I am 37 years old. I've smoked weed since I was in my early teens. Quitting occasionally for different reasons that weren't my desire. Such as jobs that random drug tested. I've used THC daily the vast majority of my adult life. This is the first time ever in my life I quit ONLY for myself and my own health. With no one testing me. Practically all employers local to me have stopped drug testing.
Why did I quit? Especially if so many of us view this plant as being helpful. Last summer I was thinking about how when I was in public school they told us marijuana was bad but they knew nothing about it really because it was so illegal they could not study it. I figured with the US legalization lately we've surely studied it and learned much of it. And we have! So while at work I began listening to videos from scientists who study it.
It turns out that it is genuinely unhealthy. Our bodies have endocannabinoid system regulates organs. Our bodies create their own cannabinoids. THC bombards are endocannabinoid receptor system. While there is a variety of ways this affects our health. What really got me was its effects on sleep. Yes it helps nearly everybody fall asleep faster. However, it reduces REM sleep to nearly nothing. This is a very important sleep cycle, where most of your dreams come from. Have you done lately? So I decided to quit for better sleep quality. I know how important sleep is to every aspect of health.
I genuinely feel better without marijuana. It's really nice to not need to use it and the time it consumes to simply feel normal. No quitting hasn't fixed me. No it was not easy. When someone quits there is a temporary REM sleep rebound. In which you dream vividly and excessively. During this time my dreams were so vivid I considered using THC again to stop the disturbing dreams. But I did not, and this time was temporary. My dreams have calmed down. But they are still there on a regular basis unlike when I was using thc. It is theorized that our brains use dreams as a sort of mental therapy with ourselves.
It also reduces gray matter in the brain. It definitely affects the brain in a number of ways.
Here's the tricky way THC and pretty much all substances work when we use them for mental health issues. At first they do genuinely help. But that is only at first until our bodies are used to it. Then frankly it makes matters worse. And we then need the substance to simply feel some level of normalcy. While we are overall worse. But since they make us feel some level of normalcy this tricks us into thinking that is helping when it is not. This is a cycle of most addictions.
The following long detailed podcast/video is what really helped me decide to quit. After learning the topic in depth it took me a couple of months to finally quit. If you do quit, you will feel even worse before you do feel better. Probably about a month.
I also highly recommend looking up videos with Dr Anna Lembke. She appeared on many podcasts and wrote the excellent book Dopamine Nation.
Thank you for reading.
Why did I quit? Especially if so many of us view this plant as being helpful. Last summer I was thinking about how when I was in public school they told us marijuana was bad but they knew nothing about it really because it was so illegal they could not study it. I figured with the US legalization lately we've surely studied it and learned much of it. And we have! So while at work I began listening to videos from scientists who study it.
It turns out that it is genuinely unhealthy. Our bodies have endocannabinoid system regulates organs. Our bodies create their own cannabinoids. THC bombards are endocannabinoid receptor system. While there is a variety of ways this affects our health. What really got me was its effects on sleep. Yes it helps nearly everybody fall asleep faster. However, it reduces REM sleep to nearly nothing. This is a very important sleep cycle, where most of your dreams come from. Have you done lately? So I decided to quit for better sleep quality. I know how important sleep is to every aspect of health.
I genuinely feel better without marijuana. It's really nice to not need to use it and the time it consumes to simply feel normal. No quitting hasn't fixed me. No it was not easy. When someone quits there is a temporary REM sleep rebound. In which you dream vividly and excessively. During this time my dreams were so vivid I considered using THC again to stop the disturbing dreams. But I did not, and this time was temporary. My dreams have calmed down. But they are still there on a regular basis unlike when I was using thc. It is theorized that our brains use dreams as a sort of mental therapy with ourselves.
It also reduces gray matter in the brain. It definitely affects the brain in a number of ways.
Here's the tricky way THC and pretty much all substances work when we use them for mental health issues. At first they do genuinely help. But that is only at first until our bodies are used to it. Then frankly it makes matters worse. And we then need the substance to simply feel some level of normalcy. While we are overall worse. But since they make us feel some level of normalcy this tricks us into thinking that is helping when it is not. This is a cycle of most addictions.
The following long detailed podcast/video is what really helped me decide to quit. After learning the topic in depth it took me a couple of months to finally quit. If you do quit, you will feel even worse before you do feel better. Probably about a month.
I also highly recommend looking up videos with Dr Anna Lembke. She appeared on many podcasts and wrote the excellent book Dopamine Nation.
Thank you for reading.
