Official Mental Health Thread

[OccultHawk]

Weed amplifies my anxiety

[Key]

Originally Posted by OccultHawk

Weed amplifies my anxiety

damn, that sucks :/ it certainly helps mine even for a little bit.

[Marie Monday]

Originally Posted by Key

It's ok. I've managed to deal with it for several years so its just par for the course. i don't disagree with your sentiment. i just dont have the mental energy to be around people for too long. i also work in retail so i deal with people on a daily basis. gets exhausting by the end of the day. plus, i just like my own company with my cat and my own stuff. i'm naturally just a secluded person.

Yep, I can very much relate to that

[jwb]

Originally Posted by Key

damn, that sucks :/ it certainly helps mine even for a little bit.

Weed will make me feel better for the moment but then burn a hole in my pocket and ultimately ad to the stress. In my experience.

[WWWP]

Originally Posted by Key

Been having a pretty rough past few weeks with my anxiety just going out of control. Been secluding myself so that I can deal with it in the most productive way I can. Just feels like I'm in a constant loop from when I wake up to when I go to bed. Doing the same thing every day. Not going out much. Haven't really bothered hanging out with people. I'm not in the right state of mind to be around people. Haven't been for a few solid months now and yknow, it's ok. Not letting people hear about my problems and instead putting it toward something else, i.e. music. I don't know. I'm doing alright I guess. Things could be improved but I'm just living day to day. Whatever happens, happens at this point.

Haven't been as depressed as I usually am but it's comes in waves. Lately it's been just a constant downpour.

In group they recommend doing things like going to a movie, walking around a neighborhood, bringing a book to cafe, go to the library, etc. You can have little to no interactions with others, just being around other people is a better/healthier option than isolating. This is coming from a girl who is living in a depression den, but I'm sharing it anyway because it makes sense in theory, it's just hard to put into practice. It's fine to not want to interact with other people, but it's about escaping your own echo chamber.

[Cuthbert]

High CBD low THC (<0.2%) is OK for me in small amounts and in the right circumstances. High THC bud is horrible for anxiety for me.

[Marie Monday]

Originally Posted by elphenor

when I come home to my room after work at night I am hit with such an unbelievable wave of sadness that I can not do it sober

I spent all the money I got back from my taxes that was supposed to fix my car and pay back debts I owe to family members on alcohol

I don't feel I'm a "real" addict, I just can't cope

Seriously, I think not being able to cope without it is part of the definition of alcoholism. I could do the whole stop drinking sermon, but you've heard that one. If you can get some kind of help, that might be a good idea. Coping is something you can learn
Hugs, M

[DwnWthVwls]

Originally Posted by Fluff

High CBD low THC (<0.2%) is OK for me in small amounts and in the right circumstances. High THC bud is horrible for anxiety for me.

Same

[Lisnaholic]

I'm very sorry to hear that some of you are struggling with such difficult-to-fix problems. Apart from sympathy, I can only offer you my little bit of common-knowledge advice, which goes like this:-

Originally Posted by OccultHawk

Weed amplifies my anxiety

^ Yep, this is a widely reported reaction, and tbh I would echo WWWP's advice about caffine too. Anything that's going to rock the boat of your brain chemistry too much should be avoided imo. It's harder to make permanent peace with yourself if your self is zigzagging between chemical highs and lows. That goes for alcohol too I'm afraid Elph; don't forget that it's a depressant, so while it may take the edge off one evening, it'll make facing the next day more difficult and can really mess up your ability to sleep well - not the night you drink, but the following night.
My unconfirmed suspicion is that both weed and booze reduce the Vit C in your body, and Vit C helps you sleep, so I'd recommend plenty of orange juice.

Originally Posted by WWWP

In group they recommend doing things like going to a movie, walking around a neighborhood, bringing a book to cafe, go to the library, etc. You can have little to no interactions with others, just being around other people is a better/healthier option than isolating. This is coming from a girl who is living in a depression den, but I'm sharing it anyway because it makes sense in theory, it's just hard to put into practice. It's fine to not want to interact with other people, but it's about escaping your own echo chamber.

^ This is a great piece of advice imo. Getting out, even if it's just a short walk, can be very therapeutic. It's science: gentle movement induces calm. That's why babies fall asleep in cars, and when you are doing the moving, you are releasing your fight-or-flight stresses and generating a mild sense of euphoria with elevated levels of endorphines and oxygen.

(Having said that, I notice that Key, Elph and OH are out working all day, so I have to say that the urge to stay in and slump is a very natural reaction to a day of social exchange: did that myself for decades!)

Another positive is MB: it's great that we have a place where people can share their worries, so keep posting guys as that is a help too, especially if you feel isolated from kindred spirits.

[jwb]

Originally Posted by MarieMarie

Seriously, I think not being able to cope without it is part of the definition of alcoholism. I could do the whole stop drinking sermon, but you've heard that one. If you can get some kind of help, that might be a good idea. Coping is something you can learn
Hugs, M

I can sort of relate to the after work thing since I always wanted to get ****ed up after work. Not being to cope or trying to alleviate sadness are common triggers for addiction but they aren't a necessity.

For me, whether I was sad, happy, content, bored, angry. Didn't make a difference. I always wanted to get ****ed up.

I know there's a stigma around being an addict that people want to avoid but to me it's usually pretty clear. If you have to do it every day, if you are surrendering more money than you can afford to, if you know you should stop but you don't, etc, then you're probably an addict.

With alcohol if you're consuming it on a daily basis, then there's the added factor of physical dependency. Which, imo, is actually not as hard to break as the psychological triggers that drive your addiction. But in a way it's more dangerous. Because you can die from withdrawal.