me me they say we might suffer from anxiety and depresonalization and theres a cure so hopefully ill be all smiles next time im on here . - Alex ...

I was exactly like your boyfriend , funny , sing all the time loved music , girls used to ask me to sing to them all the time , charming , was sensative and feel for chicks very easy , you dont i understand how much i loved life . laughed at everything was very hard to get me mad like i was the guy everyone was cool with. Im a senior in high school and we had christmas break so im having fun my friends who came back from college they smoke weed i dont . they always getting on me saying its natural theres no reason to not smoke . so you know i said im gonna go with you guys but im not gonna smoke . i went with them to this dealer got the weed then where sitting in this car and there rolling it and i say ok im gonna try it . next thing i know im high as a kite . cant feel my fingers lauging at nothing . so i start having a racing heart after like 1 hour they say youll be ok then i say i cant breath they say youll be ok. so after they fall asleep for a lil while i dont i stay up watch tv . we go to my house the sleep for like 3 hours and wake up saying that was the best weed they ever had . i go to sleep later that night and wake up with a pressure on my head and like my mind was focusing deeply on everything i felt in a daze . when school came back in session i got on the bus and starting get real hot i had to get off and get back home i sat in room for almost 4 days just thinking why did i do this . i tell my friends they say it all in my head i tell my mom finally after all the fear in my heart she says when i was young i tried it to youl be ok its all in your head i even tell her good for nothing boyfriend who smokes weed he says you could have had bad weed and it wears off . it wasnt bad because my friends werent affected . so now that funny, smart , comicailly witty guy with friends , girls , clubs , who likes taking long jogs in the summer and shoveling for money in the winter . is like emotionless and it kills me to know that if i would had stayed with my values this would have never happened . I hope there is cure ive waited till the 24 th of january 2010 to go to the doctor hoping it will go away it been almost about a month . its gotten so much better but im want that guy back . emotions made me me they say we might suffer from anxiety and depresonalization and theres a cure so hopefully ill be all smiles next time im on here . - Alex ...

hey alex.. hang in there kid. This same thing almost word for word happened to me. itll go away as time goes on, although that seems impossible now because you mind is racing so fast and you are seeing things from a different perspective. you come to understand who you really were back when you were how you described yourself. One day you will just be that guy again, without thinking about it at all.

Hope is the healer -- time is the sealer

-Derek Brown

Hey there,i would just like to say after reading what you wrote,i already feel alot better,i have had all the symptoms e.g dreamy unreal feeling,seeing everything from a third point of view,giving up on everything,not wanting to go out. I think all this is the effect of spliff. I smoked it for about 2-3 months,once a week.



It didnt do anything to me at first,but when i stopped smoking it for a week or two,all the above symptoms started kicking in.I didnt think there were many people out there suffering the same.



But after what u have wrote i have hope and a positive attitude.i will not let it take over my life.i will pray and fight until i get rid of this nightmare.



Thanks once again,your words have given me a new way of thinking.

hey coming from someone who smoked now for nearly 14 years (im 28) i can say i have dealt with the depersonalization and things ive heard described here. I never once experienced it until the ninth or tenth year- but yes- it is absolutely paralyzing. i had to quit for my job but starting smoking the legal smell good stuff and it accelerated the paranoia and depersonalization ten fold. now rid of the habit for two weeks but still feel the effects absolutely. It is starting to get better though. Absolutely made human to human interaction extremely akward.

I know this thread was started loonnng ago, but ima put something up from experience here, that has helped me a tonne and may benefit someone else that stumbles across this.

To everyone that feels like they 'have lost a part of themselves' after smoking weed, fear no more. it will pass in time if you work hard at it.  You will also be glad that, GOD, is NOT going to be the solution here haha. However, for those of you that use god to get through hard times fair play, im not gonna judge you. i aint believer myself but each to their own. 

I was the same as your bf (maybe not your bf now tho but who knows lol). i also felt depressed when i didnt have weed and weed always  seemed to make me 'feel happier'. i knew this wasnt right or at least shouldnt of been right, becoz i  realised that i was actually always more or less a happy person before i ever touched green. Dont get me wrong i loved smoking weed, especially through my time at uni, it was just brilliant, so many good memories. But eventually i realised that u know it just cant be 'weed' that gives me this almighty (and only) buzz in life, i should be feeling the same when i go to meet friends or do something i used to enjoy. But the more i smoked the more 'dull' everything became, apart from when i was picking up from my dealer (only time i really felt excited/good was when i was scoring some weed - sad but true). So i knew this wasnt right, anyway i took action before the start of 2011.

My solution here, is simple (well not simple, but it can become simple, simply by doing it. And i have done it for almost a year now. It may work for you it might not, just like the whole jesus/allah route would never ever work for me) - Firstly, tell yourself no more weed (and yes it will be hard if you were like me and smoked almost daily- but the longer u dont have weed trust me, the much easier it gets). Secondly find something else to do, for me i decided i no longer wanted to be a lazy, skinny assed stoner that had to rely on a bag of weed to 'feel' good, and to be perfectly honest I got to a stage where I was smoking it just out of habit instead of enjoying it.

Anyway,  I eventually told myself and my gf/family what my plans were and stuck by them, even to this day. I let them know weed was going to stop for good and i was coming back. For me that 'something to do' was to get fit, become a straight up biblicised beast, that was confident in life, happy in life and to prove to myself that I was stronger than who i was before and that i didnt need weed to get by, or to solve any of my problems.

Before the new year i set a date in my head, had my last grass joint on 31st Dec and said 'this is it'. After that last joint, i threw out all my lighters, ashtrays, pipes, grinders and bongs (well gave 2 bongs to a mate as he really wanted them).

Since that night, ive been eating healthily (lots of protein shakes, chicken, ham, pork chops, salads, potatoes, pasta, rice, fish etc), I workout 5 days a week doing my free-weights etc, i do an intense 45minutes-1hour workout session, then do a 20-30 minute run after each session. 

Once your mind is free of green, at least for me anyway, you feel much more active, i feel (and a loooooaaaaad of other people say this too that have packed weed in for good) i have tonnes of energy, feeling more confident every day. Instead of sitting getting blazed, I go out a lot more, go to the cinema, pubs, clubs everywhere and actually feel good, none of this 'dull' feeling everyday. To think me and a few mates used to sit in our room gettin smoked up all the time and just generally 'couldnt be bothered doing anything'. This is a whole new chapter in my life which will continue to write itself in a positive way to the very end.

The first week is the worst coming off the weed and you will crave like mad trust me (especially if you smoke joints with tobacco in them instead of blunts, its the tobacco your tied too really). but once that week has passed, with each day it gets easier, then easier and easier, then you will look back and be like man all that cash i spent on dope was a waste, i can now afford to get new clothes, buy new sh*t, go on holidays, new car and all that stuff. Im like almost 5 months now without even a single craving of weed, i can talk about it without thinking 'hmm i cud do with one'. its all about training your brain and just saying no, finding a hobby or something to do, instead of blazing.

N i aint saying weed is bad, becoz i actually did enjoy it (up until about a year before i finally packed in), but just like eveything else in life you try, there comes a time (or it might not for you) when you say 'right enough is enough'. So many times i remember having to smoke like 2-3 bags just to feel a hit as my tolerance went up through the roof.

Anyway good luck and the whole depersonalization thing will pass with time, trust me, eating the right foods and daily exercise will sort this out. 5 months on im in full of energy and totally different - not this zombie/emotionless guy i was at times for the past 4-5 years.

sorry, Ive been doing the above for 'almost half a year now' (5 months) and not 'almost a year' as i typed.

For everyone that finds the depersonalization thing hard, it is, but in time it will go away and youll start to feel much better with the right steps taken. And try not dwelling on the matter too much. just be yourself, eat right find something you really enjoy doing and dont worry about what anyone else thinks of you.

Weed can definitely make people anti-social.  The effects of weed have a tendency to create paranoia about one's thoughts and actions.  People can become a lot more self-conscious while under the influence of marijuana, and this leads to a less talkative nature.  However, marijuana affects everyone differently.  I have known some people to be stoned all day, every day, and they can pretty much function like any other "normal" individual.  

i believed in god. it just made me anxious. then i woke up and realized i was dreaming a lie. God isnt real. He cant magically heal you. those of you here throwing your BS everywhere are lying to yourselves

Have a very positive post to make for anyone suffering DP/DR, anxiety and/or panic attacks.

 

Smoked week 4 weeks ago with a good friend and had a classic, awful experience.  Slipped right out of my body into immediate depersonalization, didn't know it at the time but I was depersonalized immediately as a defense against the weed and stayed that way intensely for 4 hours.  When I was growing up I suffered from a few anxiety/panic attacks in highschool wich obviously changed my whole life and made me focus in on myself and look for answers and cures for this problem i had.  I beat the living hell out of anxiety in my life...by the time I got to college I was very strong, but still feared a few simple things like sitting in class (I would always sit in the back row), but I would still go, very social, had a good time, positive 99% of the time.  Then i was hit with a form of depression my senior year which plagued me for about 2 years.  I was deeply disturbed by it, lost alot of my positive outlook on life, and would constantly struggle for peace of mind and was very internally focused for those 2 years.  I snapped out of this finally through meditation and a mission for my life.

 

I set a goal.  I made a plan.  Once I felt as though I was feeling even sleightly better, I latched on to all that was GOOD and right in the world and carried it through and through, both in myself and through helping others.  I went from a scrawny, weak littel guy to today where I am 160 pounds of lean muscle mass and live an incredibly healthy lifestyle fit with constant exercise, positivity, music, friends and family, and life.

 

Now, back to this weed 4 weeks ago, it literally seemed to have destroyed everything I worked for, and LITERALLY has made me feel as though I am back in highschool at times.  I feel the original feelings of my highschool fears, anxieties, all over again.  As though these years of pain and suffering, coming out victorious, etc...all for nothing.  But it isn't true.  I have found that through these 4 weeks, any time I have an attack or feel panicky, or any illogical fear, the ME that I worked to build is always working in the background and fights everything off, making me stronger and stronger.

 

I just want to say to anyone experiencing DP/DR, anxiety, panic...this will all PASS.  If you take the right measures, you can beat anything that is in your head!  It is simply IN YOUR HEAD.  It is YOU vs. yourself.  You need to find a mission, a goal, faith, SOMETHING to follow and fulfill your sould with.  You will only come out STRONGER than ever before by pushing through this pain and suffering and reaching your missions end.

The only way OUT is THROUGH.

I am speaking now as a sufferer again.  I was fighting a new battle, one that has dug up memories of past pain and suffering and is requiring me to battle again with deeper fears, a lingering depersonalization, and a shattered confidence in the mistake I made and the harm I did myself.  Like anything I ever did before, I will win this battle and become stronger as everyone else on here should do.  You are all capable, your mind is a tricky little place and needs you to guide it back to HEALTH!  Drink lots of green tea for L-Theanine, exercise, eat fruits, veggies, lisetn to positive music, try to meet a girl/guy if you're single for companionship...all of this will help get your mind off of itself and snap you back to free form reality!

I'm very young compared to most of you i suppose, but the other day i decided to try out weed for a second time with a friend. the first time i did it i felt nothing intense so thought i had to take more and better stuff, so we decided to use a bong. i live in the Netherlands, and one can practically think Bob Marley would live here if he was still alive. ( its the home of weed), so we got the strongest stuff they sell from a coffee shop

most of you are lying half of you are retarded weed can bring those things out but only if they are in you already in which case it would probably have happened with or without weed dont blame a beautiful plant that brings nothing but peace to this world for your own personal weaknesses and problems please

 

@ "if cigarrettes are so bad for you and they are legal just imagine what cannabis can do to you!"- encase you were wondering you are definetly one of the re****s.