[HN Gopher] Cannabis use linked to anxiety diagnoses, worsened a...
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Cannabis use linked to anxiety diagnoses, worsened anxiety
       disorders
        
       Author : cpncrunch
       Score  : 133 points
       Date   : 2024-02-06 17:22 UTC (5 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (globalnews.ca)
 (TXT) w3m dump (globalnews.ca)
        
       | edgyquant wrote:
       | Yeah this pretty obvious to anyone with an anxiety disorder who
       | tries pot as a solution. It gets recommended by users, who think
       | it's a cure because their anxiety is due to THc withdrawals. But
       | if you aren't a user and try it it explodes your anxiety and is
       | just the worst.
        
         | LordDragonfang wrote:
         | Can anecdotally confirm that I know lots of nonsmokers (or at
         | least, those who don't regularly smoke) who find their anxiety
         | spiked when they tried weed. Some of that is just because being
         | in an altered state for the first time is fairly anxiety-
         | inducing itself.
        
           | morkalork wrote:
           | I find that even with tons of experience, it's a matter of
           | frequency and habituation. When I was smoking every day,
           | there wasn't any anxiety but after a long break, the next
           | time is like the very first time. Full of anxiety.
        
         | marcellus23 wrote:
         | Not sure why this is being downvoted, you're completely correct
         | -- anxiety and paranoia are well-known effects of being high on
         | weed (depending on the strain ofc), and anxiety and depression
         | are well-known withdrawal symptoms. And it's much worse if
         | you're already prone to anxiety and depression.
        
         | huytersd wrote:
         | I smoked a lot about a decade ago. Anecdotally, I can confirm
         | this as well. I would feel great if I got high when life was
         | stress free but it heightened my anxiety when I was already
         | worried about something. It also generally made me anxious to
         | be around other people.
        
         | Fauntleroy wrote:
         | I wouldn't say it's this simple--there are lots of different
         | strains out there with wildly different effects due to the
         | cannabinoids they contain. Furthermore, every person's own
         | endocannabinoid system is different, and reacts differently to
         | cannabinoids. For one person, a strain might make them feel
         | relaxed and happy--for another, the same strain might make them
         | simply fall asleep (or extremely anxious, for instance).
         | 
         | There's also the very common issue of people new to cannabis
         | using _far, far_ too much--which generally results in a feeling
         | of intense anxiety. Anyone who hasn 't had any cannabis before
         | should be extremely careful and use as little as possible.
         | 
         | Finally, regular users who have developed a tolerance for
         | certain cannabinoids may find it difficult to relax without
         | them. Anyone regularly using a substance like cannabis should
         | be on the lookout for this, and change their behavior
         | accordingly.
        
         | readthenotes1 wrote:
         | It's not obvious to my sibling. They won't confess they have
         | anxiety even though it's hard to have a conversation with them
         | without heading towards the apocalypse--a change concurrent
         | with treating so e physical disorder with edibles and
         | smokables.
        
         | netule wrote:
         | That has also been my experience. I've had anxiety since I was
         | a child and was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder.
         | Back in 2014 or so, I was at my wits end and wanted to try
         | medical marijuana since it was touted as a solution to my
         | anxiety. I went to see a doctor, who doubled down on this being
         | a good thing to try. So, I got my card, and went to a
         | dispensary where I bought whatever they recommended for
         | anxiety.
         | 
         | Two hours later, I was having my biggest panic attack in years.
         | If I didn't grow up having panic attacks all my life, I would
         | probably have called 911 or got someone to drive me to the ER.
         | 
         | If there's an easy fix for anxiety out there, I'd love to know
         | about it. I've been fighting this for decades and it doesn't
         | get better as I get older. What kind of helps in the meantime
         | is therapy, slow exposure to stressors (being careful to
         | prevent flooding), and mindfulness meditation. None of this
         | fixes my anxiety, but it makes it a little bit more manageable.
        
           | xanderlewis wrote:
           | > I've been fighting this for decades and it doesn't get
           | better as I get older.
           | 
           | As someone younger than you quite possibly suffering with the
           | same thing, that's saddening to hear. Is there anything you
           | did that you wish you'd done sooner? Have you tried any
           | (pharmaceutical) medication?
        
             | thepasswordis wrote:
             | See here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39278214
        
             | netule wrote:
             | I do take Clonazepam when I get severe panic attacks or
             | right before something I know usually triggers a panic
             | attack, but nothing on a day-to-day basis. Clonazepam does
             | seem to help with my symptoms, though it just makes me feel
             | euphoric (which, I guess, is better than feeling like I'm
             | dying). I take a tiny dose, but it seems to help a lot.
             | 
             | I have a few things I wish I'd done sooner if you'd indulge
             | my ranty and highly personal list:
             | 
             | * Moving out of the city and into the country. I know this
             | one is not feasible for most people, but it helped me to
             | get out of the hustle and bustle and back to an environment
             | similar to where I grew up.
             | 
             | * Reducing caffeine and increasing water intake. I limit
             | myself to one cup of coffee in the morning and no caffeine
             | afterward.
             | 
             | * Quitting my high-stress job in favor of a job at a
             | startup and taking more breaks.
             | 
             | * Daily cardio exercise for at least 30 minutes.
             | 
             | * Talking about how I'm feeling with my partner. It seems
             | simple and silly, but this one is crucial for me. I tend to
             | lock up when I'm feeling crappy and lash out. Overcoming
             | that and talking about how I'm feeling has helped
             | enormously.
             | 
             | * Going to therapy.
             | 
             | These are all helping me cope, so I still have panic
             | attacks, but not as often as a decade or so ago.
        
               | xanderlewis wrote:
               | > if you'd indulge my ranty and highly personal list
               | 
               | Not ranty at all; very helpful in fact!
               | 
               | It's interesting you say cutting down on caffeine
               | helped... I feel the opposite would be true for me. For
               | some reason it seems to have a calming effect.
               | 
               | Anyway... good luck to you. I hope it continues to
               | gradually improve.
        
           | thepasswordis wrote:
           | Propanolol is a _fantastic_ anxiety treatment. In some ways
           | better than xanax, at least for me.
           | 
           | Highly, highly recommend trying it. They say it's for "stage
           | fright", which can be offputting because "stage fright" (at
           | least to me) seems almost wholly unrelated to the type of
           | anxiety I suffer from.
           | 
           | It's a miracle from my perspective. If you suffer from
           | generalized anxiety, please ask your doctor about it.
           | 
           | Just to really hammer this home: I had doctors recommend this
           | drug to me for years, and I always more or less ignored them.
           | I have taken xanax for quite some time, and took this
           | recommendation as them being apprehensive about prescribing
           | it (which i understand, since many people abuse it).
           | 
           | Propanolol seems to have the same type of calming effect, but
           | with none of tired/disassociative feelings that xanax gives
           | (which I don't like). The first time I took it I almost
           | wanted to cry. It really was just like a switch that turned
           | the anxiety off. It does take about 60-90 minutes to fully
           | kick in, though.
        
             | netule wrote:
             | Thanks for the suggestion; I appreciate it. Is this
             | something you take daily or as you need it?
        
               | thepasswordis wrote:
               | As needed, but it's fine to take daily with no negative
               | downsides.
               | 
               | I'll take it before I need to go do something which might
               | have triggered an attack, but the long term benefit here
               | is that doing those activities without getting triggered
               | lessens the sensitivity to the trigger (if that make
               | sense).
               | 
               | So lately I haven't taken any in weeks, but when I was
               | first prescribed it I took it every day.
        
             | throw3450 wrote:
             | I feel that propanolol helps with physical effects of
             | anxiety (which are not much of a problem for me), but
             | doesn't affect the mental side of anxiety the same way
             | benzos do. It's much less addictive than benzos of course,
             | and preferable for that reason if it works.
        
               | thepasswordis wrote:
               | I _only_ get the physical effects, which is why it works
               | so well for me.
        
             | McPhale wrote:
             | I'm a hobbyist musician with IBS-D, which is often
             | triggered by general anxiety. I've been asked to play with
             | the pros several times, and every time I have to say 'no'
             | several hours beforehand b/c I'm chained to the toilet. Do
             | you think that propranolol would negate those issues? I
             | have also tried CBT with a therapist and it was only
             | marginally helpful
        
           | throwaway11460 wrote:
           | It's very likely that you had way too much THC. Especially if
           | you vaped or ingested it.
           | 
           | When I first started smoking, 0.01g (yes, one hundredth of a
           | gram - a barely visible layer on top of some tobacco) was
           | enough to get a whole room of students _incredibly high_ for
           | a few hours. I used to buy 0.2g and that lasted 5 people the
           | entire weekend.
           | 
           | And that was before all of this lamp-grown craziness with 10%
           | and more THC content. If you used more than 0.1g of these
           | medical dispensary strains, it's really no wonder you had a
           | crazy panic attack. I'd have too and I'm an experienced
           | smoker.
           | 
           | I know some people using weed to treat anxiety. They smoke so
           | little they don't feel high at all. One gram might last them
           | a month.
        
             | oblib wrote:
             | I have 2nd this. I've been using weed for a very long time
             | and have seen so many people try to take a lung full of
             | smoke as opposed to a small sip.
             | 
             | I don't do "vapes". That stuff is so highly concentrated
             | that it makes me cough with even a tiny sip. Same with
             | "gummies". I can't really know how the dose will affect me
             | and I don't want to get "stoned".
             | 
             | I do think that if you're wanting weed to help with anxiety
             | you should probably look into CBD too. That probably works
             | better for anxiety.
        
             | DANmode wrote:
             | For the curious reader: that clownshow is at _~30%_ THC
             | these days.
        
           | bowsamic wrote:
           | Anxiety is likely to get worse as you age, unfortunately. If
           | you have it when you're young, the prognosis isn't good.
        
             | waingake wrote:
             | I'm way less anxious as an adult than I was as a kid.
             | Likely due to various coping strategies that I've ingrained
             | over the years.
        
           | vitehozonage wrote:
           | I have diagnosed GAD as well. And the first time I smoked
           | marijuana I had an intensely anxious experience. However, i
           | find that small doses of edibles are like magic. I am
           | sensitive to it but the dose makes the poison.
        
           | supertofu wrote:
           | Apart from mindfulness practices (which do help, but slowly),
           | I've found the following to be life-changing regarding my
           | lifelong, debilitating social anxiety:
           | 
           | - psychedelic therapy (1-4 times a year, over 6 years, turned
           | me into a functional person in social contexts)
           | 
           | - strong chammomile flower tea (depresses my nervous system
           | to a normal baseline -- this has been the most dramatic way
           | to ease physiological symptoms of anxiety for me)
        
         | j4yav wrote:
         | It's interesting how on HN whenever a topic related to cannabis
         | comes up so many people jump in to say they have anxiety, and
         | that weed makes it worse, and that it must be the same for
         | everyone. Does HN have a higher than normal percentage of
         | highly anxious people? Or is it just the threads attract the
         | kind of people who are likely to be anxious and jumpy around
         | the topic? It's a really interesting phenomenon. In real life,
         | people may like it or not, may still use it or not, but the
         | discussion seems way more casual and nowhere near as singularly
         | anxiety fixated as when the topic comes up here.
         | 
         | I'm not judging, I've been treated for anxiety myself. Just
         | quite curious about how different the conversations are.
        
           | thepasswordis wrote:
           | A thread about anxiety does seem like it would attract people
           | with anxiety who want to talk about anxiety.
        
             | j4yav wrote:
             | Sure, but the phenomenon exists across all the threads
             | about cannabis.
        
               | Taylor_OD wrote:
               | I think it's a recently developed pushback to the
               | widespread love cannabis has received online for a long
               | time. For a long time, it has been either heralded as a
               | gateway drug or a magical cure all that could do no
               | wrong.
               | 
               | Now that it is much more widely available and many more
               | people have actually tried it for extended periods of
               | time, the narrative has shifted.
        
           | refulgentis wrote:
           | If youre willing to accommodate a highly opinionated take
           | from experience:
           | 
           | Intelligence itself seems to correlate with anxiety, i.e.
           | being able to construct and focus on abstractions, as opposed
           | to your immediate environment, on demand increases likelihood
           | of fixation on abstractions.
           | 
           | Combine that with a lack of forced grounding in computer-
           | based professions, i.e. little human interaction, and you're
           | a heck of a lot more likely to be in your own head, then add
           | weed on top and you're even more likely.
        
             | j4yav wrote:
             | Makes sense! That would align pretty well with my personal
             | experience too.
        
           | paulmd wrote:
           | there's also the possibility there is some correlation
           | between autism spectrum and weed anxiety, and that HN
           | naturally attracts nerds who tend to be (mildly) on the
           | spectrum.
           | 
           | there's no particularly major evidence that it's highly
           | correlated but I've heard anecdotal theories along the line
           | before.
        
             | waingake wrote:
             | Interesting, do you have a reference for the autism to weed
             | anxiety link?
        
           | theshackleford wrote:
           | > In real life, people may like it or not, may still use it
           | or not, but the discussion seems way more casual and nowhere
           | near as singularly anxiety fixated as when the topic comes up
           | here.
           | 
           | It's been common in my circles as we have aged. In our now
           | mid 30s most have ceased its usage other for that reason
           | other than myself who took it up following a spinal cord
           | injury. For what it's worth, it did seem to give me anxiety
           | at first but time (and mixing with a cbd strain) seems to
           | have solved that.
           | 
           |  _edit_
           | 
           | We do all work in IT for the most part so...maybe that is
           | something.
        
           | mikhmha wrote:
           | I began to notice this phenomenon on internet
           | discussions/forums tied to mental health, physical health,
           | and drugs (illiegal and legal). The discussions themselves
           | attract anxious people who are using the internet to validate
           | and reassure themselves. And I know I used to be the same
           | before I found my own effective treatment for anxiety.
        
         | calfuris wrote:
         | I wouldn't read too much into this story, as any people who do
         | benefit from THC probably wouldn't be visiting an emergency
         | department for cannabis-related reasons. I'll also say, as
         | someone with an anxiety disorder, that it certainly didn't make
         | it worse. For me, it worked pretty much like Xanax: did wonders
         | for my anxiety, but I couldn't manage to get anything done, so
         | I had to switch back to my usual not-completely-effective meds.
        
         | maxbond wrote:
         | It's definitely more than just conflating "treating" THC
         | withdrawal with treating anxiety, at least for me personally.
         | I'll quit for months, have an anxiety attack, and I'm able to
         | interrupt it by using cannabis. It doesn't per say treat my
         | anxiety but can be like a "rescue inhaler" to disrupt
         | repetitive anxious thoughts and snap me out of an anxiety
         | attack. Once they're disrupted, I have a fighting chance to
         | confront my anxiety with other strategies (which are the real
         | long term solutions).
         | 
         | But it does make perfect sense to me that the effects of
         | cannabis on someone who has been a longtime user are quite
         | different and that it isn't great generic advice to tell people
         | to try cannabis for their anxiety. I definitely think this
         | current vogue of trying to apply cannabis to every problem is
         | misguided and an artefact of the commercial environment around
         | cannabis being increasingly legal, not our medical
         | understanding of it.
        
           | DANmode wrote:
           | I'm comfortable recommending broad-spectrum CBD with little
           | or no THC as an anxiety aid.
           | 
           | Not all cannabis has THC, high THC (the anxiety-inducing
           | part, for most).
           | 
           | Nor should it!
        
             | maxbond wrote:
             | I'm aware, but I personally wouldn't recommend any mind
             | altering substance to anyone without a lot of context. When
             | I was a young troublemaker my friends and I fancied
             | ourselves as knowledgeable and made very casual
             | recommendations to people about what substances they should
             | try and what dosages would be appropriate. It became
             | apparent to me that a dosage that has no discernable effect
             | on one person can put another under the table, and I became
             | very, very conservative about such things.
             | 
             | Eg, I've seen people smoke large amounts of weed and
             | concentrates and then go off and do something productive,
             | and I've seen people take a single hit or gummy and have a
             | panic attack.
             | 
             | Someone I know tried a CBD product to see if it would help
             | their anxiety (to be clear, they didn't consult with me on
             | this, this was of their own volution). They somehow had
             | gotten the impression that they wouldn't feel high, and
             | were alarmed when they did. In that case, there wasn't any
             | lasting harm, they simply didn't try it again. I know
             | another person who would have a lot of anxiety on CBD
             | gummies. Again, no lasting harm, they just stopped taking
             | them. But I don't believe that there is no cause for
             | caution with CBD products.
             | 
             | I see CBD gummies advertised for just about everything,
             | from helping you sleep to helping you feel awake and
             | helping you feel aroused. These are all plausible effects
             | for someone to experience, but I don't believe we have it
             | down to such a science that these experiences can be
             | bottled and productized. There's clearly a lot of snake oil
             | out there.
             | 
             | To be clear I think it's broadly good that cannabis is
             | being slowly legalized in the US and that people have the
             | opportunity to experiment and see if it's helpful to them.
             | I've just had a respect for mind-altering substances
             | ingrained in me, so I'm not uncomfortable with how casually
             | people sometimes recommend these products.
        
         | honkycat wrote:
         | > who think it's a cure because their anxiety is due to THc
         | withdrawals.
         | 
         | You don't have any proof that this is true or not, yet you
         | state it as fact. Lazy thinker.
        
       | barbazoo wrote:
       | > The study looked at health data of 12 million people between
       | January 2008 and March 2019 and found that 27.5 per cent of
       | people who visited an emergency room for cannabis use developed
       | an anxiety disorder for the first time within three years.
       | 
       | Others are way better at judging a study's methodology but this
       | immediately caught _my_ eye. Shouldn 't we also look at cannabis
       | users who didn't visit an ER? And what else was in those people's
       | blood at the time? THC vs CBD?
       | 
       | Obviously no link to the actual study so it's hard to judge
       | really.
        
         | LordDragonfang wrote:
         | Also, what's the base rate of developing an anxiety disorder?
         | 
         | NIH says:
         | 
         | > An estimated 19.1% of U.S. adults had any anxiety disorder in
         | the past year.
         | 
         | https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/any-anxiety-disor...
         | 
         | That's pretty high already, and I imagine the base rates for
         | anxiety developing among "people who have to be hospitalized
         | for any reason" are much higher than the general pop.
        
         | j4yav wrote:
         | What does it mean to visit an ER for cannnabis? Wouldn't that
         | typically be an anxiety attack in the first place?
        
           | throwanem wrote:
           | If you've never had a panic attack before, the first one is
           | easy to mistake for something a lot more dangerous.
        
             | antod wrote:
             | During a mental health first aid course, I remember being
             | told those mistakes can (admittedly rarely) happen in the
             | other direction too. ie someone thinking they were having a
             | panic attack actually having a heart attack instead.
             | 
             | The advice was to go call an ambulance anyway for someone
             | having a serious panic attack. But for what it's worth,
             | that advice was given somewhere where calling ambulances
             | won't cost you.
        
               | user_7832 wrote:
               | A friend of my father unfortunately had a similar issue.
               | Complained of acidity in the morning, dead from a heart
               | attack by afternoon. It's much better to be over-cautious
               | in such cases.
        
             | smokracek wrote:
             | Indeed, while not cannabis related, I visited the ER once
             | due to a panic attack (which I did't know at the time). My
             | combination of high heart rate, mild abdominal pain, and a
             | low grade fever triggered their sepsis protocol. This
             | constellation of symptoms caused me to spiral more and
             | eventually I was discharged with nothing more than some
             | chill pills and constipation.
        
           | maxbond wrote:
           | Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome? Asthma attack? Being way
           | too high?
           | 
           | Just some guesses.
        
           | steveklabnik wrote:
           | Some consequences of illegal substances are things like "lack
           | of standard dosage" and "lack of consumer education."
           | 
           | Someone who has never taken cannabis before, accidentally not
           | realizing they've consumed too much, not knowing how to
           | handle it, and wondering if they're okay, and calling 911 or
           | going to the ER, is not an unfamiliar story.
        
           | TrackerFF wrote:
           | The only I've heard about:
           | 
           | - psychosis
           | 
           | - green out/being absolutely ripped, and found by others, who
           | in turn will take you to the ER.
        
         | tehwebguy wrote:
         | > people who visited an emergency room for cannabis use
         | 
         | ?
        
           | huytersd wrote:
           | Most people wouldn't visit an ER for cannabis unless they
           | already had some anxiety disorder that lead to insane amounts
           | of anxiety.
        
             | bowsamic wrote:
             | That's a strange thing to say, why do you think that? I
             | know a lot of people who don't have anxiety disorders who
             | had an anxiety attack when they first got high, and yes
             | they might think they need to go to the hospital. The
             | physical experience of weed can feel like you're dying
        
           | dekhn wrote:
           | it's not uncommon for naive (first-time) consumers,
           | especially of edibles, to have intense reactions that lead to
           | ER visits; I suspect that many of those are just folks who
           | have no idea what is going on and interpret the feeling as
           | being dangerous. IIRC the symptoms often include racing
           | heart, intense paranoia, and a general feeling of lack of
           | control.
           | 
           | Also the ER is the first line of treatment for many
           | individuals.
        
         | spcebar wrote:
         | So the study is actually called "Development of an anxiety
         | disorder following an emergency department visit due to
         | cannabis use" and you can check it out here:
         | https://www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5...
         | 
         | The study isn't establishing a direct link between cannabis and
         | anxiety, it's looking very specifically at anxiety diagnoses
         | following an ER visit. The findings are interpreted in the
         | study as the following: "ED visits for cannabis use were
         | associated with an increased risk of having an incident
         | healthcare visit for an anxiety disorder, particularly in young
         | males."
         | 
         | What exactly that means on the broader context of cannabis use
         | isn't the focus of the study, but it invites further research
         | to explore the implications of their findings.
        
           | throwaway09223 wrote:
           | Going to an ER after taking cannabis seems like something
           | only someone with an existing anxiety disorder might do.
           | 
           | A more accurate headline might read: People with anxiety
           | disorders who take cannabis may unnecessarily visit the ER.
        
             | throwanem wrote:
             | > Going to an ER after taking cannabis seems like something
             | only someone with an existing anxiety disorder might do.
             | 
             | Twenty or thirty years ago, I'd have agreed with you on
             | this, but potency that's normal today wouldn't even have
             | been a dream back then. If you think that makes no
             | difference, I'm here to tell you you are wrong.
        
               | saiya-jin wrote:
               | You both are correct, I've seen it countless times. Folks
               | sometimes don't admit even to themselves how insecure and
               | anxious they are. And THC will highlight that, sometimes
               | a bit, sometimes massively. Same with alcohol, other
               | drugs, intense stressful situations and so on.
               | 
               | If you are not anxious, this is no story, this won't
               | bulge even after decades of copious consumption (some
               | very close folks fall here and only here, no exception
               | ever heard of).
               | 
               | Now if you are completely clueless or just a (again
               | clueless) kid and say eat 5 space cakes to show off, yeah
               | this will not be a nice story. 5-10 hours of catatonic
               | despair will leave some mark, but this id self-inflicted
               | harm due to stupidity, many wonderful harms and deaths
               | have been caused by very same thing and if we want bans
               | due to that, alcohol should be the first in line by huge
               | margin.
               | 
               | Educate from childhood, regulate (age, potency, how much
               | daily, optimize for harmless consumption of quality
               | products without impurities), but otherwise let folks do
               | their thing. Anything else leads long term to worse
               | results for whole society, any gut feeling is easily
               | beaten by long term statistics.
        
               | bowsamic wrote:
               | My father in law gets super paranoid and anxious on weed
               | and LSD but he will never admit it because he wants
               | people to believe that he's completely chill
        
               | ngai_aku wrote:
               | Man, I wish my father-in-law was using LSD with me!
        
               | throwanem wrote:
               | Oh, it's nothing anyone can't get through with a little
               | help from someone who can take a broader perspective.
               | That's a lot harder to come by these days than should be,
               | or at least than is healthy for primates as social as we.
               | Stronger communities would yield fewer such ER visits,
               | too.
               | 
               | I don't advocate a ban; Prohibition is a salutary example
               | and it would be worse today for all involved. But I also
               | don't like to see anyone talk about _any_ drug, and
               | certainly not this one, as entirely benign.
        
               | hirvi74 wrote:
               | I constantly see this, but haven't people been making
               | concentrates for 1000s of years? I imagine ancient Nepali
               | hash would probably rock a lot of people's world still to
               | this day.
        
               | supertofu wrote:
               | Sure, but Nepali hash was being taken in a much different
               | cultural context (religious, often) by people who were
               | generally very prepared for its consequences.
        
           | hinkley wrote:
           | I know a family with some sort of genetic disposition to
           | anxiety disorders. Every generation up until recent times had
           | at least one functioning alcoholic in it. The second to last
           | was the beloved family matriarch, not the black sheep. Trying
           | to drown out the maelstrom.
           | 
           | It's called self medication, and people have a sense of when
           | something is wrong with them without a doctor telling them
           | (or for that matter, believing them). Neurodivergent people
           | know this especially well, since "all in your head" was the
           | ultimate dismissal of medical complaints up until the last
           | decade.
           | 
           | Might as well study hospitalizations for stimulants and
           | tendency to impulsiveness and intrusive thoughts. People with
           | ADHD have been self-medicating with stimulants since the
           | trade routes brought tea and coffee ( and probably with beer
           | and wine before that).
           | 
           | I maintain that the original motto for Coca Cola (with real
           | coca leaves) was a nod to high functioning ADHD customers.
           | The Thinking Man's Drink. Most measurable gains in cognitive
           | ability from mild stimulants are enjoyed by the
           | neurodivergent. But if we are 10% of the human population,
           | that's a demographic even Apple could love.
        
             | samatman wrote:
             | This begs the question, which is whether self-medication
             | with cannabis makes anxiety worse, rather than better, for
             | most people who try it. It might, or it might not,
             | establishing to what degree the correlation is causal is
             | fairly important.
        
               | Schnitz wrote:
               | I'd guess that it makes it better at first, worse in the
               | long run. Depression and anxiety are known Cannabis
               | withdrawal symptoms, so it seems like drinking to cure a
               | hangover. There's a great Huberman episode on
               | Canabis/THC.
        
               | hirvi74 wrote:
               | > Huberman episode on Canabis/THC.
               | 
               | You mean the same episode where he claimed that something
               | like 25% of pregnant mothers use Cannabis without
               | providing any sources?
               | 
               | I'm not saying Huberman has to be right about
               | _everything_ , but I think he just cherrypicks too many
               | studies, sometimes overestimates the value of animal
               | research, and, once in a blue moon, just completely makes
               | up stats to fit his narrative.
               | 
               | His on wikipedia page even says,
               | 
               | > _Huberman has promoted anti-sunscreen views on his
               | podcast, saying he 's "as scared of sunscreen as I am of
               | melanoma", and claiming that sunscreen molecules can be
               | found in neurons 10 years after application; without
               | providing any evidence._
               | 
               | I think his intentions are good, but I sometimes question
               | his intentions when he never fails to mention that you
               | can also use the code Huberman to get 25% off your first
               | order of Athletic Greens.
        
               | LegitShady wrote:
               | Huberman is the joe rogan of people who think reading a
               | dozen inconclusive studies solves life's mysteries.
        
               | hinkley wrote:
               | It could be, it also could just be that desperate people
               | are drawn to a drug that's illegal but less 'illegal' in
               | the court of public opinion than other drugs.
               | 
               | It's probably both.
        
             | slaymaker1907 wrote:
             | Talking about the ADHD thing, there's a similar problem
             | with some research that claims stimulants cause Parkinson's
             | disease. The study authors didn't seem to account for the
             | fact that people with more severe ADHD would be more likely
             | to be treated with stimulants and that severity of ADHD
             | could instead be the causal factor.
        
               | hinkley wrote:
               | Or the self-care failings of ADHD people predispose them
               | to earlier onset. Or that ADHD people chew on things they
               | really shouldn't, flooding our systems with things like
               | pthalates, BPA.
        
           | robocat wrote:
           | Finding causality is hard and this study has so many hidden
           | confounders that even implying causality from weed to anxiety
           | disorder is bullshit.
           | 
           | Anecdotally, the only people I know that ended up in ED due
           | to weed either took it unknowingly or have Cannabinoid
           | hyperemesis syndrome from heavy heavy usage. Surely someone
           | with a tendency for anxiety is more likely to seek medical
           | help.
           | 
           | I know cannabis smokers who have anxiety issues, but it isn't
           | obvious whether their tendency for anxiety leads them to
           | smoking. I'm ignoring temporary anxiety. Disclosure: not a
           | pot smoker.
        
           | TylerE wrote:
           | The problem I have with studies like this is that the implied
           | scoping really distorts any conclusions that could be drawn.
           | People who don't go to the doctor - by definition - don't get
           | diagnosed with anything.
        
       | zzzeek wrote:
       | can confirm here, pot just causes lots of paranoia a few hours
       | after smoking, ill stick with lexapro thanks
        
         | ModernMech wrote:
         | lexapro made me suicidal. YMMV
        
       | freeplay wrote:
       | I smoked all throughout my teens and twenties. Once I hit my 30s,
       | smoking would give me insane anxiety and, occasionally, full
       | blown panic attacks. Obviously, this is very anecdotal and may
       | have to do with other factors in my life (increased
       | responsibilities to worry about as you get older, kids, etc.).
       | 
       | It got to the point where I asked myself why I was even doing it
       | if it was no longer fun or relaxing in any way.
       | 
       | People who love cannabis think it's the cure for everything.
       | While I don't doubt its medicinal uses, it's definitely not for
       | everyone.
        
         | accrual wrote:
         | I agree it has something to do with responsibilities and/or
         | "getting caught". As a young adult I had a lot less going on
         | and cannabis was a wonderful tool for creativity and getting
         | things done. Older, I find myself worrying about more things
         | and cannabis can bring in introspective thought loops which
         | manifest as anxiety. Fortunately I'm better at separating that
         | out now and it doesn't affect me as much - but I know if I was
         | chilling in a hammock in a wooded area somewhere without
         | deadlines to meet, I'd be a lot less anxious.
         | 
         | Also, quitting caffeine cut my anxiety in half.
        
           | plasma_beam wrote:
           | Also agree it's 100% the responsibilities/feeling guilty
           | syndrome. But I'm basing this on my personal experience only.
           | 
           | I suffer from bouts of anxiety and depression. I also like to
           | partake in cannabis. If I'm feeling depressed, anxious, sad -
           | WARNING - don't do cannabis!! It amplifies the feeling. I
           | would never use it for an escape from bad stuff. If I'm
           | feeling good, then go for it!
           | 
           | It's a mind altering substance. If your mind isn't in a great
           | place to begin with, what do people think cannabis is going
           | to do?
           | 
           | And yeah, cut down on caffeine and sleep some more.
        
             | coffeebeqn wrote:
             | It doesn't for me. If anything it makes my depression and
             | anxiety better for a little bit. It helps me focus on just
             | one thing rather than worry about all the things in the
             | world.
             | 
             | Set and setting do matter just like other drugs. If I'm
             | sitting at my back garden then I feel very at peace high.
             | If I'm downtown then I'll feel anxious from the sensory
             | overload
        
           | perihelions wrote:
           | - _" introspective thought loops"_
           | 
           | Oh, that's the flavor of anxiety I get too! That's a very
           | precise description.
        
             | jrh3 wrote:
             | I enjoyed that phase too when I read it :), but is it just
             | a nicer way of saying "spiraling?"
        
         | swed420 wrote:
         | It seems common for people to be unaware of important things
         | like THC:CBD ratios, and this ignorance often stems from
         | unfortunate market based incentives to prioritize high THC
         | ratios above all else. Modern growing techniques drive this
         | even further with high potency plants.
         | 
         | If you (anyone) aren't fortunate enough to have a wide
         | selection of lab tested ratios in your locale, consider mixing
         | whatever THC is available along with product that is CBD
         | "hemp," which, at least in the US is legal in most places and
         | legal to ship online from out of state. Many users
         | intentionally mix like this because the latter is often cheaper
         | from the market saturation.
         | 
         | This isn't guaranteed to be the reason behind your issues, but
         | seems to be for many people who stumble into this info.
        
           | DANmode wrote:
           | Great comment.
           | 
           | ~100% THC, no CBD, is objectively wrong for almost all uses
           | of cannabis.
           | 
           | The market is morally bankrupt, ran by non-cannabis people,
           | and prioritizing addiction over wellness.
        
         | rascul wrote:
         | > People who love cannabis think it's the cure for everything.
         | 
         | I don't and nobody I know who uses cannabis thinks that either.
         | False generalizations don't help anybody.
        
           | DANmode wrote:
           | This perspective stems from:
           | 
           | - ignorance of what the different compounds are capable of,
           | especially when isolated and concentrated.
           | 
           | - thinking all cannabis consumers light it on fire.
           | 
           | - more
        
         | Geste wrote:
         | Might get downvoted but I agree; truly weed has changed, even
         | just CBD. Now it is bad vibes only. Oh well, alcohol is still
         | there I guess.
        
           | DANmode wrote:
           | Not all CBD is created equal.
           | 
           | Contaminants are still very common, and so is not having
           | broad or full spectrum of compounds.
           | 
           | If you're interested in a great recommendation, happy to
           | help.
        
         | honkycat wrote:
         | This happened to me for a while, so I stopped.
         | 
         | Then I started up again, and I VERY CAREFULLY measure my
         | dosage. 2.5mg THC and 20mg CBD takes the edge off nicely, is
         | zero calorie, and works up my appetite even when I'm sick of
         | eating ( I do a ton of weight lifting and the protein intake
         | can be annoying ).
         | 
         | I've abandoned flower and use a little dropper of low octaine
         | 4-1 CBD to THC tincture.
        
           | sufficer wrote:
           | What do you dropper mix in? Other shakes?
        
       | cypherg wrote:
       | I've smoked every day for 15 years and I'm still not addicted
        
         | flgstnd wrote:
         | how can you know? you'd need to stop to experience the
         | withdrawal symptoms of the psychological dependence..
        
           | jjgreen wrote:
           | https://i.kym-
           | cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/992/402/c35...
        
             | op00to wrote:
             | We don't post memes like that here.
        
         | supertofu wrote:
         | Is this meant to be an ironic statement?
         | 
         | Sounds like saying "I've drank every day for 15 years but I'm
         | not an alcoholic."
        
       | cypherg wrote:
       | It's a psychoactive substances, none of this is the least bit
       | surprising. It helps some people with anxiety and it worsens it
       | for others.
        
       | xeckr wrote:
       | Cannabis is not for everyone.
        
         | accrual wrote:
         | Agree. IMO it takes a certain personality to enjoy it and make
         | the best of it. Others will find it an awful experience and
         | never touch it again. Nothing wrong in either case.
        
       | oldandboring wrote:
       | I've been on and off this train. I smoked in high school, not at
       | all in college, again in my twenties, not at all in my thirties,
       | started again recently. I definitely have anxiety but I would not
       | say the pot has triggered panic attacks or otherwise brought on
       | or amplified the anxiety. That said, while the pot has a nice
       | numbing effect for a couple hours, it certainly has not made my
       | anxiety _better_ and I definitely sleep much better when I haven
       | 't consumed any THC. Same goes for alcohol.
        
       | bagful wrote:
       | What kind of cannabis are people trying to treat their anxiety
       | with? If it's high-THC dispensary strains and oil cartridges, no
       | wonder; such products have hardly any medicinal value.
        
         | vundercind wrote:
         | Dose level, too. I find being very-high _terribly_ anxiety-
         | inducing. I don't like it at all.
         | 
         | But ~5-8mg of gummy is amazing as a sleep aid (which is
         | largely, for me, about shutting down anxiety _hard_ ) and ~3mg
         | (as needed, and rarely, for me) to take the edge off daytime
         | anxiety. Lower doses are quite effective if it's "full
         | spectrum" and not just isolated THC. The higher (ha, ha) end of
         | that range does "get me high" but in a pretty mild way, like
         | having a really solid alcohol buzz but not being an
         | _unfortunate_ level of inebriated.
         | 
         | Meanwhile, I've given myself a very unpleasant half-hour with a
         | single too-large puff on a strong vape pen.
         | 
         | When I was first getting used to it, 5mg sent me straight to
         | bed, do not pass go, hope you didn't have any other plans, and
         | was a little too much.
         | 
         | I wonder how much of this is from people using it _to get very
         | high on purpose_ , or from novice medicinal users dosing too
         | high.
        
       | cornhole wrote:
       | ymmv but this was the case for me
        
       | seanthemon wrote:
       | Outside of this study, if you're a constant smoker and you suffer
       | from morning nausea, please see cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome
       | 
       | I suffered from intense bouts of nausea often lasting days (and
       | my last time a whole week), I learned of CHS and stopped my use
       | immediately, finally stopped the pain
       | 
       | The pain and nausea was so bad, it was honestly the worst i've
       | ever felt
        
         | facialwipe wrote:
         | Just to clarify, how did you typically consume cannabis?
        
           | supertofu wrote:
           | I speculate concentrates.
        
             | seanthemon wrote:
             | My country doesn't have easily accessible concentrates, but
             | I did dry herb vape high quality cannabis and smoke on
             | occasion (maybe 3 times a week)
        
           | seanthemon wrote:
           | Daily dry herb vaping and occasional smoking (3 times a
           | week), but very high quality
        
       | zoklet-enjoyer wrote:
       | I get a strain at the dispensary that's 1:1 THC:CBD. It's a lot
       | better for me than the high THC stuff; I can't handle those.
        
       | thepasswordis wrote:
       | Cannabis use seemed to "unlock" a type of anxiety that I had
       | never experienced before, and after using it, I could never
       | "forget" this feeling. Absolute hell that now recurs.
       | 
       | It seems absolutely insane to me that our pop culture pushes this
       | stuff as at worse benign, but usually beneficial.
        
         | hooo wrote:
         | Can you elaborate on what type of anxiety it unlocked?
        
           | ushakov wrote:
           | They're probably talking about intense paranoia. I have a
           | friend, who told me about the one time they were high and
           | couldn't pee, because of the fear that their organs would
           | flush down the toilet...
        
           | thepasswordis wrote:
           | Sure, what's frustrating is that it isn't tied to any fear
           | (if that makes sense). It's not the traditional "I'm gonna
           | get caught!" thing you see in movies.
           | 
           | The best I can describe is: pretend there's a murderer right
           | outside of your window, he's coming to kill you and tapping
           | on the glass. Your heart rate is spiked, your body is
           | flooding you with adrenaline, fight or flight is in full
           | kickoff mode; you need to either *run* away, or fight.
           | 
           | But now imagine you get all of those physical sensations, but
           | there is no killer outside and you know it. You feel the
           | fight or flight, but you don't have any idea what it is in
           | response to.
           | 
           | Trying to slow down is difficult, and you can feel sortof
           | uncoordinated when walking around (your body is screaming to
           | run, so walking feels off somehow).
           | 
           | Unfortunately it's hard to describe. It is definitely not
           | psychological concern about something, though, and this is
           | where some frustration when talking about it comes from.
           | There's nothing to reassure yourself of or calm down from,
           | because you're not having the psychological effects of
           | anxiety, just the physical ones.
        
             | p1mrx wrote:
             | Sounds like you should get into running.
        
               | thepasswordis wrote:
               | haha
        
             | francisofascii wrote:
             | Sounds like when your sympathetic nervous system is turned
             | on and stuck? This sounds similar to hyperadrenergic POTS
             | or dysautonomia.
        
             | op00to wrote:
             | This is exactly what my diagnosed by a psychiatrist anxiety
             | is like. It's not specific to cannabis.
        
         | saiya-jin wrote:
         | Because it is?
         | 
         | The problem is, you and tons of folk like you didn't read the
         | fine print, because... who knows, ignorance? Fok ya all
         | attitude of young? Even though all info is few clicks away at
         | most.
         | 
         | It has been said 10 thousand times here and everywhere else,
         | including quite a few posts by me - just don't do any mind
         | altering drugs if you are not balanced +-happy person. There is
         | no clear definition or dividing line, each of us is unique and
         | should know how stable/unstable they are, if they have
         | unresolved long term issues and so on. If folks can't be even
         | honest in such things with themselves, well, life will be a
         | tough walk in many aspects thats for sure.
         | 
         | For all those folks, if you do such things, you take tremendous
         | risk, you may end up off better despite issues, but that's your
         | Russian roulette with your own mind, don't complain that you
         | risked massively and lost a huge gamble. These cases are not
         | reference, unless say 50% of US population is by default
         | anxious.
        
           | unethical_ban wrote:
           | You brought age into a discussion when it wasn't warranted,
           | and you assume people with mental health issues all know it.
           | 
           | Healthy people have heart attacks. Healthy people can mistake
           | depression or budding mental issues as "work stress" or the
           | pressures of life.
           | 
           | You're essentially saying "yeah cannabis can cause issues but
           | it's your fault for not knowing your in a 100% happy place"
           | which is dismissive on several levels.
           | 
           | I say this as someone who likes THC edibles and also can see
           | how it causes anxiety for people prone to it. I also think
           | age can be a factor, anecdotally. Alcohol was something easy
           | for me to overconsume, and now my hangovers cause nebulous
           | anxiety the next day which cannot be explained by any
           | specific thing.
        
             | DANmode wrote:
             | > cannot be explained by any specific thing.
             | 
             | Neurodegeneratives be neurodegenerating?
        
         | yazaddaruvala wrote:
         | You're not alone. After years of no issues and enjoying the
         | intoxication, I had a really bad trip that caused an "anxiety
         | attack" specifically existential anxiety. While intoxicated I
         | would rarely but sometimes feel paranoid, however, this was my
         | first ever time experiencing anxiety at this scale, and it
         | persisted while I was sober.
         | 
         | It was (and sometimes is) really bad!!
         | 
         | It took 4+ months of therapy to get back to "manageable", and
         | over 2 years later I felt back to normal and in control. I've
         | now stopped any intoxicants (alcohol included) almost entirely.
         | I sometimes will participate with a good group of friends, but
         | I'm far more cautious of any intoxicant.
        
           | coffeebeqn wrote:
           | This can be caused by many other things too - not saying
           | cannabis's didn't do it in yours. I always had low background
           | level anxiety through my life but a certain life event caused
           | me to suddenly have panic attacks. I've been on meds ever
           | since
        
         | honkycat wrote:
         | I totally get it, the same thing happens to me. I get horrible
         | anxiety when I overdo it. You are likely over-doing it. Even a
         | puff of the "new" stuff is too much for me.
         | 
         | I'll also point out that:
         | 
         | 1. TONS of people have undiagnosed anxiety disorders, and
         | blaming it on smoking a plant years go is neither scientific or
         | productive.
         | 
         | 2. If you are consistently experiencing anxiety, there are a
         | TON of resources you can tap into. Even outside of medication,
         | there is CBT and mindfulness that can keep you in the moment
         | and prevent you from spinning out.
        
       | d--b wrote:
       | Is this the typical case of correlation vs causation?
       | 
       | From personal experience, using cannabis when you're not anxious
       | is a pretty un pleasant experience. It causes a slight euphoria
       | followed by severe tiredness, and nausea.
       | 
       | Everyone I know who used cannabis past their thirties does it out
       | of self medication for anxiety/sleep problems.
        
         | theshackleford wrote:
         | > From personal experience, using cannabis when you're not
         | anxious is a pretty un pleasant experience. It causes a slight
         | euphoria followed by severe tiredness, and nausea.
         | 
         | This does not match my experience, which of course will vary. I
         | don't get any nausea for a start, and am often ingesting to
         | assist with nausea.
         | 
         | Most people in their 30's I know avoid it as it triggers their
         | already existing anxiety. I took it up in my 30s in combination
         | with other drugs following a spinal cord injury and it's done
         | nothing to assist with anxiety sadly, and has triggered some
         | bouts, though is quite good for helping me eat.
         | 
         | I imagine it's tripped my anxiety as I've been quite anxious
         | since the injury and surgeries to begin with. I managed to
         | reduce those instances by mixing with a CBD heavy strain (my
         | THC strains are all 25% plus which is recommended for my
         | circumstances).
        
       | Madmallard wrote:
       | Anxiety is an evolutionary mechanism to alert the individual that
       | something is wrong and must be dealt with. That should tell you
       | most of you need to know about whether the it is good for you or
       | not. If you have intolerable pain or no appetite and it solves
       | those issues, then maybe that is worth it. In most cases and for
       | most people, it's likely not worth it.
       | 
       | Cannabis lowers blood pressure and can cause tachycardia and has
       | a statistically significant association with the development of
       | heart failure in some users. In my own personal life, I had an
       | episode of moderate autonomic dysfunction after taking it several
       | times with seemingly no issue. While in the hospital the
       | attending ER doctor told me I should probably stay away from it.
       | That was the last time I had it. He was lighthearted and put a
       | joke diagnosis of toxic encephalopathy on the discharge notes.
        
       | rangerelf wrote:
       | Weed makes you paranoid. Who'da thunk.
        
       | micromacrofoot wrote:
       | I mean, yeah... if you have a certain type of anxiety (maybe a
       | little paranoia for example) then cannabis will very often
       | _exaggerate_ that feeling. You can very well get stuck on it. I
       | 've told new cannabis users this for quite some time.
       | 
       | Many people who end up in the hospital because of cannabis
       | convince themselves they're dying, but really they're having
       | what's closer to a bad trip. Edibles are especially prone to this
       | because people often are impatient and end up eating too much
       | because they don't think it's working.
       | 
       | Many drugs (including alcohol!) are multipliers. People need to
       | be especially careful if they have preexisting mental illnesses,
       | especially if they've ever experienced psychosis.
       | 
       | A lot of people blame poor behavior on whatever they took, but
       | that's always a little bit of a personality tell because often
       | they're just talking about lowered inhibitions. If that makes you
       | a total asshole, then maybe consider why... because drugs aren't
       | giving you new personality traits.
        
       | oblib wrote:
       | I'll chime in because I've been using cannabis for over 50 years.
       | First off, I've never suffered with anxiety. if anything, THC has
       | been a great help in relieving that for me.
       | 
       | I also say that over those years there have been long spells of
       | time when I couldn't get any weed, and again, never had issues
       | with that either. No "withdrawal" issues or anxiety issues at
       | all.
       | 
       | The only weed induced anxiety I've ever experienced was caused by
       | knowing I could get arrested for possession, but that's never
       | happened, and where I live now it's legal, so I don't have to
       | worry about that anymore.
       | 
       | Personally, I think that the social stigma associated with "refer
       | madness" may be related to weed induce anxiety.
       | 
       | But there are studies that indicate THC does affect people
       | differently and that genetics may have something to do with that.
       | For example, those who suffer with psychoses may have issues with
       | weed triggering psychotic episodes, but I recently read that CBD
       | may reduce those events.
       | 
       | I think it would be interesting to hear from those dealing with
       | anxiety if CBD relieves that.
        
         | bottlepalm wrote:
         | I'll throw my own anecdotal evidence in here. I found weed to
         | be fun when I was younger, but after few years I started
         | getting really paranoid when I smoked, like a switch was
         | flipped in my brain. Probably after some edible overdoses. So
         | now I mostly avoid it, or use alcohol to dull the paranoia.
         | 
         | I also have a lot of friends with the the same story where it
         | was fun at first, but later just anxiety, paranoia and over
         | thinking things. Looks like in this thread there a lot of
         | similar stories as well.
        
           | Workaccount2 wrote:
           | I'm in this camp and have met many others too. I was a
           | typical heavy user for a few years before over the course of
           | a week I went from chill-out high to full-blown paranoia and
           | insomnia. Tried weed periodically after that and always got
           | the same intense paranoia/anxiety.
           | 
           | Now with edibles I can eat a very small dose (2-4mg) and just
           | skate under the threshold for freak-out, but its a far cry
           | from when I used to eat gummies by the mouthful and have
           | goofy fun for hours afterwards.
        
             | hirvi74 wrote:
             | Fwiw, I am the opposite. When I was younger (late high
             | school), when I would try it, I would absolutely get
             | anxious/paranoid, which prevented me from ever wanting to
             | do it often.
             | 
             | However, once I was older (late 20s), and perhaps my brain
             | was better formed, I never had this issue again.
        
               | hparadiz wrote:
               | Paranoid thinking from weed in my late teens to early 20s
               | had more to do with the fear of being caught by law
               | enforcement and having my life turned upside down over a
               | plant.
        
               | oblib wrote:
               | Same here. I got busted in Hollywood when I was 14 years
               | old, back in 1973. I was the only juvenile in a group of
               | about 20 people at a birthday party in an apartment
               | building. They had a helicopter circling the building and
               | shining a spotlight on the apartment we were in, then a
               | group of police came through the door and arrested all of
               | us.
               | 
               | They ended up dropping the charges on my case because the
               | police didn't read me my rights before questioning me.
               | I'd told them "I smoke weed and I'm not going to stop."
               | The last question they asked me was "You were read your
               | rights, right?", and I told them "No". A woman officer
               | standing behind them looked at me and grinned and nodded
               | her head up and down a bit. When I went to court a month
               | or so later the prosecutor told I could go home because
               | the case was dismissed.
               | 
               | But, for quite a few years after that every time I heard
               | a helicopter hovering nearby I'd get a panic attack. It
               | wasn't a vicious one, but I sure felt it.
        
           | Taylor_OD wrote:
           | I've got nothing but anecdotal evidence but I had the same
           | thing happen to me as have at least a half dozen other people
           | that I know.
           | 
           | Regular smokers for years, at some point something changed,
           | after that point almost any amount of smoking caused enough
           | paranoia and anxiety that they decided to stop smoking
           | entirely.
           | 
           | About once a year, I think, "I'll take a quarter of an edible
           | and watch this movie at home". 9 times out of 10 I end up
           | having an awful night due to anxiety.
        
           | nodesocket wrote:
           | Also can confirm daily use for extended period of time
           | eventually caused me severe anxiety and depression. Perhaps
           | the difference is we are using vape pens (at least I was)
           | which are orders of magnitude stronger than plant. My
           | tolerance increased and increased until I was smoking a 500mg
           | pod almost weekly. I recently stopped cold turkey, and man it
           | was tough. Restless nights, woke up drenched in sweat for
           | about the first five days, shaking of hands, and lips.
           | Whoever said that Cannabis is not physically addictive? Seems
           | like I had physical withdraw symptoms.
           | 
           | I feel so much sharper now, and the fog of "war" has cleared.
           | My work output has increased dramatically. I'm waking up
           | earlier and feeling much more confident. I'm not against
           | cannabis, I think in moderation can be nice, relaxing, and of
           | course has valid medical uses.
        
           | oblib wrote:
           | When I was in my teens kids would have contests to see who
           | could take the most and biggest "hits" from bongs 3ft long.
           | 
           | I never did that. I've always taken tiny puffs because I
           | don't like coughing, so I got called a "buzz kill" quite a
           | few times back then.
        
         | officehero wrote:
         | > The only weed induced anxiety I've ever experienced was
         | caused by knowing I could get arrested for possession
         | 
         | As a Swede I can confirm. It really feels like an 1984
         | situation when you sneak outside around the house blocks,
         | knowing the angles that reduce the risk of possible
         | "witnesses", understanding wind directions and speeds. Mostly
         | just weed-induced paranoia, but having friends got caught
         | really puts one on edge.
        
       | mouse_ wrote:
       | "people looking for solutions linked to problems" very
       | informative
        
       | rossdavidh wrote:
       | While I don't doubt that there could be a link, it seems
       | ridiculous that they don't (at least as far as we can tell from
       | this article) do anything to tell if this is causation one-way or
       | the other. Not hard to imagine that people who are starting to
       | suffer from chronic anxiety may try self-medication before they
       | try the emergency room.
       | 
       | Again, not saying there's no causation the way they imply, but
       | basic experimental principles should tell you to try to control
       | for this somehow, for example by looking at overall anxiety rates
       | before and after it becomes commonly available in a given
       | community, or comparing similar sized communities in different
       | areas with different availability.
        
       | paulpauper wrote:
       | Cannabis is not a dissociative drug. I think pop culture has
       | instilled a false belief it has a calming or chill effect, but
       | it's the opposite.
        
       | hirvi74 wrote:
       | I guess I am somewhat different than many of the commenters in
       | this thread.
       | 
       | Cannabis has caused anxiety in me before, but I had anxiety
       | problems prior fwiw. In a weird way, I kind of used the anxiety
       | from Cannabis as "training."
       | 
       | What I mean, is that when I would get anxious from cannabis, I
       | would try and talk myself down, remind myself that nothing bad
       | was going to happen, and then kind of intentionally try to
       | refrain my thoughts in order to force myself to enjoy the
       | experience.
       | 
       | I learned that the more I did this, the better I was at being
       | able to do this in other situations where I would be
       | inappropriately anxious about something (even without Cannabis).
       | 
       | It's not perfect, but has seemed to work better than anything
       | else I have tried. So, my point is that I learned the only way I
       | can apparently beat anxiety is to charge it head on.
        
         | janeerie wrote:
         | You basically just did exposure therapy (the most effective
         | therapy for anxiety) with cannabis as your trigger.
        
         | mikhmha wrote:
         | Wow, same thing for me as well. It was very effective because
         | it was like OK I know for sure I'm in a state of anxiousness
         | right now because I just consumed something mind-altering -
         | there is no ambiguity to it. So then you roll with it and
         | gradually start to become bolder in your actions. Because its
         | like "well I thought I was gonna die last time but I didn't so
         | it really was all in my head. Why do I waste so much brain CPU
         | on things that are meaningless?".
         | 
         | It didn't 100% solve my anxiety but it put me on the path to
         | finally seek out a legitimate and effective solution because I
         | had enough reference to compare to.
        
       | throw3450 wrote:
       | IMO what really matters is the THC concentration. I've suffered
       | from generalized anxiety since early childhood, and the one time
       | I tried typical, high-THC content recreational cannabis things
       | didn't go well. I got a full-blown panic attack, and maybe even
       | psychotic symptoms for a while, afterwards I wasn't sure whether
       | I imagined some things or not. Later when I tried a CBD product I
       | didn't have any problems, just a slight calming effect comparable
       | to having a couple of beers.
       | 
       | Since then I've also found out that I probably have increased
       | genetic likelihood of developing schizophrenia. I'll never touch
       | anything with significant THC concentration again, just way too
       | risky.
        
       | kaonashi wrote:
       | Does the study differentiate between strains used?
        
       | DiscourseFan wrote:
       | You know, I've only ever had one bad experience with cannabis,
       | and it was only bad for like 30 minutes or so (though it felt
       | much, much longer). I made edibles, and I'd never made them
       | before but I followed online instructions very precisely and
       | ended up, by accident, creating extra-potent brownies.
       | 
       | Now, I knew before taking them how potent they were, I was licked
       | the mixing spoon the night before, just a tiny bit here and
       | there, and even that little bit was enough to make me relatively
       | high. But when my friends saw how tiny the doses were, they
       | thought I was being crazy and we all ended up getting each other
       | to take waaaay to many, especially me, the _host_ , which was an
       | especially bad idea because within an hour I'd gone into my room,
       | gotten into bed, and put on some youtube video to calm me down.
       | Well, not very long after getting into bed I had this feeling of
       | immense warmth and comfort, and I got super blissed out and my
       | friends would come in to check up on me and I just gave them a
       | thumbs up with a massive grin on my face. At some point one of my
       | friends joined me in my room, and then sometime later I rejoined
       | the party, which was getting along fine without me, and then we
       | dispersed after we started to sober up.
       | 
       | So, all in all, it was a good experience. But I got super fucking
       | high and I was literally starting to lose touch with reality
       | before I sequestered myself, and my heart was beating out of my
       | chest so hard I thought I was actually going to have a heart
       | attack and die. I think it was easier for me to handle since I've
       | had experience with fairly high doses of psychedelics in the
       | past. I suppose alls well that ends well.
        
       | drojas wrote:
       | The older you get the more responsibilities and also regrets you
       | have. With more responsibilities and the feeling of not being
       | able to manage them you feel as soon as the THC goes away, it is
       | hard not to get anxious as you age, and it also adds more regrets
       | which directly add to the anxiety and feeling of self-defeat and
       | lack self-control. At least that was in my experience and the
       | reason why I dropped it completely soon after turning 30.
        
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