Tired of ppl saying weed caused their dissociative symptoms

[Anastasia23]

I actually suffer from c-ptst due to years of abuse starting at the age of 3. This screwed me up mentally and physically changed the way my brain developed. Is anyone else tired of people saying they’re suffering from the same types of issues because they smoked a joint??? Come on!!

 

[digger]

I think it's pretty common actually for people to experience some dissociative symptoms from weed - as with other substance use, for a lot of people that's kind of the point of them choosing to use it.

For some people that can become a longer term issue and difficulty for them.

Is it that you don't believe that substance use, or abuse, can cause dissociative symptoms at all, or more that you feel it diminishes the struggles with your own symptoms in some way?

 

[Justmehere]

Let’s look at a different mental health symptom: depression.

Drug use and abuse can cause depression. But does that make the depression that can come with PTSD less valid? No.

Weed can lead to dissociative symptoms. So can LSD, Ketamine, etc. Can they cause PTSD? No. Does it make your symptoms less bad or less valid? No.

If someone is trying to invalide your suffering by saying it’s just like smoking a joint, then that’s not cool.

But mental health symptoms are not exclusive to those who have survived trauma. Drug use and abuse can screw up the brain too.

 

[Sweetleaf]

Drugs can indeed expose people to dissociative states.

Weed itself isn't exactly the best drug for -purposefully- trying to cause dissociation/depersonalization/derealization, but it can cause some people to dissociate, particularly at higher doses. I don't know if it can cause full blown dissociative disorder, or longer term dissociative symptoms, but it can cause latent schizophrenia to come out so I wouldn't be surprised if it could cause some dissociation to come out in someone who is perhaps more prone.

Dissociatives are the types of drugs one would want to use to try to bring about dissociation. PCP, DXM (main ingredient in cough syrup), ketamine, NO2, all Dissociatives. Of course, they have loads of effects that aren' dissociation. Psychedelics can also cause dissociation/dissociative symptoms.

Drugs f*ck with your brain. Even if it's something as innocent as good ole cannabis, it's still f*cking with your brain, and it's still f*cking with your perception of reality.

I certainly don't think it would be common for weed to do that, though.

I think that if someone gets persistent dissociative symptoms from smoking one joint, they probably had some underlying issues or were prone to it, and the weed just set it off. Or it was just another case of people lying on the internet.

That said, someone having some dissociative symptoms related to past drug use isn't dealing with the same things as someone like you or me. It's understandable that you would get upset.

There is a wide world of mental illness out there, a lot of our symptoms are shared by other disorders. It's only natural to run into people who have some symptoms in common, but have drastically different reasons for having those symptoms.

 

[Ladygdala]

I’m wondering about this as well... See I’ve had that bfs in my past that have contributed to me being hyper vigilant and socially anxious. Also lots of feelings of guilt/shame for a few weird incidents from childhood but also had more than a few shares of drugs (pot, ecstasy and mushrooms) as well as a very manipulative first boyfriend. Developed crippling panic disorder (what I thought at the time was due to over use of ecstasy) but I’m conflicted about my experiences because I heard about drugs being one of the reasons for depersonalization. I don’t know why I got into drugs so hard so young, or found such a destructive bf that was able to manipulate me so easily. (I was 15 he was 19.) Still figuring this out.. does anybody know if it could have been the drugs that gave me panic disorder/depersonalization, how long I would have these symptoms for, wouldn’t they be getting better by now? It’s been 13 years since!

I cannot connect to my experiences as a child, lots memories missing or there wasn’t more to the stories. I do believe I was very socially anxious as a child though. Face went red all the time from embarrassment/guilt. People pleaser.

Can anyone from this thread give me some insight on the drug interaction part? Or what part of my issues I should be focusing on for healing?

 

[Sweetleaf]

Still figuring this out.. does anybody know if it could have been the drugs that gave me panic disorder/depersonalization, how long I would have these symptoms for, wouldn’t they be getting better by now? It’s been 13 years since!

I'd have no conclusive way of saying whether your experiences with drugs lead to that, or not. But, here are my $0.02 on the matter:

Having been deeply involved in the psychedelic drug scene back when I was in university (been done doing shit like that for a long time now), in my very anecdotal observations, it seems people generally tend to "get over" intense experiences like that, from tripping. It can take a lot of time for some, but, if you've been feeling DP and panic disorder, and it's 13 years later, I think it is very, very unlikely that it's from your drug use, rather than your abuse.

I've had my own experiences with drugs, that were -extremely- intense, and made me have repeated depersonalization for a while. Basically, an acid trip (with nitrous oxide balloons now and then), made me have an extremely intense experience that involved depersonalization/derealization. It was just, so intense. No point really describing it. Point is, after that trip, I started to randomly enter depersonalization/derealization. It would happen sometimes if I was just thinking of the right stuff. Or, if I used weed, I would enter it. Alcohol could make me enter it. But yeah, just sitting there could make me enter it. I didn't know what it was. I didn't know it was a dissociative state. I didn't know jack shit about that stuff back then.

I don't wonder whether my present occasional derealization and depersonalization is related to it, though. As time went on, the acid-induced DR/DP went away. It just stopped happening eventually, happened less and less with time, until it entirely stopped happening. This took a while, but it didn't take more than a year I think.

That's my own experience with drug-induced dissociative states. Just an anecdote.

 

[EveHarrington]

I’m wondering about this as well... See I’ve had that bfs in my past that have contributed to me...

Drugs can affect you for life. Look no further than Brian Wilson (The Beach Boy).

At this point there may be no way of determining if it’s the drugs or your trauma.

 

[Phuckmylyfe82]

I actually suffer from c-ptst due to years of abuse starting at the age of 3. This screwed me up mentally and phys...

This is the wrong forum for that, unfortunately. They don't really advocate Marijuana use. But, I do agree with you.

Drugs can affect you for life. Look no further than Brian Wilson (The Beach Boy).

At this point...

If you overdose on weed, you won't die.

 

[Darla S]

I actually suffer from c-ptst due to years of abuse starting at the age of 3. This screwed me up mentally and phys...

I completely agree. I also have complex ptsd. I started smoking MaryJane at about 14. I've had many doctors tell me that weed causes anxiety. Jyst there opposite for me. It helps me eat.. helps anxiety.. and I process things easier also because of thc.