# Careful if you smoke weed and have SAD



## JustSpitItReal (May 24, 2012)

Just found this artical today that scared the living day lights out of me! its quite long and a bit hard to read but just try if your a weed smoker and you have SAD. I wish I would have known this information earlier. I forget the exact statistics but it is something in the ballpark of patients with SAD who smoke weed are 5 time more likely to become highly dependent on it, and actually become addicted to it. There are many problems related between SAD and weed. Another int resting thing they said is that the reason for people with SAD smoke weed for a completely different reason than everybody else does. There are 2 reasons that someone with SAD smokes weed regularly. Just read up its very interesting, and I hope i let other smokers see this. The other thing they mentioned was that SAD smokers can easily develop dimensia which I now think I may have been developing possibly.

Anyways I guess I can't smoke anymore, it is upsetting.

Any others seem to find MJ more addicting than most people portray it being? This stuff could be very true.. here is the artical

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2773507/


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## wunderbez (Apr 24, 2012)

I haven't read the article but I plan too. I'm a daily smoker of 7 years and have tried almost everything you can name but weed is my full time addiction.


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## istayhome (Apr 4, 2012)

I've smoked weed in the past off and on and I have terrible anxiety/SAD. At times it has helped to ease my anxiety and at other times it has been very negative and made my anxiety extremely bad. I've never found it addictive though. Whenever I wanted to quit or it started giving me really bad panic attacks and I had to quit, I just stopped and didn't have a problem.


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## Recipe For Disaster (Jun 8, 2010)

I also have tried almost every illegal drug (except RCs and GHB/GBL) but I found weed the most psychologically addictive. I just loved it. It really had some bad effects on me after years of heavy use.


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## pegger18636 (Aug 3, 2010)

In my experience and as well as alot of other people's from what I've heard the opposite tends to be true. I used to smoke weed in highschool throughout my teens good times fun times no problems but then when my SAD/depression set in when I was 18 any time I would smoke it would start making me feel insanely anxious and escalate my social anxiety like 10 fold. Eventually every time I blazed I immediately regretted it, my thoughts began racing generally even when I tried blazing alone I would feel like I was losing my mind and all the negative thoughts would just take over and I'd get a crazy headache. I'd try and disctract myself by watching a movie or something but wouldn't be able to concentrate or make up my mind what I wanted to do. So it's actually the reason I stopped smoking weed.


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## Recipe For Disaster (Jun 8, 2010)

I liked that feeling of losing my mind.


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## MikeW (May 14, 2012)

Weed makes me extremely anxious, I don't see why anyone with SA would smoke it.


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## Porterdog (Sep 17, 2010)

I wouldn't smoke weed because it is a ****ty drug, period.


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## wunderbez (Apr 24, 2012)

As with other, more potent psychedelics, set and setting should be taken into consideration with weed in just the same way. My psych labelled my case as 'very severe' yet we both agreed that weed can help SOMETIMES... Edit: Posted at 4.20 lol


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## JustSpitItReal (May 24, 2012)

Wanted to pull these two quotes out of the artical that really interested me particularly.

"It may be that some individuals with SAD use marijuana because they want marijuana to slow their anxiety-induced racing thoughts, to change their personality into one less likely to receive negative evaluation, and/or so things around them seem less real (which may make them less anxiety-provoking)."

"An alternate interpretation lies in the self-handicapping theory of substance use.[22] It may be that because socially anxious individuals expect marijuana to produce cognitive and/or behavioral impairment, they assume that others expect marijuana to produce these effects as well. They may therefore use marijuana because they believe others will attribute inappropriate or embarrassing behaviors to the effects of marijuana, not to a flaw in their personality."

I am not saying either of these cases are true for me, but you never know, I think it works subconsciously in these way possibly.

Often times after I smoke I sort of regret it, and think why did I even want to do this so bad anyways? I think weed has a HUGE effect on my SAD, I am currently going to try to stay off it for a month and see what happens. It is not that hard, I just think about it all the time but its not like I have to make an effort to not do it.


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## mark555666 (May 1, 2008)

Nice JustSpitItReal. Sounds about right in the case of me.

I have love-hate relationship with that substance 

Stopping seems harder in people like us. Smoking the pain away.

Btw: Weed is not physical addictive ( Unlike Heroin, benzodiazepines [no problem at all, just taper, taper, taper.] ) , so you can quit without worries. The addiction is in your mind.

I smoke due boredom mainly.


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## riptide991 (Feb 1, 2012)

I vaporized weed daily. I would do it first thing when I woke up, when I went to work, when I came back. It kept my anxiety at bay. But after a while of doing this it started making things worse. So I ended up quitting. It was a horrific experience after about a month off the drug as I never had such bad anxiety in my life! It was so bad it landed me in the hospital. At least I got the help I needed and now I haven't touched weed in about 8 months and I feel great! It's easy for us depressed/anxious people to fall towards weed but in the long term it is not beneficial. While it can be responsible for neurogenesis much like antidepressants, this neurogenesis can occur in areas of the brain that could make you extremely emotional and more anxious.

My doctor is by no means against weed but he has seen the damage it can do. His recommendation was jogging to release anandamide which has an even stronger affinity for the cannabinoid receptor. It works wonders if done properly coupled with SSRI/Mirtazapine!


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## Duke of Prunes (Jul 20, 2009)

Never found weed addictive personally. It's hard to function normally when you're high enough to actually enjoy it, and I like to be as functional as possible in the daytime, so I have no trouble moderating it.


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## GotAnxiety (Oct 14, 2011)

Yeah it handicaps me pretty bad as well pacing back and forward ocd like behavior so difficult too do things this is where i think the neruogensis happen cause your brain trying too overcome and adapt too the effects but smoking it in the morning can shot my whole day then i feel bummed out cause i did nothing that day.


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## Gusthebus (May 22, 2012)

I am a smoker but I have taken a break and haven't smoked since July of 2011... I may start back up again.. It really just depends on if I feel like putting myself through hiding that I'm smoking again from my dad


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## LucasVandal (May 25, 2012)

Whenever I'm in a very outgoing mood and ready to take on society the one thing that never fails to completely ruin that for me is ms. Mary Jane. I love the substance but in no way do I like being in public on it. Anxiety kicks in 110% unless I just take a small hit for the buzz. I can recal countless events in which I get all my friends pumped up to go do something like a party, then we take the bong out and all I want to do is sit at home, play video games and kick myself in the *** for being to afraid to go socialize.


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## Mr K (Aug 18, 2010)

/


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## loophole (Apr 15, 2012)

never got into heavy drugs.. felt no need.. i smoked weed daily.. not aggressively... not the bong.. just a oney.. i hit a pinch 3-4 times a day every day.. not to get "stoned" to live with my SAD b4 i knew i had it.. got kids now... got meds now.... deal with it the best i can.. honestly the weed made it better then anything else ever did.. besides the fact i was more lazy. but my mindset was 10x better on weed then klonopins lamictal.. anything else.. now i have the occasional beer and it makes me feel no where near as good as weed.. i wasn't a partier... i did it at my house.. no driving.. no being stupid.. personally.. for me and others.. i wish they would legalize in my state. i know i could get a script with my conditions


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## crazyemily (Jun 1, 2012)

since its illegal they demonize it, and your dr will only say the line he has to say which is you shouldn't do it and its illegal. it natural, a freaking weed! it makes some ppl anxious, if your one of them don't smoke, some times i am but only when im smoking alone. with others i feel content and laughy. think if its the situation your smoking in...


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## Himi Jendrix (Mar 24, 2010)

I would have to agree with the study. I have smoked weed most everyday for 10 years and its more psychologically addictive for persons with SA it seems. 

On a positive note though, I barely have SA anymore. I dont think weed really helps with anxiety either but it definitely doesn't make it worse for me. It does slow me down a lot and that may I use it. I also use it mainly cause I enjoy the high. 

I would say that pills (xanax, prozac) and psychedelics have helped cure me of most social anxiety. I would be interesting to better understand the SA/weed relationship.


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