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Surviving Anxiety

theatlantic.com

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Re: Surviving Anxiety

#31

Post by someone903209 »

throwaway1 wrote: post #25
someone903209 wrote: post #6

Weed (because it has no real downsides to me personally) and once-a-year DXM (for depersonalisation) were mildly effective, but the clincher has been learning about buddhism / the tao. I'm not talking about any kind of spiritual practice, but moreso a change in perspective that simply isn't expressed by anyone around me. Doing the unambiguously right thing in the best way in any circumstance with no effort or conscio…

> (because it has no real downsides) Ohhh boy. On this throwaway to say otherwise. I'm sorry if this post is a bit incoherent because I'm horribly tired, still getting past the nuts insomnia phase of quitting. I've smoked a lot of weed. Started smoking in high school, heavily when I was 19 until a couple weeks ago (I'm 26 now). About an ounce a month over that time, sometimes two ounces. First it was for insomnia, th…

You're dropping real facts, no one should argue against these very real risks, and I do know people to whom this is absolutely accurate. I can see this playing out, which is why I don't follow through with it. Myself, I haven't smoked in over a month, because I can take it or leave it. I've worked with the "smoke before-work, at-lunch, after-work" types. I've been interviewed by people who later smoked with me, because everyone does it. It makes you delusional, it makes you lazy, true, true. I've git clone'd code and then edited code formatting pointlessly, just like you. And yet, still better than most of them, somehow. Just walk through the door and, if you can, leave the door behind.

Re: Surviving Anxiety

#32

Post by foobarqux »

refurb wrote: post #16
jawngee wrote: post #2

I can relate to this. I took klonopin for 10+ years, just recently weaned myself off of it (six months and counting). My first panic attack happened about two weeks after 9/11 on the F train. Top 3 most terrifying moments of my life. I did CBT, talk therapy, all kinds of anti-depressant medications (the worst being Effexor XR, that shit should be illegal) until finding klonopin to be the most effective. Marijuana was…

Honestly benzodiazepines should almost never be taken long-term for anxiety. They are fantastic drugs for short-term use, but in the long-term they tend to only make things worse. You don't have to take them for very long to have withdrawal symptoms after stopping. The effects of stopping can include crippling anxiety. Not exactly the best thing for someone having bad anxiety in the first place.

There is a meta-study by Kripke which concludes that even very rare use of benzos triples your likelihood of death, controlling for other factors.

Re: Surviving Anxiety

#33

Post by throwaway1 »

someone903209 wrote: post #31
throwaway1 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> (because it has no real downsides) Ohhh boy. On this throwaway to say otherwise. I'm sorry if this post is a bit incoherent because I'm horribly tired, still getting past the nuts insomnia phase of quitting. I've smoked a lot of weed. Started smoking in high school, heavily when I was 19 until a couple weeks ago (I'm 26 now). About an ounce a month over that time, sometimes two ounces. First it was for insomnia, th…

You're dropping real facts, no one should argue against these very real risks, and I do know people to whom this is absolutely accurate. I can see this playing out, which is why I don't follow through with it. Myself, I haven't smoked in over a month, because I can take it or leave it. I've worked with the "smoke before-work, at-lunch, after-work" types. I've been interviewed by people who later smoked with me, becau…

Right, I'm presuming that somebody who really tries to self-medicate with cannabis for anxiety is doing so on a daily basis with high-grade bud.

Re: Surviving Anxiety

#34

Post by foobarqux »

jawngee wrote: post #2

I can relate to this. I took klonopin for 10+ years, just recently weaned myself off of it (six months and counting). My first panic attack happened about two weeks after 9/11 on the F train. Top 3 most terrifying moments of my life. I did CBT, talk therapy, all kinds of anti-depressant medications (the worst being Effexor XR, that shit should be illegal) until finding klonopin to be the most effective. Marijuana was…

Can you talk more about your experience with Effexor?

Re: Surviving Anxiety

#36

Post by Kenji »

0xdeadbeefbabe wrote: post #7

> Stoic philosophy, and audiotapes I ordered off a late-night TV infomercial. Would a stoic be happy or sad that stoic philosophy didn't work for him?

A stoic does not judge reality like that. He acknowledges that it did not work and moves on. He need not ponder about the fact that it did not work because it cannot be changed and no thinking should be done without a purpose.

Re: Surviving Anxiety

#37

Post by monch »

manmal wrote: post #21

I had anxiety years ago, with panic attacks whenever I was on a train for more than a few minutes. I was also constantly afraid of having contracted fatal diseases. No more. I did a lot of different probiotics (Mutaflor, some generic L-bacillus stuff, homemade kefir, Kombucha,...) in the last years, and anxiety has completely gone away. Here is some possible explanation: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/reading-be…

It would be great if you can provide a shopping list. I'd like to try it.

Re: Surviving Anxiety

#38

Post by catchaway1 »

throwaway1 wrote: post #25
someone903209 wrote: post #6

Weed (because it has no real downsides to me personally) and once-a-year DXM (for depersonalisation) were mildly effective, but the clincher has been learning about buddhism / the tao. I'm not talking about any kind of spiritual practice, but moreso a change in perspective that simply isn't expressed by anyone around me. Doing the unambiguously right thing in the best way in any circumstance with no effort or conscio…

> (because it has no real downsides) Ohhh boy. On this throwaway to say otherwise. I'm sorry if this post is a bit incoherent because I'm horribly tired, still getting past the nuts insomnia phase of quitting. I've smoked a lot of weed. Started smoking in high school, heavily when I was 19 until a couple weeks ago (I'm 26 now). About an ounce a month over that time, sometimes two ounces. First it was for insomnia, th…

I have a question for you actually. I have noticed things very similar to what you talk about after a few years of regular smoking. I started at 19 and I'm 21 now (edit, 22, forgot my own age). I used to evangelize marijuana since it has no overt medical side effects, but I think I'm coming to realize what you are talking about -- it kinda does make you stupid, like my Mom warned me about years ago. And not just when you're high, either.

I try to mitigate the negative effects by alternating -- a month of daily smoking, then a month off. If I have any in the house, I can't help myself, so I moderate the quantities I buy.

But, I have started to have episodes around things like locked doors. Did I lock the door -- or even close it? It's like I can't trust my previous decision and I have to go check again. Sometimes I will check a door five times in an hour. It's basically neurotic. If I don't check, I feel very nervous. I think this might be related to marijuana since it seems to fall into the category of absentminded behavior. It's like I am not present in reality enough to have faith in my past decisions.

I definitely don't feel stupid, but I do feel unfocused -- you could say my thoughts are accurate but not very precise. Or put in other terms, I feel like my of my intellectual powers are locked up because it feels to difficult to think about hard things.

Anyway, I was wondering how long you feel like it took you to "get smart again", as it were. Should a month be long enough to return to a baseline state of mind? Or should I try a multiple month T break to see if it has a big impact? (If it did, I would quit).

Re: Surviving Anxiety

#39

Post by throwaway1 »

catchaway1 wrote: post #38
throwaway1 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> (because it has no real downsides) Ohhh boy. On this throwaway to say otherwise. I'm sorry if this post is a bit incoherent because I'm horribly tired, still getting past the nuts insomnia phase of quitting. I've smoked a lot of weed. Started smoking in high school, heavily when I was 19 until a couple weeks ago (I'm 26 now). About an ounce a month over that time, sometimes two ounces. First it was for insomnia, th…

I have a question for you actually. I have noticed things very similar to what you talk about after a few years of regular smoking. I started at 19 and I'm 21 now (edit, 22, forgot my own age). I used to evangelize marijuana since it has no overt medical side effects, but I think I'm coming to realize what you are talking about -- it kinda does make you stupid, like my Mom warned me about years ago. And not just when…

Haha, that hits home hard. Locking my deadbolt and worrying that I didn't as I walked through the apartment lobby. Locking my car and worrying that I didn't while I'm still looking at my car.

The good news is that when I stopped, my brain came back almost immediately, and in force. Basically as soon as I could tell that I hadn't recently smoked. A few days, tops.

What helped me to quit the most actually was buying some horrid weed from my guy that I still insisted on smoking. The stuff was low-grade enough that I was going through slow withdrawal even during the weeks when I was smoking it. And smoking it was no fun. I know for sure that my symptoms this time around pale in comparison to the times in the past when I briefly quit (for a drug test or whatever) after smoking that bubonic chronic (SFV OG, GSC and such).

Re: Surviving Anxiety

#40

Post by jkaunisv1 »

0xdeadbeefbabe wrote: post #7

> Stoic philosophy, and audiotapes I ordered off a late-night TV infomercial. Would a stoic be happy or sad that stoic philosophy didn't work for him?

I think he would believe he is not far along enough in his stoic practice for it to have "worked", but happy with the progress he has made so far.
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