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'Unique' cannabis compound reverses brain aging in mice

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Re: 'Unique' cannabis compound reverses brain aging in mice

#11
post #4

Too bad it gives me panic attacks.

Smoke less is good advice. But also, if you’re prone to panic attacks, try giving yourself one intentionally (when you’re sober) when you feel you’re in a good environment. Learning to mentally overcome panic attacks is probably one of my greatest accomplishments in life. Now when I feel one onsetting, I can completely come down from it. The key is in remembering two things: you’re actually going to be fine, and you’re in control if you believe you’re in control.

Re: 'Unique' cannabis compound reverses brain aging in mice

#12
post #5

I just don't like anything with 'stoned' effect. Pot, too much alcohol, ketamine.. I can`t find the point in being stoned or to lower my thinking capabilities. Stronger opiates I would never ever try because there is no point besides running away from some problem that should be confronted. With the help of psychedelics maybe? :)

I feel it enhances my creativity, makes me appreciate the world around me more, makes music and food more enjoyable, makes movies more interesting, makes me more interested in doing something artistic or musical and be more involved in doing those things when I do them. Sex can also be amazing on it.

When I've used it, I've also confronted things, thought about things, and remembered things I would have avoided in ordinary life. So I've really felt it to be therapeutic, especially at stronger doses, and especially when ingested rather than smoked. A lot of people don't realize this, but ingestion of larger doses can often have a psychedelic-like effect (perhaps not so much with the visuals, but emotionally and cognitively, there are some similarities).

That said, I don't like to do it a lot (as I don't want to get addicted), I tend to prefer small doses rather than getting stoned out of my gourd, and I try do do it only with positive, constructive intention rather than just to have fun or get blitzed for no reason other than boredom. I generally prefer to do something creative on it, or maybe go to a museum where it enhances my appreciation of what I see and learn, and gives me a much greater feeling of immersion.

Re: 'Unique' cannabis compound reverses brain aging in mice

#13
post #8
post #5

I just don't like anything with 'stoned' effect. Pot, too much alcohol, ketamine.. I can`t find the point in being stoned or to lower my thinking capabilities. Stronger opiates I would never ever try because there is no point besides running away from some problem that should be confronted. With the help of psychedelics maybe? :)

My experience is not lowered thinking abilities, but different thinking abilities. If you conceptualize thinking as traversing a graph of thoughts, 'uppers' enhance depth-first traversal, THC enhances breadth-first traversal. This can be a useful mode for generating ideas.

What type of mix even is that?

Re: 'Unique' cannabis compound reverses brain aging in mice

#14
post #4

Too bad it gives me panic attacks.

You're most likely overdosing -- something that's very easy to accidentally do with the crazy strong pot out there these days. It's even easier to overdose for newbies who have basically no tolerance and often mistakenly think they have to smoke a full joint (or even just a full big puff of some strong pot) to get high. That's probably way, way too much. If you are willing to give it another chance, you could try fin…

Thx for the advice, but I haven’t smoke pot since 2012 (was 19 at the time), and I don’t intend to try again.

The first few times I did it back then, everything was cool, but then something clicked in my brain that permanently associated pot with extreme anxiety.

On one hand I’m kinda thankful that this saved me from turning into a lazy pothead in my teenage years, like some of my friends did, on the other hand it sucked being the weird guy who always passes up the spliff without takin a hit. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Re: 'Unique' cannabis compound reverses brain aging in mice

#15
post #4

Too bad it gives me panic attacks.

Smoke less is good advice. But also, if you’re prone to panic attacks, try giving yourself one intentionally (when you’re sober) when you feel you’re in a good environment. Learning to mentally overcome panic attacks is probably one of my greatest accomplishments in life. Now when I feel one onsetting, I can completely come down from it. The key is in remembering two things: you’re actually going to be fine, and you’…

It sounds like you treated yourself with something like exposure therapy.[1]

Using it, therapists gradually get patients used to tolerating situations and feelings they'd usually try to avoid. It's supposed to be a very effective form of treatment -- probably even more effective when done with the help of a trained professional.

[1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exposure_therapy

Re: 'Unique' cannabis compound reverses brain aging in mice

#16
post #8
post #5

I just don't like anything with 'stoned' effect. Pot, too much alcohol, ketamine.. I can`t find the point in being stoned or to lower my thinking capabilities. Stronger opiates I would never ever try because there is no point besides running away from some problem that should be confronted. With the help of psychedelics maybe? :)

My experience is not lowered thinking abilities, but different thinking abilities. If you conceptualize thinking as traversing a graph of thoughts, 'uppers' enhance depth-first traversal, THC enhances breadth-first traversal. This can be a useful mode for generating ideas.

> traversing a graph of thoughts, 'uppers' enhance depth-first traversal,

Interesting characterisation.

I used to describe it to myself as "opening up 127.0.0.1" - i.e. it enabled a level of introspection that had never come naturally to me. I guess I was studying that stuff at the time so it was salient, and the metaphor was readily available.

Re: 'Unique' cannabis compound reverses brain aging in mice

#17
post #5

I just don't like anything with 'stoned' effect. Pot, too much alcohol, ketamine.. I can`t find the point in being stoned or to lower my thinking capabilities. Stronger opiates I would never ever try because there is no point besides running away from some problem that should be confronted. With the help of psychedelics maybe? :)

I've always enjoyed any of the above substances (except opiates) specifically because they lower your thinking abilities.

Sometimes it's nice to get fucked up and give your brain an even off from over-analysing everything.

Of course, drinking, smoking, or snorting your problems away isn't a good idea. That's how you form a habit. But if you're in a good frame of mind, it's nice to lose your shit every once in a while.

Also, ketamine (in higher doses) is a psychedelic. Being in a K hole is a unique experience.

Re: 'Unique' cannabis compound reverses brain aging in mice

#18
post #5

I just don't like anything with 'stoned' effect. Pot, too much alcohol, ketamine.. I can`t find the point in being stoned or to lower my thinking capabilities. Stronger opiates I would never ever try because there is no point besides running away from some problem that should be confronted. With the help of psychedelics maybe? :)

I actually see this as beneficial in a couple of ways.

- it's very hard to "self talk" yourself into doing things you don't really want to do

- things you do want to do draw an intense level of focus so you get deeper into them

- yeah it can make you a little sloppy but you learn from these mistakes and they sometimes lead to serendipitous accidental discoveries

- it can cause you to take a no-nonsense expedient approach that can sometimes be better

That said, when you're back in normality again you can sometimes be left scratching your head wondering how you came up with that, or how it even works!

Re: 'Unique' cannabis compound reverses brain aging in mice

#19
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're most likely overdosing -- something that's very easy to accidentally do with the crazy strong pot out there these days. It's even easier to overdose for newbies who have basically no tolerance and often mistakenly think they have to smoke a full joint (or even just a full big puff of some strong pot) to get high. That's probably way, way too much. If you are willing to give it another chance, you could try fin…

Thx for the advice, but I haven’t smoke pot since 2012 (was 19 at the time), and I don’t intend to try again. The first few times I did it back then, everything was cool, but then something clicked in my brain that permanently associated pot with extreme anxiety. On one hand I’m kinda thankful that this saved me from turning into a lazy pothead in my teenage years, like some of my friends did, on the other hand it su…

The point is that the panic attack is most likely not due to the substance itself, but due to how you used it. The experience of others shows that it's possible to use it and not get panic attacks, even if that was the original reaction.

Re: 'Unique' cannabis compound reverses brain aging in mice

#20
post #4

Too bad it gives me panic attacks.

You're most likely overdosing -- something that's very easy to accidentally do with the crazy strong pot out there these days. It's even easier to overdose for newbies who have basically no tolerance and often mistakenly think they have to smoke a full joint (or even just a full big puff of some strong pot) to get high. That's probably way, way too much. If you are willing to give it another chance, you could try fin…

I've always found it odd that there has been this quest for stronger and stronger cannabis.

In my experience it all costs the same. That super dank hydo that has had daily love and care sells for the same price as bush weed that was planted in a forest and then harvested a few months later.

I don't really smoke weed, but when I do I much prefer smoking spliffs (tobacco and weed, rolled into a joint). I think the French have the right idea, they smoke weed all day long and are never too high, because they are basically smoking cigarettes with a touch of green in them. Of course, it's terrible for you because you're basically smoking giant cigarettes with no filter.

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