paranoid smoking weed

[Rolo]

I find when i smoke weed it gives me this anxiety and causes my body to go numb and it elevates my heart rate and causes my mind to think in a way that brings up unconscious memories that i feel i need to purge out. I don't  know why i find it so challenging when i smoke weed, I can take lsd and dmt and not find myself as anxious about my radically changed experience.

Why does a extremely mild psychoactive cause this anxiety response in me, whereas other more powerful psychedelics don't do this? It wasn't even a big hit, I only had a tiny bit that caused such a big response. I know my dad gets this paranoia when he smokes weed, could it be a genetic thing?

Edited January 8, 2021 by Rolo
needed to add more info

[Carl-Richard]

It might be a simple explanation. Do you fear getting caught smoking weed?

[Rolo]

1 minute ago, Carl-Richard said:

It might be a simple explanation. Do you fear getting caught smoking weed?

i find a great level of insecurity in a social environment. I feel very exposed and insecure in a social environment  because i have no control of what it does to my body.

[Grateful Dead]

works for me

[ivankiss]

Used to smoke tons and it was great. Very beneficial. Then one day it just didn't feel right anymore. Started having panic attacks. I interpreted it as a sign that it's just not relevant for me to smoke anymore. I extracted what I had to. So I stopped. 

Maybe somewhere down the line it starts resonating again. Who knows.

My advice is; if it doesn't feel good - don't force it. Let it go and thank it for what it thought you. 

[seeking_brilliance]

DO THE PURGE!  Write or type everything down that comes up, and ask yourself questions about all of it.  It will all flow out, trust me. 

And for lighter  trips, you can try chewing on a few peppercorns before smoking.  It supposedly binds to the receptors that causes THC anxiety and curbs it. You can also chew on a few in the middle of a bad trip. 

[kag101]

How long have you been using psychedelics? 

[Rolo]

25 minutes ago, kag101 said:

How long have you been using psychedelics? 

I have only been using it as a spiritual tool for about a couple months, but i have used psychedelics recreationally for years.

[Eren Eeager]

@Rolo Maybe there is an underlining trauma that needs to be healed and the weed is just pointing out that for you. Dig deep, heal yourself 

[Thought Art]

@Rolo Does that for me too.  time to quit that waky tabaccy. Weed can do that to people. take a break maybe? 

Edited January 10, 2021 by Thought Art

[Roy]

Have the wisdom to listen to your body. If it's making you feel this way, consider no longer smoking weed. Not only will you not feel these things anymore, but your lungs will thank you too!

[Breakingthewall]

It is very common that marijuana feels very good to you and then very bad. I was several years smoking almost every day and it made me very happy, in the field with my friends, laughs, openness. for sex too, aphrodisiac. Without realizing it it became something dark, weird, paranoid. Now I have an intolerance to marijuana, a few months ago I accidentally ate a marijuana chocolate ... quite a challenge, a crazy night, when a few years ago it was very relaxing. I quit many years ago and it's the same. I think it's for ever

[Nahm]

A different perspective to consider...in case it resonates...

On 1/8/2021 at 6:47 PM, Rolo said:

i find a great level of insecurity in a social environment.

I find absolute security in a social environment...

Quote

I feel very exposed and insecure in a social environment  because i have no control of what it does to my body.

...because I recognize I’m feeling the resonance of my own thoughts, and others are feeling the resonance of their own thoughts. 

This is direct experience. Paranoia disregards direct experience, believing one is feeling based on the thoughts of another...but one does not know the thoughts of another in one’s direct experience. Even when another verbally expresses their thoughts...one still does not know another’s thoughts...only one’s own. 

Next time you experience the anxiety, breathe in a four count...and breathe out an eight count (twice as slow as the in breath). Allow your entire body to relax, and gently tune in to seeing, hearing, and feeling...while repeating the four / eight breathing. 

I believe if you practice this each morning for a few minutes, the tide of momentum will shift such that you forget what the paranoia experience was even like. 

[cetus]

On 1/8/2021 at 6:36 PM, Rolo said:

I know my dad gets this paranoia when he smokes weed, could it be a genetic thing?

Yes it's genetics. It's in the genetics of the weed.  Weed produces THC as it's natural defense against animal predators that may want to eat the plant in the wild. The THC content in the plant creates a feeling of heightened self conscious after ingestion which in turn causes the animal to feel vulnerable and exposed to it's predators, even though there may be no real immediate threat. It really is an ingenious defense system.  

So how can you use that paranoia created by the THC in the plant to your advantage? By transcending your animalistic response to it. By using it as a tool for exposing the ego then contemplating "what is this ego?" while it is naked and has nowhere to hide.

[Aaron p]

On 08/01/2021 at 11:36 PM, Rolo said:

I find when i smoke weed it gives me this anxiety and causes my body to go numb and it elevates my heart rate and causes my mind to think in a way that brings up unconscious memories that i feel i need to purge out. I don't  know why i find it so challenging when i smoke weed, I can take lsd and dmt and not find myself as anxious about my radically changed experience.

Why does a extremely mild psychoactive cause this anxiety response in me, whereas other more powerful psychedelics don't do this? It wasn't even a big hit, I only had a tiny bit that caused such a big response. I know my dad gets this paranoia when he smokes weed, could it be a genetic thing?

Your Gona Wana watch out for weed man. The thing that makes weed bad is the fact that you can use it all the time, unlike coke or heroin.

Weed has been well known for causing serious paranoia and anxiety. I mean, life ruining material when someone is unaware of the damage. (Mostly damage that can be healed by stopping). 

The increase in anxiety and paranoia is also amplified in people who are psychotic. And since there are similarities between the mind of someone who is awakening and the mind of someone who is psychotic...a good general rule of thumb for many people from our community here at actualized would be to be careful with weed. And anything that isint a psychedelic really

[Carl-Richard]

48 minutes ago, Aaron p said:

The increase in anxiety and paranoia is also amplified in people who are psychotic. And since there are similarities between the mind of someone who is awakening and the mind of someone who is psychotic...a good general rule of thumb for many people from our community here at actualized would be to be careful with weed.

I don't know if you're referring to something like brain scans, but atleast experientially (although I didn't go "fully" psychotic), I would say these states are qualitatively very different.

Before awakening in my late teens, I entered psychotic-esque territory due to prolonged abuse of weed (I'll elaborate in the next paragraphs). However, when I tried weed after my first awakening, despite getting very stoned, it didn't feel euphoric anymore, and my mind was empty and crystal clear. It was in some ways very psychedelic, but from a hedonistic perspective quite frankly boring. That was the beginning of the end of my weed career (I somehow convinced myself to start smoking again for a full year ).

My pre-awakening hobby was basically to get high and see how many cool insights I could produce from it. It turned into an obsession that made me exhibit a lot of dysfunctional behaviors (socially isolating myself, neglecting responsibilities and trying to manipulate and deceive my parents about what I was doing), which created additional stress and neuroticism. I was also already way above average in neuroticism before this (which didn't exactly help me ). 

The combination of stress, additional neuroticism and obsessive introspection had essentially turned my mind into a hyperactive, superconductive thought factory, and that would escalate until I went on vacation with my friends and one of them said to me "you're speaking too much" (I made some weird comment about the pier that we were going down to). He is the smartest guy I know (he literally came 1st place all year in the cognitive tests for joining the military) and I believe he is on the spectrum, which arguably made him more prone to be blunt with me, and that was a wake-up call where I realized that I was destroying my mind.

That little nudge of self-awareness, combined with me getting out my mind by being social and grounding myself in more normal cognitive processes, made me able to "come down" so to speak. It was a rather pronounced experiential shift were I went from being semi-incoherent, dazed, unfocused and extremely random to relatively calm and grounded. This state was very different from the post-awakening state (even with weed). It's like the difference between a storm roaring over the ocean and a silent lake.

It's quite funny, because on the train trip home, I watched Leo's video on neuroticism, and that was instrumental to me being able to conceptualize and diagnose my problems, and that along with a string of incredibly unlikely and fortunate events, put me on the path to awakening (which happened only a couple of months later).

[Aaron p]

54 minutes ago, Carl-Richard said:

I don't know if you're referring to something like brain scans, but atleast experientially (although I didn't go "fully" psychotic), I would say these states are qualitatively very different.

Before awakening in my late teens, I entered psychotic-esque territory due to prolonged abuse of weed (I'll elaborate in the next paragraphs). However, when I tried weed after my first awakening, despite getting very stoned, it didn't feel euphoric anymore, and my mind was empty and crystal clear. It was in some ways very psychedelic, but from a hedonistic perspective quite frankly boring. That was the beginning of the end of my weed career (I somehow convinced myself to start smoking again for a full year ).

There are behavioural similarities between the psychotic mind and the awakening mind..not the same but I notice similarities. Also psychotics are attracted to spiritual work. The lucky ones get real spirituality which is rare

"...it's going to feel like your going insane."

- Leo

 

 

By all means have a toke whenever you want. But the reason it's such a good trap is because it moves slowly and softly. Euphoric and uplifting then slowly steals your motivation, then you subtly start smoking every week. Then every day. 

That's why quick sand it a better trap than a big blatant hole in the ground. Although I don't know why they called it quicksand. A better name would be slow sand haha.

(Each chemical will be different for each person and each person will have different usage patterns, but nearly 100% of my studies into the effects of weed have been negative long term). Use CBD and 5meo

Edited January 11, 2021 by Aaron p

[The Don]

On 1/9/2021 at 1:36 AM, Rolo said:

I find when i smoke weed it gives me this anxiety and causes my body to go numb and it elevates my heart rate and causes my mind to think in a way that brings up unconscious memories that i feel i need to purge out. I don't  know why i find it so challenging when i smoke weed, I can take lsd and dmt and not find myself as anxious about my radically changed experience.

Weed can be a great tool for development. Why? It reveals your psychotic tendencies. It amplifies your neurosis.

You had a difficult childhood, didn't you?

[Aaron p]

1 minute ago, The Don said:

Weed can be a great tool for development. Why? It reveals your psychotic tendencies. It amplifies your neurosis.

Haha actually yeah man...without the pain I got from weed using it for multiple years (gradually increasing my anxiety) I wouldn't have had such a desire to find relief/truth/enlightenment. But there are better ways

[The Don]

14 minutes ago, Aaron p said:

Haha actually yeah man...without the pain I got from weed using it for multiple years (gradually increasing my anxiety) I wouldn't have had such a desire to find relief/truth/enlightenment. But there are better ways

When you're smoking weed, be conscious of your neurosis. Be conscious of your anxiety. Be a simple spectator that tries to understand that anxiety.

Train yourself not to be bothered by the feeling of anxiety you experience when you're high.

A few hours of mindfulness meditation on a daily basis in combination with concentration exercises can heal your brain chemistry.

Be aware of the Dark Night of the Soul if you choose this path.

Edited January 11, 2021 by The Don