Have you ever had a panic attack or suffered from anxiety? Speaking from personal experience, it can be one of the most difficult situations to deal with. Logical thought disappears from the mind leaving behind an open void which often fills with with terror and irrationality.
When marijuana enters the anxiety picture, a great divide exists amongst users and researchers regarding the total impact that THC and other active ingredients play in the role of development of anxiety and panic symptoms. Many users claim that marijuana heightens their anxiety while others allege that it reduces their symptoms into manageable terms. Researchers are just as polarized on the issue.
Why is there such a disagreement about the effects of weed on anxiety and panic disorders? Analyzing for patterns in those tested and reported symptoms can help determine what the cause of this controversy truly is.
A Different Perspective
Imagine you become increasingly aware of your heart beat. It begins to beat faster and faster, and it becomes more noticeable with each passing moment. Unable to explain what is going on, how would you feel or what would you think?
For many, this could be nonchalantly tossed to the side and discarded as an unremarkable event. Others may sharply disagree and feel that it needs to be immediately treated with an emergency room visit and a team of highly-paid cardiologists.
In the example I just illustrated, the event is the same for anyone who experiences it, but the thoughts that surround it are going to be unique to each user. This represents part of the reason that marijuana proves itself to be such an enigma for those who attempt to understand the effects of weed upon anxiety. So much debate is about interpretation and perspective especially when speaking about mental issues.
Anxiety From Marijuana Depends on the Individual
As I touched on briefly, I am one of those individuals who at times endures intense anxiety and panic attacks when using marijuana. I can look back later on the event and shrug it off, but in those moments it is happening, it is a sinking feeling and I have the most terrifying of thoughts. It’s the same exact event in both cases I examine it, but I see it through much different eyes at different times.
And if an individual can see a single occurrence so differently, imagine the varying accounts of millions of unique individuals. Because people are so different, the way in which a person views the world needs to be considered when determining possible influences of marijuana.
Join the conversation and share your own experiences with anxiety stemming from marijuana use if you are willing. Your story may be able to help give insight to others who may feel the same things as you. Also, join our mailing list to get updates on the positive and negative effects of weed or visit our page to learn about how you can vaporize weed if you never have.
As an occasional indica smoker/vaporizer, I tried using a sativa-heavy THC/CBD spray – something like Sativex – and took an extra dose when I didn’t feel any effects from the recommended dosage. That was a HUGE mistake for me. I fell asleep for a while, woke up, did some reading and then the high finally made it’s presence known…within 20 minutes I was catapulted into a paranoid psychotic panic episode where I thought I was actually dying instead of being high at all. I couldn’t stay still – went from pacing around the room nonstop to lying down wishing I could go to sleep but not being able to lie still. The whole thing only lasted about an hour before I went to sleep, but I can’t say I wouldn’t have attempted suicide (or worse!) if I had been alone during that time. …very scary experience. I tend to have anxious thoughts that I deal with under normal circumstances – this made me realize that I don’t need to be doing anything to activate those thoughts outside of sobriety. Sativas are not for me. I’m pretty normal otherwise and now would worry about anyone else going through that particular experience. Interestingly, even something as seemingly harmless as marijuana is definitely only for responsible users…
Have you ever used a sativa itself rather than an extract? That is indeed a scary thing.
I actually also suffer from anxiety and sativas also sometimes really put me through the ringer and kick me into panic mode. However, I find that panicking in these controlled situations has really helped me learn to cope with stressful situations in the real world, especially if I’m sober.
That being said, I completely understand why someone would want to shy away from those feelings, they can be extremely overwhelming.
Gimp