The recent research showed that adults and adolescents who had been using cannabis regularly oftentimes experienced panic attacks. The association between these two is obvious, and the same problem is observed both in people with a lifetime history of marijuana use and in those who’re only trying their first weed. However, there is no clear understanding of what comes first — there is a chance that people who have panic or anxiety disorders are more likely to start smoking marijuana.
Some people confuse panic attacks with simply being anxious or scared. This is not completely right. Though being a kind of the anxiety disorder, panic is a stand-alone mental ailment with its own symptoms:
Panic attacks are very intense yet abrupt cases of strong anxiety and fear — they come quickly and pass away in 5 minutes on average. The longest experienced attacks observed were 30 minutes long, but this happens very rarely.
First of all, we have to remember that there is a large number of users who smoke weed to treat their anxiety, stress, or depression. Thus, certain incidents of panic attacks may come from the underlying health conditions that are not caused by marijuana use. It may happen, though, that the psychoactive actions of cannabis may play a role of accelerators for these mental problems and lead to sudden onsets of anxiety or panicking.
Experienced users offer another reason for panic attacks from marijuana — it may be triggered by the surroundings or the situation. Mind-altering drugs, just like weed, often heighten your feelings and emotions. For example, when you smoke weed in a company of people who are not friendly or whom you do not know at all, you may have some paranoiac ideas after a strong dose of weed.
However, cannabis can also be the immediate cause of a panic attack, due to its active compounds that change our brain performance. THC, which is short for tetrahydrocannabinol, interferes with the normal functioning of the central nervous system, giving us the high. But, it works in all parts of the CNS, including those responsible for such emotions as fear, stress, grief, etc. When used thoughtlessly, marijuana leads to various short-term mental problems, such as panic attacks.
Here are risk factors you should remember about:
Pay attention to what you take and how you take it. It’s better if you have some experienced friends who can help you avoid the risks of any unwanted effects.
Here are some strategies from VICE that may help you prevent the unwanted effects of cannabis high:
In case you already have a panic attack and do not know what to do, here are some tips:
Hopefully, these simple tips can help you deal with panic and anxiety caused by cannabis.
Many of you can say that the tips and strategies from this article only seem simple, and that when you smoke weed it is really hard to control the dose or remember about any breathing techniques. It’s true, and this is why it is important to remember that there is one real and 100% way to avoid panic attacks when you smoke marijuana. Choose CBD strains, such as Elektra or Charlotte’s Web, and you won’t have any problems.