Hello There,
To whom it may concern, I am 20 years old and have been smoking pot for the past 4-5 years. I began heavily at first but I have been calming down as of late, and all I can say from past experience is that marijuana doesn't necessarily affect your school work, or your personality or your life unless you allow it to. There are people who smoke weed, sit at home alone playing video games all day, and then claim that weed is making them "antisocial." Over my years of using marijuana, I never allowed it to have a negative impact on my life, I continued to go to the gym, I work 5 days a week, I am completing the third year of my university degree and I lead a fairly normal life. Although I do plan to quit in the near future, marijuana has not had a significant negative impact on my life because I never allowed it to do so. Marijuana still remains illegal in many parts of the world, however the fact that it is an illegal drug does not mean that we must believe all the negative stereotypes and associations, all the fabricated "marijuana facts" and all the biased corporate propaganda. There is a major difference between use and abuse, and contrary to popular belief, there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. Life is about balance, find what works for you, don't move on to harder drugs, stay away from alcohol and cigarettes, 2 government legalized substances that result in thousands of deaths a year, but most importantly, never let a drug, or anything but you for that matter, control your life.
To whom it may concern, I am 20 years old and have been smoking pot for the past 4-5 years. I began heavily at first but I have been calming down as of late, and all I can say from past experience is that marijuana doesn't necessarily affect your school work, or your personality or your life unless you allow it to. There are people who smoke weed, sit at home alone playing video games all day, and then claim that weed is making them "antisocial." Over my years of using marijuana, I never allowed it to have a negative impact on my life, I continued to go to the gym, I work 5 days a week, I am completing the third year of my university degree and I lead a fairly normal life. Although I do plan to quit in the near future, marijuana has not had a significant negative impact on my life because I never allowed it to do so. Marijuana still remains illegal in many parts of the world, however the fact that it is an illegal drug does not mean that we must believe all the negative stereotypes and associations, all the fabricated "marijuana facts" and all the biased corporate propaganda. There is a major difference between use and abuse, and contrary to popular belief, there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. Life is about balance, find what works for you, don't move on to harder drugs, stay away from alcohol and cigarettes, 2 government legalized substances that result in thousands of deaths a year, but most importantly, never let a drug, or anything but you for that matter, control your life.
I use to love weed but then my parents got on my ass, and I knew I shouldnt be doing it and my parents told me all these stories with my family and drugs and you hear all the story with drugs doing bad things to beings. and when you get high its in the back of my or many others mind which causes my paranoia cause i was just thinking bout it too hard I BELIEVE. but you just gotta calm down and just chill
I've been in a dreamy state for 3 years. I find with pot it's a hit and miss. When i smoked pot for the first time i felt horrible and dreamy, but that was a few years ago. Now I smoke a lot and i find it clears my head right up! The best way to not have panic attacks is to be in a good environment around people you know. If your in a sketchy smoke spot and you feel an attack coming then just put out your j and go sit and chill for a bit. You can never go into a high negative because the pot will bring that negativity out of you. You always have tp think positive and if you feel like your having a panic attack talk yourself through it. Simply put: just chill at home with your family or good friends. Personally what i like to do is just sit at home, put some "happy" music on low and just smoke until i feel comfortable. Some nights ill smoke 7 j's some nights ill only smoke 1. You have to know your limit. You cant just spark a bowl and keep going if you dont feel comfortable. Just think positive when your high.
I have a long experience, coping with cannabis induced panic.
The purpose of all the research I have been doing, has been to have some clearance and understanding on this matter. Well, the things we experience is related to the amygdala being activiated;'
Depersonalisation - because our nervous system is set "on" we tend so have a "seek" mode rather than "participate" mode. It is not as dramatic as it sounds, really. It fells arkward, though.
Sensative to light - pupills are a little wider because of the adrenaline that is produced, as an effect of the amygdala working.
Looking for body sensations and strange thougts - Normal behaviour when amygdala is activited, because you are just trying to protect your self by searching for worst case scenarios.
Amygdala is activated because of the first Panic attacks. So how do we turn it off?
1. Understanding that its just your most safe and trustworthy organ, the amygdala, thats trying to keep your safe. Its not finding any threat that can be neutralised so far, so it keeps searching for trouble.
2. You have a parasympatic system that can switch of the amygdala. You need to know how to activate this system
3. Meditating turns amydala off
4. Trying to have panic, approaching the fears and attacks, instead of hiding from it, turns the amygdala off.
To all of you having panic attacks related to smoking.
Coping with, and getting through panic disorder, is possible, when you understand that the fears are only fears of the fears itself. The fears are alive because you, yourself, are fueling them. When you learn that there is nothing on "other side" of the fears, understanding that when you stop hiding from the fears, and stop scanning your body and mind searching for various symtoms, you understant that there is nothing to fear. Its all an illusion based on thoughts starting with "What if..........."
If I at the time of my first panic attack, had had a different approach towards it, it would never had accelerated. It would be nothing. This goes for every panic attack, anyone is having, during a high, or during any other situation in life.
That theese feeling can come to some of us is a fact, based from reading threads at this forum alone. But its the way we interpret them, choose to see them, that will decide weather we panic or not.
I know several people who choose bungy jump, parachuting, conflicts, or even war to experience adrenaline or fear. Some of them, I know, like when cannabis gives them a "roller coast ride feeling". They actually like fear because they have a different perception of fear, then I had.
So if you are feeling anxious or having anxious thoughts about how you came to feel during your high! Understand that you created the anxious thoughts yourself, because you think that you are protecting yourself by having the theese fearful thoughts. You are scanning possibilities to feel anxious because this is a quite natural behaviour for many of us when we want to feel safe. That just normal protective behaviour. If you have not got over your panic related to cannabis, you must understand that its your perception. Its you! Its your thougts around the matter, not the matter it self. Beating hart, sweating, or a funny feeling in your stomac. Its how you choose to see theese sensations that determine how you feel about them.
If you where to want to have a panic attack, during a high, it would be quite impossible. This approach alone would disarm a panic attack with an instant and with this approach you could probably fully enjoy any adrenaline related aspects of the high.
Once I started trying to have panic, or even try to empower the anxious thougts, rather then fighting it, my panic went away.
Next time you panic or having anxious thoughts when smoking, dont scan your body or mind looking for trouble, try to move with it, or try to make the sensations your feeling even worse, and you will see that your body and mind loose interest in getting panic. Its the same as getting over any other fears or phobias. Once you move towards it, you have a different experience, and your mind learn the reality, rather than react to fantasies.
Good Luck!
The purpose of all the research I have been doing, has been to have some clearance and understanding on this matter. Well, the things we experience is related to the amygdala being activiated;'
Depersonalisation - because our nervous system is set "on" we tend so have a "seek" mode rather than "participate" mode. It is not as dramatic as it sounds, really. It fells arkward, though.
Sensative to light - pupills are a little wider because of the adrenaline that is produced, as an effect of the amygdala working.
Looking for body sensations and strange thougts - Normal behaviour when amygdala is activited, because you are just trying to protect your self by searching for worst case scenarios.
Amygdala is activated because of the first Panic attacks. So how do we turn it off?
1. Understanding that its just your most safe and trustworthy organ, the amygdala, thats trying to keep your safe. Its not finding any threat that can be neutralised so far, so it keeps searching for trouble.
2. You have a parasympatic system that can switch of the amygdala. You need to know how to activate this system
3. Meditating turns amydala off
4. Trying to have panic, approaching the fears and attacks, instead of hiding from it, turns the amygdala off.
To all of you having panic attacks related to smoking.
Coping with, and getting through panic disorder, is possible, when you understand that the fears are only fears of the fears itself. The fears are alive because you, yourself, are fueling them. When you learn that there is nothing on "other side" of the fears, understanding that when you stop hiding from the fears, and stop scanning your body and mind searching for various symtoms, you understant that there is nothing to fear. Its all an illusion based on thoughts starting with "What if..........."
If I at the time of my first panic attack, had had a different approach towards it, it would never had accelerated. It would be nothing. This goes for every panic attack, anyone is having, during a high, or during any other situation in life.
That theese feeling can come to some of us is a fact, based from reading threads at this forum alone. But its the way we interpret them, choose to see them, that will decide weather we panic or not.
I know several people who choose bungy jump, parachuting, conflicts, or even war to experience adrenaline or fear. Some of them, I know, like when cannabis gives them a "roller coast ride feeling". They actually like fear because they have a different perception of fear, then I had.
So if you are feeling anxious or having anxious thoughts about how you came to feel during your high! Understand that you created the anxious thoughts yourself, because you think that you are protecting yourself by having the theese fearful thoughts. You are scanning possibilities to feel anxious because this is a quite natural behaviour for many of us when we want to feel safe. That just normal protective behaviour. If you have not got over your panic related to cannabis, you must understand that its your perception. Its you! Its your thougts around the matter, not the matter it self. Beating hart, sweating, or a funny feeling in your stomac. Its how you choose to see theese sensations that determine how you feel about them.
If you where to want to have a panic attack, during a high, it would be quite impossible. This approach alone would disarm a panic attack with an instant and with this approach you could probably fully enjoy any adrenaline related aspects of the high.
Once I started trying to have panic, or even try to empower the anxious thougts, rather then fighting it, my panic went away.
Next time you panic or having anxious thoughts when smoking, dont scan your body or mind looking for trouble, try to move with it, or try to make the sensations your feeling even worse, and you will see that your body and mind loose interest in getting panic. Its the same as getting over any other fears or phobias. Once you move towards it, you have a different experience, and your mind learn the reality, rather than react to fantasies.
Good Luck!
I know how you all feel, I felt the same way, let me tell you what I did to take action. TALK TO YOUR DOCTOR! No God or belief is going to cure anxiety. Its a chemical imbalance just like depression. Do what I did: Go to your doctor, tell them you have high anxiety from smoking pot, get some citalopram/lexapro/clonazepam/lorazepam/klonopin/other, and get back to your normal life. Hell, if you're as bad as I was talk to a therapist too.
The most important thing is to not be ashamed of what you have... no one is perfect. Everyone has anxiety/depression to some degree. Don't cheat yourself by not acting on your health conditions <3
The most important thing is to not be ashamed of what you have... no one is perfect. Everyone has anxiety/depression to some degree. Don't cheat yourself by not acting on your health conditions <3
Hello, My name is Amir, And I am 17 years old. I live in the United States I haven't ever posted anything online about my expierience so here it goes. When I was Fourteen I started smoking weed. I smoked a decent dosage every week, from 1 one time a week to 10 times. It just depended on when i had weed. I did that for 2 years until i was sixteen and a half. I started getting bored with it, so I just stopped, No anxiety attacks or anything like that. It was a month without smoking, and I went on a trip to Morocco November 17th, for the first time. I got reunited with family and it was an incredible, loving and fun experience. I got home on december 3rd.
Now, Four days later, I go to school and I talk with this girl. I all of sudden feel like im getting a brain tumor. I go down to the school nurse and I have no clue to what is going on. I am having a panic attack they tell me later. I was not medicated for 3 days and it felt like I was in hell. I was balling my eyes out, I felt like each moment was my last, Time was collapsing. I got put on medication, And I did that for around 5 months. The anxiety seemed to subside, and I am not having any panic Attacks. It has been a month of me being off my meds.
For those 5 months, I could not live in the moment, I had so much trouble being my self because my conscience was so altered that I felt like I was a piece of dirt on the ground. The only way I got out of this was through the help of God. I started spending a lot of time meditating, It helped so incredibly much. I recommend getting a tape where you can just listen to someone tell you what to think while meditating, For when you are filled with anxiety, it is hard to clear your mind at first in silence.
Everyone really has to learn if they want to get better that any God will do, The creator, The almighty, The Protector. You need to be nutured by God. It is in the human brain, you are programmed to believe in God, and without it, you will feel like you are in hell. God isn't some man in the clouds either, He is an energy of the world. Feel it when you meditate, It will heal you.
You may be sensitive to light because you are scared of the power light has. Light resembles God and higher level of conscience. You need to learn to accept the light, and let it be one with you.
There is an awesome thing that helped me get off my meds as well. It is called EFT. Emotional Freedom Techniques. It is a procedure where you preform tapping with your fingers on certain meridian points on your body. It helps redirect energy and the feelings of anxiety subside.
If you are looking for help search EFT in the google search bar. It will help you out.
Now, Four days later, I go to school and I talk with this girl. I all of sudden feel like im getting a brain tumor. I go down to the school nurse and I have no clue to what is going on. I am having a panic attack they tell me later. I was not medicated for 3 days and it felt like I was in hell. I was balling my eyes out, I felt like each moment was my last, Time was collapsing. I got put on medication, And I did that for around 5 months. The anxiety seemed to subside, and I am not having any panic Attacks. It has been a month of me being off my meds.
For those 5 months, I could not live in the moment, I had so much trouble being my self because my conscience was so altered that I felt like I was a piece of dirt on the ground. The only way I got out of this was through the help of God. I started spending a lot of time meditating, It helped so incredibly much. I recommend getting a tape where you can just listen to someone tell you what to think while meditating, For when you are filled with anxiety, it is hard to clear your mind at first in silence.
Everyone really has to learn if they want to get better that any God will do, The creator, The almighty, The Protector. You need to be nutured by God. It is in the human brain, you are programmed to believe in God, and without it, you will feel like you are in hell. God isn't some man in the clouds either, He is an energy of the world. Feel it when you meditate, It will heal you.
You may be sensitive to light because you are scared of the power light has. Light resembles God and higher level of conscience. You need to learn to accept the light, and let it be one with you.
There is an awesome thing that helped me get off my meds as well. It is called EFT. Emotional Freedom Techniques. It is a procedure where you preform tapping with your fingers on certain meridian points on your body. It helps redirect energy and the feelings of anxiety subside.
If you are looking for help search EFT in the google search bar. It will help you out.
Hey every1. I was going through everything everyone else has posted about and trust me I know how crazy it can get inside your own mind. Well, I'm not here to share a story or anything but to hopefully aid you in the right direction. God allowed me to go through this so that I could help every1 out there with anxiety and depersonalization after smoking weed. First and foremost I want to thank God and Jesus Christ for answering my prayers every step of the way through these mental conditions, curing and blessing me with the opportunity to share with all of you. :-D
Okay soooo, when you smoke weed what is actually happening is that the nutrients inside of your brain/body are being depleted or used up. Some ppl smoke 1 time and end up with DP while others smoke for years before developing these conditions. How quickly symptoms begin to appear depends on.. well you guessed it, your body's ability to process, breakdown and absorb the necessary nutrients from your food. This is why your first Highs were great for most of you, you had years of stored up good nutrients that THC sucked and used to give you that blissful high. I was extremely nutritious prior to smoking which explains why it took 7yrs of smoking before I began to develop these symptoms off and on. Now, I'm not sure if weed, slows or inhibits your body's ability to get these nutrients or if it exposes you quicker and harsher to what you might have experienced to lesser degree regardless whether you smoked weed or not... Feel me ?? This is encouraging because you can completely reverse these conditions and gain your life back by putting those necessary nutrients back into your body. You are not destined to be like this forever just cuz you smoked weed for several years, let alone a couple of times.
So your wondering, what nutrients are you talking ? What must I take to be me again ? The suspense.. hahaha. Okay, the foundational supplement that will get you back 50 - 80% normal is your OMEGA 3's. I recommend a daily intake of 700 - 1200mg of just DHA and the same again for EPA. This will stop your minds from racing and thinking wierd thoughts and get your pereceptions of life back on track. It will take about 2 weeks to see results. I recommend just Fish Oil(Carlson brand) actually since it has high doses of both DHA and EPA or eat fish 3x a week. Vegetarians can try, Flax Seeds. Also, very important, take Vitamin B Complex, at least 200mg of Phosphytidlyserine. I also take 100mg of DMAE. I can only show you the door, so research all these nutrients, do your homework, see what combinations work best for you. I buy everything online @ Vitacost.
Nature has a way of balancing everything out, including the effects of weed. So it should be no surprise that natural supplements will help you in your aid for recovery. Also, the most important thing is, have faith that with these supplements God will heal you. Pray to Him if you remember everynight. I'm so healed, I know I've been given a second chance at life. God is all about 2nd chances :-)
Okay soooo, when you smoke weed what is actually happening is that the nutrients inside of your brain/body are being depleted or used up. Some ppl smoke 1 time and end up with DP while others smoke for years before developing these conditions. How quickly symptoms begin to appear depends on.. well you guessed it, your body's ability to process, breakdown and absorb the necessary nutrients from your food. This is why your first Highs were great for most of you, you had years of stored up good nutrients that THC sucked and used to give you that blissful high. I was extremely nutritious prior to smoking which explains why it took 7yrs of smoking before I began to develop these symptoms off and on. Now, I'm not sure if weed, slows or inhibits your body's ability to get these nutrients or if it exposes you quicker and harsher to what you might have experienced to lesser degree regardless whether you smoked weed or not... Feel me ?? This is encouraging because you can completely reverse these conditions and gain your life back by putting those necessary nutrients back into your body. You are not destined to be like this forever just cuz you smoked weed for several years, let alone a couple of times.
So your wondering, what nutrients are you talking ? What must I take to be me again ? The suspense.. hahaha. Okay, the foundational supplement that will get you back 50 - 80% normal is your OMEGA 3's. I recommend a daily intake of 700 - 1200mg of just DHA and the same again for EPA. This will stop your minds from racing and thinking wierd thoughts and get your pereceptions of life back on track. It will take about 2 weeks to see results. I recommend just Fish Oil(Carlson brand) actually since it has high doses of both DHA and EPA or eat fish 3x a week. Vegetarians can try, Flax Seeds. Also, very important, take Vitamin B Complex, at least 200mg of Phosphytidlyserine. I also take 100mg of DMAE. I can only show you the door, so research all these nutrients, do your homework, see what combinations work best for you. I buy everything online @ Vitacost.
Nature has a way of balancing everything out, including the effects of weed. So it should be no surprise that natural supplements will help you in your aid for recovery. Also, the most important thing is, have faith that with these supplements God will heal you. Pray to Him if you remember everynight. I'm so healed, I know I've been given a second chance at life. God is all about 2nd chances :-)
Today, I Smoked weed nd I started acting very strangely. I went into my own world and I would act very wierd around people. I became very paranoid nd it seems like everyone is watching me when I'm. High. I think they give me dirty looks, I feel like the whole world is against me and like the way I view thing becomes distorted too, out the ordinary. I don't wanna talk to people because I am afraid I will say wierd things. People stare at me often because I visibly look very high. When I get high it looks very obvious. People say I look like I'm on cloud nine and they always ask me if I am okay. I can tell they think something is wrong with me like I look and am acting like a crackhead. Then all I want to do hide nd crawl in a corner. I get very suicidal thoughts nd I experience shortness of breath. My knees get weak and my heart begins pumping very fast. I definitely did not have a pleasant experience. I know you are not supposed to feel depressed and paranoid when your high but that's all that I ever experience when I've been smoking lately. Evry time I smoke I tell myself I will never have an unpleasant experience like that again, but it always happens and I hate my high. I don't know what's wrong with me because when I used to smoke 4 years ago, I never felt so negatively (vulnerable, paranoid, wierd, out of place, anxious, shortness of breath, dry throat and excessive swallowing, hallucination, fear etc.), but instead I will be the way I am supposed to be when a person gets high happy,focused and mellow. Has someone ever felt this way after smoking? Anyboby who I tell this too thinks I'm wierd, cannot relate and doesn't understand me. And people who I smoke with notice how wierd I get when high and it's like that have to take care of me while I'm high. Has anyone else ever experienced the same or similar reaction? Am I allergic to weed? If I am goingto feel like that again when I smoke, I will never ever touch a blunt again in my life.
Ive started smoking weed since I was 13. Its not untell 9th grade year when I turned 15, that I started smoking frecuently. Ive been smoking every other day. I usually get high a few times a week. And lately through out the past few months Ive been smoking even more. Always being high makes me sick of being out of it all the time, but its addicting for everything to feel good. Just not shaking, or being extremley paranoid (which Im very paranoid w/o weed) and to be embaressed of how you act. But its true, once your so use to smoking so much weed, you see the world differently. Kind of like you do with weed. In my head, weed really isnt that big of a deal. But it can be sometimes if you smoke too much of it, and constantly. Like lately, Ive been getting really anxous out of know where. And the sensation will last for a few hours at a time, and I dont get it because I have very high tolerance for things so it shouldnt be affecting me this way, but weed does help a great deal with paranoia and anxiety, and you can go through withdrawl symptoms if you smoke it constantly like 24/7. And although there arent poisons in it like there are with ciggs, how you inhale the smoke differently makes it like 3 times as worse for your lungs as smoking a cigg. And I think it really all just depends on the person and how they think and take things mentally. It can be addicting just like anything can. But its really fun, just not fun to do constantly. And it helps you relax, depending on the weed I dont recomand smoking alot if you just want to be relaxed, because I know when I smoke I make sure to get really stoned most of the time and I'll shake, and worry, and be really paranoid, and everything will be so funny I'll almost pee myself. Heh, but weed can make you antisocial if you make your whole life about weed and you depend on it. But really its just the person, how they take things, and how much and how often they smoke.
im glad to have found this because im not really sure what to think. it doesnt happen everytime i smoke but it has happened before and happened last night. I was smoking with some people and had only taken two hits off a blunt and i started to worry that i was going to have another panic attack, i also started to worry that it was going to happen in front of all these people, and i just couldnt stop worrying and the weed was intensifying the worry. sometimes when i get high i have this intense kind of panic attack wear my face goes kind of numb sometimes my vision will start to go black and i feel like im stuck in the dream like state where nothing feels real. ill start thinking about something and then ill get stuck inside that thought and not be able to get out and throughout the whole thing my heart will start racing because im scared and im panicking and not wanting others to know is also making it worse and making me even more paranoid. its a really scary state of mind, and also while its happening i feel very weak and unsteady and dizzy. im not sure if this is an extreme panic and attack and mixed with being high it intesifies it but im scared and would like to continue smoking but im afraid it will happen again. oh heres another thing, it only happens when i smoke with more than one other person, it never happens when i smoke with just my boyfriend but when i smoke with more than just him, like a group of people, it happens. if any one could help me, or if this has happened to you to, please email me because id really like to figure this out nd find out whats causing it so i can just go on smoking and have a normal high instead of a state of paranoia. my email is ***this post is edited by moderator *** *** private e-mails not allowed **
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wow, well i can also ad on to what other people are saying here. I smoked weed 5 times a day for about a year. When i got really high i started thinking alot, at the time i thought it was really cool. I was thinking about how your memory of something is not the way you actually felt at that time, take this moment for instance you are totally in the moment and you will react to this moment with thoughts and feeling about it later. So then i thought that nothing was as it seems.
Basically i tripped out about it when i was really stoned. Then one day i had a full blown panic attack. I was just hanging out with my friends taking bong rips and drinking beer. Then its like something in my mind went full circle everything "made sense" and i became completely depersonalized, totally seperate from reality. Its like being in a dream state. During that panic attack i thought... i don't think i will ever be the same after this. And indeed this is true. I went through a period of about 4 months with on and off panic attacks. The panic attacks were related to my thoughts. I THOUGHT I HAD A MENTAL DISORDER. The thought of having the mental disorder (schizophrenia) made me have my panic attacks. I remember reading about the warning signs of schizo, i got to the first sentence when they said it can set on around my age (19). I immediately was thrown into a panic attack. I have since stopped having frequent panic attacks. Sometimes i will get them if my mind gets the best of me and i think too much. What i have learned though, is during the time of extreme anxiety/panic you should tell yourself that tomorow is a new day, and you don't have to deal with the thoughts. I could ramble on for days about this, as i obviously think about it alot (duh)
If this is similar to what you have gone through, or are going through right now. Please remember that you are not the only one. You are still a normal person. You will get through this.
Don't ever think about GOING BACK TO NORMAL, if you think about it then you obviously aren't back to normal. There is no going back from something that has affected you this much. you simply will get stronger from the experiences. One day when you havn't had a panic attack or negative thoughts and feelings you will say, wow i think this is how i felt before this experience started. I have had that happen to me. But then you can get anxiety about getting over it, and fall right back in the cycle. Panic and anxiety is a pain of a cycle, but with a strong mind and personality YOU CAN GET THROUGH THIS!!
also, after quitting weed for along time, i smoke again here and there, sometimes it is a positive experience and sometimes i will get thrown into a train of unwanted thoughts and maybe even a panic attack. There are lots of resources to help you but i hope that this ridiculously long post will help you through some of the more troublesome times.
if you want to contact me just reply to this with an email and we can talk
Basically i tripped out about it when i was really stoned. Then one day i had a full blown panic attack. I was just hanging out with my friends taking bong rips and drinking beer. Then its like something in my mind went full circle everything "made sense" and i became completely depersonalized, totally seperate from reality. Its like being in a dream state. During that panic attack i thought... i don't think i will ever be the same after this. And indeed this is true. I went through a period of about 4 months with on and off panic attacks. The panic attacks were related to my thoughts. I THOUGHT I HAD A MENTAL DISORDER. The thought of having the mental disorder (schizophrenia) made me have my panic attacks. I remember reading about the warning signs of schizo, i got to the first sentence when they said it can set on around my age (19). I immediately was thrown into a panic attack. I have since stopped having frequent panic attacks. Sometimes i will get them if my mind gets the best of me and i think too much. What i have learned though, is during the time of extreme anxiety/panic you should tell yourself that tomorow is a new day, and you don't have to deal with the thoughts. I could ramble on for days about this, as i obviously think about it alot (duh)
If this is similar to what you have gone through, or are going through right now. Please remember that you are not the only one. You are still a normal person. You will get through this.
Don't ever think about GOING BACK TO NORMAL, if you think about it then you obviously aren't back to normal. There is no going back from something that has affected you this much. you simply will get stronger from the experiences. One day when you havn't had a panic attack or negative thoughts and feelings you will say, wow i think this is how i felt before this experience started. I have had that happen to me. But then you can get anxiety about getting over it, and fall right back in the cycle. Panic and anxiety is a pain of a cycle, but with a strong mind and personality YOU CAN GET THROUGH THIS!!
also, after quitting weed for along time, i smoke again here and there, sometimes it is a positive experience and sometimes i will get thrown into a train of unwanted thoughts and maybe even a panic attack. There are lots of resources to help you but i hope that this ridiculously long post will help you through some of the more troublesome times.
if you want to contact me just reply to this with an email and we can talk
i used to smoke, i cant recall noticing any effects however a mate gave me a spliff one day, and i dunno what happened to me everything felt like a dream, i was blacking out, everything around me seemed to be slowing down for short periods, i could see my 'friend' in the corner of my eye making funny face but wen i turn to him he acts normal and says he wasnt doing anythin (not sure what to beleive) anyway, we took a trip to central london (an area i am very familuar with) however i was lost didnt have any sense of direction to be honest was probably THE most AWFUL experience of my life ever since i have never been the same.
i stopped smoking late 2005 and was suffering panic attacks, anxiety, fearing im losing my mind etc.... however these started to disappear mid 2007. i was fine until mate started introducing me to alcahol and after going through a pretty c**p time in my life and thinking it was just me being young at the time i got into it and smoking weed again, after about 7months of regular alcahol abuse and about 2 months worth of weed smoking (not very often though) the anxiety, panic attacks, paranoia etc... seems to be coming back to me im anxious as i type this i have atleast 1 panic attack a day feel anxious about 80-90% of the time. and i know I KNOW its all in the mind but i dont know i think i just need 2 get away from all stress. well anyway point is should disappear if u quit. but it affects ppl differently it can bring out the worst in people or it can bring out the best. however if you havent tried it I WOULDNT RECOMMEND!
i stopped smoking late 2005 and was suffering panic attacks, anxiety, fearing im losing my mind etc.... however these started to disappear mid 2007. i was fine until mate started introducing me to alcahol and after going through a pretty c**p time in my life and thinking it was just me being young at the time i got into it and smoking weed again, after about 7months of regular alcahol abuse and about 2 months worth of weed smoking (not very often though) the anxiety, panic attacks, paranoia etc... seems to be coming back to me im anxious as i type this i have atleast 1 panic attack a day feel anxious about 80-90% of the time. and i know I KNOW its all in the mind but i dont know i think i just need 2 get away from all stress. well anyway point is should disappear if u quit. but it affects ppl differently it can bring out the worst in people or it can bring out the best. however if you havent tried it I WOULDNT RECOMMEND!
Hello everyone, I hope this thread is still active as it is the first useful information I have found on the subject, I am 20 years old and I have been smoking marijuana almost every day for the past 4-5 years and recently I had an episode that sounds EXACTLY like what everyone here is describing, I have searched all over and asked everyone I could if they had any experience with this kind of thing but nobody I talked to quite understand what I was describing.
A few months ago I had my wisdom teeth taken out and was given a prescription to vicodine to relieve the pain, about five days after the operation I was sitting in my room one night and I decided to take a vicodine pill because the pain was starting to get bad, I was also smoking at the time. After about half an hour of waiting for the pill to digest I started to get really anxious and started getting these "rushes" of anxiety through my body, it felt like i was being shocked by lightning, I had never felt anxiety so bad so I immediately assumed it was something to do with the vicodine but I realize now it was most likely just a combination of being dehydrated, taking the pill, and smoking all at once. Ever since this happened I have been very prone to anxiety and I have been feeling sensations very similar to what people are describing here, I feel like everything is blurry, I go outside and I can't fully take in the experience of being outside so I just stay indoors mostly which is probably only making my situation worse.. for about two weeks after the panic attack I felt completely strange, something i can only describe as feeling outside of my body, literally, it felt like my actual conscious connection to reality was a foot behind the body that i was feeling things with. I have had a few considerable experiences with psychedelics in my life, both amazingly good and amazingly bad (none of which were around the time of the panic attack i should mention) so I was somewhat prepared for the anxiety and disassociation i felt, which is probably the only reason I didn't immediately try to find help. Since then I have gotten a little better, haven't had any panic attacks like the first one, i'm relieved to find people who have experienced the same thing
I guess this is evidence that it most likely was caused by smoking, since that seems to be everyone else's experience as well I really had no idea where to turn to try to find the cause of this, I know that probably sounds pretty obvious to most people but I've been smoking for years without anything like this happening at all, even from psychedelics, I always returned to normal in a few days at most.
A few months ago I had my wisdom teeth taken out and was given a prescription to vicodine to relieve the pain, about five days after the operation I was sitting in my room one night and I decided to take a vicodine pill because the pain was starting to get bad, I was also smoking at the time. After about half an hour of waiting for the pill to digest I started to get really anxious and started getting these "rushes" of anxiety through my body, it felt like i was being shocked by lightning, I had never felt anxiety so bad so I immediately assumed it was something to do with the vicodine but I realize now it was most likely just a combination of being dehydrated, taking the pill, and smoking all at once. Ever since this happened I have been very prone to anxiety and I have been feeling sensations very similar to what people are describing here, I feel like everything is blurry, I go outside and I can't fully take in the experience of being outside so I just stay indoors mostly which is probably only making my situation worse.. for about two weeks after the panic attack I felt completely strange, something i can only describe as feeling outside of my body, literally, it felt like my actual conscious connection to reality was a foot behind the body that i was feeling things with. I have had a few considerable experiences with psychedelics in my life, both amazingly good and amazingly bad (none of which were around the time of the panic attack i should mention) so I was somewhat prepared for the anxiety and disassociation i felt, which is probably the only reason I didn't immediately try to find help. Since then I have gotten a little better, haven't had any panic attacks like the first one, i'm relieved to find people who have experienced the same thing
I guess this is evidence that it most likely was caused by smoking, since that seems to be everyone else's experience as well I really had no idea where to turn to try to find the cause of this, I know that probably sounds pretty obvious to most people but I've been smoking for years without anything like this happening at all, even from psychedelics, I always returned to normal in a few days at most.
wow its amazing how familiar all of your stories sound about DP/DR. I've suffered from it ever since I had a terrifying experience at a friends house one night. I had been smoking weed almost everyday from about 8th grade to my junior year in high school when it happened. everything was normal, fun, and I started experimenting with stuff like mushrooms and salvia. but one night had a horrible panic attack where I felt like I was losing reality and I completely felt like I lost my mind. I didn't understand what was happening to me. I didn't recognize myself in the mirror or any of my friends faces. the world around me seemed like I had never seen it before and my vision was stuck in this weird way where it was almost like watching a movie that kept zooming around things. after that, I stopped smoking and doing any kind of drugs as much, but the way I felt never went away. I tried smoking again a few months later to see if it would for some illogical reason (I was in high school), but the second time smoking actually made it worse. I completely gave up smoking and became really depressed and had horrible episodes of DP/DR for entire days long and I thought I was going to be like that for the rest of my life. I'm in college now but up until a couple days ago, I didn't even know what it was I was feeling or why I was experiencing these horrible episodes. I had never heard of depersonalization or derealization and anytime I would try to explain to my friends what I was going through or why I couldn't smoke weed anymore they would just make fun of me and completely not understand. I was too afraid to tell my family about it. I felt like I was going crazy. over time I stopped hanging out with those kids, focused on school, got in a serious relationship, and completely changed how i was living my life. I would read a lot of books about spirituality and philosophies that would help me feel happier and I just learned to accept what was happening and convinced myself that if I lived a healthier, happier life, than it would go away and slowly it has been getting better. but it still happens to me every once in a while. I just have my own ways of dealing with it.
it is so true. pot completeeeeellly messes with you. it all depends on the kinda person you are too. i started smoking heavy about 3 years ago and would just get the regular giggles and munchies from smoking. over the last year i cant even function slightly when im high my heart races and i get extremely paranoid and think about things and worry the whole time. its no fun at all. it compeltely changed my personality when im sober too im so nervous about everything now and am totally antisocial now. his best thing would be to just quit smoking all together and it should help it slowly going away. mines starting too but itll take time.