Cannabis & paranoia????????

[mikestafford06]

Ok ppl....SWIM has always been more of a pillhead than anything else...swim loves the buzz from smoking weed but almost never does b-cuz they can't stand the ungodly paranoia they feel when they smoke.......is there anything one can do to minimalize this paranoia or is it just an unpleasant side effect for some ppl.........any input very much appreciated...thanx

[Sky Walker]

Although I've never really had a problem with this I have experienced it on a few occasions. I've found that the best/only way to completely eliminate this problem is to exercise your rationalization skills.

What exactly is it that swim gets paranoid about?

If swim is just looking for a quick fix to this situation then benzos are the answer. 5-10mg of Valium should be enough to put swim at ease and allow him to enjoy a mellow high free of panic and paranoia. Valium is only a temporary solution, I don't advise using benzos every time swim wishes to smoke as they can become highly addictive. After an experience or two of benzo induced paranoid free highs swim may be accustomed enough to feel how it is to be relaxed while high and not worry or stress and shit, this mindset should help alleviate further paranoid episodes while high.

I suggest swim reads the thread below, it contains some very helpful information.

http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20985

Reputation Comments on this post:

Excellent reply. Nothing I could add to that answer.

[chilliker]

That is mostly a sicological thing in SWIM's opinion. This happened to SWIM once. The reason SWIM got paranoid that one time was that he thought his family would notice he was high so he started to get paranoid about that and lasted the hole duration of the trip just thinking that they would notice.

[Demonslayer]

Mostly I think cannabis makes you paranoid because cannabis is illegal.
You think people are out to get you? Damned sure they are.
You afraid of police? You are just a sane person in an insane world, The police are out to get you and your paranoia is what makes you careful enough to avoid them.

[jbmac]

Originally Posted by Demonslayer

Mostly I think cannabis makes you paranoid because cannabis is illegal.
You think people are out to get you? Damned sure they are.
You afraid of police? You are just a sane person in an insane world, The police are out to get you and your paranoia is what makes you careful enough to avoid them.

SWIM told me that he thinks paranoia is 50% it's illegal status, and 50% the effect of TURNING ON your brain - that's why it's illegal. Pot makes you think,
and thinking tends to help you remember to lock doors, turn out lights, and
not stand out in this crazy world of cops with the wrong priorities and criminals.

[Akewstick]

Mostly I think cannabis makes you paranoid because cannabis is illegal.

Excuse me but: bullshit.

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Offhand dismissal of a hypothesis adds nothing to the discussion - why is it bullshit? Have you a better theory or proo...

[Nature Boy]

Originally Posted by Akewstick

Excuse me but: bullshit.

This is true in a sense though. If one's smoking in public, in an area where one could easily be caught, there is a sense of uneasiness for some. This uneasiness can turn into paranoia. It's paranoia based on a real possibility. It's not the same as smoking a joint safely at home and getting paranoid for no rationally obvious reason.

[Demonslayer]

Originally Posted by Akewstick

Excuse me but: bullshit.

Well, that was very informative. Could you explain why you think it's bullshit.
I never get paranoia unless it is related to a fear of getting caught.

[dnb warrior]

one thing that usually helps when SWIM is feeling paranoid is going for a walk outside... usually it is sitting in one place that brings about paranoid feelings and moving around almost always cures it. even better spend your entire session outside, preferably in the country but even in town outside can be better than inside.
also look up "set and setting" if u don't know what that means. one of the most important things is whether you are with company and what company it is... maybe certain groups of people just arent working for you, try others or try it alone, try smoking in a good setting where there is no chance of say, your dissaproving mum/girlfriend walking in.

now paranoia is all mind games and the more you smoke the more you learn mental techniques for dealing with paranoia or making it more bearable. first of all realise it doesn't last long. it seems a long time but for SWIM a paranoid episode lasts no longer than 10-15 mins, so tell yourself it will be over in 10 and during those 10 minutes try as hard as you can to focus your mind on something else. (of course this isn't easy as the more you try to focus your thoughts on something else the harder it becomes to do so - but after a while your mind will inevitably wander, and when it does you will be on your way to recovery). open a book, put on some music, watch tv, play a computer game or go and eat something. or go for a walk. if there is someone there to talk to, talk to them.
remember this also - when you get paranoid is when you have smoked a lot and are very stoned... if you can see past the paranoia you will have an amazing experience, in fact you may already be having one if you just look at it from the right angle.

finally since you are a pillhead combine weed and pills and you will think paranoia? what is this alien concept of paranoia??

[zera]

Swim has been thinking on his marijuana usage lately and has concluded that he actually likes the feelings of paranoia he gets when smoking. Not too paranoid mind you, but just a little really enchances the high. Swim would keep delibrately putting himself in situations that would cultivate paranoia, and couldn't figure out why until he realized this.

Getting a little bit paranoid I think helps get some adrenaline rush, which counteracts the sedative effect and really enchances the more mental effects of the high. It's just not as fun an experience if you're totally relaxed, especially if you're smoking a lot and have high tolerance. Maybe swim's just masochistic...

[sterling77]

Taking 5-htp before you smoke has been reported to decrease paranoia and obsessive thoughts. Swim has tried it but wasn't looking out for these effects, so he doesn't remember if this helped.

[Bajeda]

Swim knows some people who have quit using cannabis because the paranoia was too much to take. It seems to mostly manifest itself in the form of social anxiety.

Swim agrees to a certain extent, that cannabis makes one socially retarded. Its harder to have social interactions, especially with people you don't know well or generally if they aren't high as well. This can create anxiety which leads to paranoia.


Other than that, swim doesn't get paranoia from weed, or other hallucinogens for the most part. Maybe extensive psycheelic experience has something to do with that. He can definitely see one get socially paranoid from use of it in bad sets/settings though.

[Nature Boy]

SWIM has come to the stage where the whole social retardation thing doesn't really take effect anymore. The only time he may feel a little left out when baked is when he's baked around people who are drunk. Rowdy, drunk types are no company for a quiet stoner. That being said, it doesn't make him feel socially retarded, socially excluded may be a better term. Thanks government for making pubs the only place where drug-using peers can meet in public.

[anabolictrio]

paranoia is inevitable. the matter has no bearings on illegality....it's worth nothing. Try to enjoy yourself during paranoia! I understand that may look as a contradiction, but if swiy realize that paranoia cannot kill , swiy may discover the ridiculuos aspect of anxiety.
Try to smoke alone and very very slowly until a solution is reached. By the way remember that is unlikely that everything going to be the same as before swiy discover paranoia. Try to avoid high thc content weed...Swiy shoud prefer moroccan style hash...
5-htp and Vit. C before smoke can help a lot.
Swim also notice that tobacco can shoot up thc paranoia!
Swim know that's it's really hard to avoid nicotine during anxiety, but pay attention and you'll notice that by the time nicotine leave you body,anxiety will decrease.

[PartyBoy]

Swim do also get paranoid using Cannabis.

[gotxp]

SWIM also gets rather paranoid when high. SWIM finds if he mix's tobacco (or gets nicotine in his system some other way, aka Nicorette), it lowers his paranoia. SWIM tends to find Stimulants give him more confidence, so that increase in confidence from the nicotine, may cause the decrease in the paranoia from the MJ.

[CrookedEye]

How often do all the people getting paranoid smoke cannabis? Seems the ones who do it less than once a day experience more paranoia, in SWIM's experience.. Once someone uses it regularly, the paranoia decreases..

SWIM was an everyday smoker for about ten years, when he was put on probation.. He quit smoking but when he smoked the few times on probation, as well as right after, he experienced paranoia, and he felt like his heart was racing.. Being that SWIM loves the smell and taste of it, he continued anyways, and only ever experiences this when he hasn't smoked in a long time..

By smoking once he comes down a bit from the initial experience (after a period of abstinence), he begins to maintain a cannabinoid level that allows him to enjoy it and not feel the paranoia..

SWIM also notices that certain strains have more of a paranoia inducing effect than others, and he would suggest a heavy indica for people who experience these symptoms, although certain mixes are also good for these symptoms..

[Toma]

For SWIM paranoia gradually went away with practice. The paranoia he used to get in the beginning though was out of this world -- and hilarious in retrospect (he did go over the top with the dosage though, especially since he had no tolerance). In one of the half-awake half-dreaming states a good quantity of hash puts him into, he remembers vividly seeing and hearing cops with ski masks and dogs bursting into his apartment (they had German Shepherds ). SWIM's mind also seemed to use all of its creative potential to convince SWIM that everyone around him was conspiring to set him up and the events of the last few days were all clues that his arrest was imminent. A cop car that drove by just as one of SWIM's buddies passed him some hash, minor gestures and replies from his friends, were all signs of what would culminate in SWIM's arrest, which he saw vividly too. He pictured himself in a hospital the next day, with a cop waiting outside, being tested for drugs, remembering with horror that he had dreamed about this one day before (it was one of those surreal creepy time loops).

But SWIM hasn't since repeated this type of experience. Oh, the good times .

[Deft]

SWIM does not have paranoical thoughts of getting caught by the cops or anything like that but he gets really paranoid when he`s around with other people that arent high because he feels he is not understood of what he is saying, and he´s reactions are very slow so he cant really comunicate with sober people when he´s high, so when SWIM is going to smoke he just does something with high friends or he plays he´s guitar until the high is over.
If SWIY is a paranoid when you smoke just do what you like to do the most and you will forget all about the paranoia.

[RetardedPasta]

SWIM has experienced paranoia, and finds that at least in SWIM's case it tends to stem from real stresses in SWIM's life. Dealing with (or sometimes just recognizing) the problem clears things up for SWIM. In that sense, SWIM believes that psychedelics are helpful in forcing an occasional mental "house cleaning."

SWIM's understanding is that this is not always the case, and that for some people paranoia is a major problem.

[DrMuffy]

Here is SWIdr's summary of his marijuana use:

SWIdr used to be a moderately heavy daily smoker of cannabis for roughly 4 years straight. He would smoke to get high with his friends and himself, when he was depressed, couldn't sleep, and for other reasons. The majority of his social smoking did produce paranoia and he would get really self-conscious about his actions and such. So SWIdr seemed to enjoy getting high by himself so he could escape these awful feelings social smoking brought on. But still these feelings seemed to follow him when he smoked by himself, so he decided to bring down his smoking habit a couple of notches due to the uneasiness marijuana brought on. He now smokes semi-often (Once or twice a week) for medicinal purposes mainly, but also some social events. He finds a dose of 200-400mg of L-Theonine (15-30 minutes before smoking) helps a lot when it comes to smoking marijuana and paranoia.

Now that SWIY has seen SWIdr's past on this subject, he will come to his conclusion based on the answers/suggestions provided in this thread:

There are many explanations and answers to this common effect that marijuana brings on. SWIdr cannot deny any of the answers due to one very important variable, simply put, difference. Although we, as human beings, should react to certain stimuli (Cannabis, police, environment, etc...) in the same way, we don't because very one of us is different in many many ways. So, all of these peoples' answers are correct in SWIdr's book because he cannot judge their answers/suggestions because all situations and humans are different and create/act in different ways.

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good post