5 ms·

I read that the use of marijuana actually inhibits dreams, and that people who quit temporarily experience intense dreams.

boomboomsubban 8y ago
Yes. This isn't physical addiction. It can cause a mental addiction if you use it for that purpose, and the anxiety over going without can keep you awake. You see it in people with PTSD. edit Curious why people are objecting to this as I have personal experience in the area. Vivid dreams are common any time you go without dreaming for a while, it's not a sign of a physical addiction.
- DanBC 8y ago
  Because you're pushing a distinction (physical vs psychological addiction) that is mostly irrelevant but also untrue. There are many drugs that aren't strongly physically addictive, but most people recognise that the misuse of those drugs can cause severe harm. Cannabis should be in this category.
  - jonhendry18 8y ago
    Misuse of Tylenol (acetaminophen) can cause severe harm. Doesn't mean it's addictive.
  - robdachshund 8y ago
    This is BS. Define the "severe harm" or stop making this argument. There are a lot of people here speaking on behalf of smokers and people with chronic illnesses and disorders. I happen to fall in both categories and self medicate. I can and do stop smoking so the time. It is not physically addictive, and you can become mentally addicted to anything that gives you a dopamine release, like eating junk food. I have never had "withdrawals," nor do I recognize weed "addiction" as anything other than excess, overindulgence, and a lack of self control. People claiming that they are addicted to weed are simply looking to blame a bad habit for their lack of self control. The only severe harm you can get from smoking too much weed is to your wallet.
  - boomboomsubban 8y ago
    At no point do I suggest a mental addiction is less harmful, just that a distinction exists. With a physical addiction, the substance itself becomes necessary to the body. A psychological addiction involves becoming reliant on a perceived effect of some other stimulus. If you give a brain dead person a physically addictive substance and then stop, they will suffer withdrawals while they can't develop a psychological addiction as there is no perception. Generally, the two will develop together and both are harmful.
opportune 8y ago
This is called REM rebound. The reason is that in this case the psychoactive drugs in cannabis act as sedatives. Similar to alcohol and other depressants, this makes it easier to fall asleep, but harder to enter the "deeper" stages of sleep like REM. So when you quit ingesting cannabis, your body tries to make up for your ongoing REM sleep deficit, and you have more/stronger dreams as a result This what is happening to the top level commenter. I don't know if the nightmares in particular are a result of REM rebound, but it could be that the person is simply prone to nightmares, and part of their addiction could be self-medication for their innately nightmarish dreams.
- boomboomsubban 8y ago
  The latter, many people with PTSD suffer basically flashback dreams. So they may smoke as a self medication, but the fear of an REM rebound causes physical symptoms when they don't smoke.
  - robdachshund 8y ago
    PTSD weed smoker here. Not the case whatsoever. If I don't smoke I don't suddenly have intense nightmares about my near death experience nor do I have a physical impetus to keep smoking. If I run out of weed I don't slip into the worst stages of PTSD. It seems that there ate a ton of people speaking on behalf of both actual smokers and people with chronic illnesses and disorders. If you don't have PTSD, you can't comprehend it, nor should you try to. Top commenters issue is that they lack self control. Their "addiction" to weed is self imposed and akin to overeating or being addicted to masturbation. When you stop smoking, you don't have withdrawals. You simply begin experiencing the chronic illnesses that you have been self medicating against. I'd also like to add that for mental issues like anxiety, PTSD, and depression, weed acts like a mild antidepressant that is extremely manageable compared to the prescription options that typically make people even more unstable. Every antidepressant in America comes with a warning that it can increase suicidal tendencies, and I can tell you from experience that it is very true. Those kinds of "medicines" work by making you numb, not treating the actual problems. You don't feel normal at all; you don't care about anything, become very reckless and unstable, and many kids end up killing themselves because of this mental state when they had taken the medicine to quell suicidal thoughts in the first place.

boomboomsubban 8y ago

Yes. This isn't physical addiction. It can cause a mental addiction if you use it for that purpose, and the anxiety over going without can keep you awake. You see it in people with PTSD. edit Curious why people are objecting to this as I have personal experience in the area. Vivid dreams are common any time you go without dreaming for a while, it's not a sign of a physical addiction.

DanBC 8y ago
Because you're pushing a distinction (physical vs psychological addiction) that is mostly irrelevant but also untrue. There are many drugs that aren't strongly physically addictive, but most people recognise that the misuse of those drugs can cause severe harm. Cannabis should be in this category.
- jonhendry18 8y ago
  Misuse of Tylenol (acetaminophen) can cause severe harm. Doesn't mean it's addictive.
- robdachshund 8y ago
  This is BS. Define the "severe harm" or stop making this argument. There are a lot of people here speaking on behalf of smokers and people with chronic illnesses and disorders. I happen to fall in both categories and self medicate. I can and do stop smoking so the time. It is not physically addictive, and you can become mentally addicted to anything that gives you a dopamine release, like eating junk food. I have never had "withdrawals," nor do I recognize weed "addiction" as anything other than excess, overindulgence, and a lack of self control. People claiming that they are addicted to weed are simply looking to blame a bad habit for their lack of self control. The only severe harm you can get from smoking too much weed is to your wallet.
- boomboomsubban 8y ago
  At no point do I suggest a mental addiction is less harmful, just that a distinction exists. With a physical addiction, the substance itself becomes necessary to the body. A psychological addiction involves becoming reliant on a perceived effect of some other stimulus. If you give a brain dead person a physically addictive substance and then stop, they will suffer withdrawals while they can't develop a psychological addiction as there is no perception. Generally, the two will develop together and both are harmful.

opportune 8y ago

This is called REM rebound. The reason is that in this case the psychoactive drugs in cannabis act as sedatives. Similar to alcohol and other depressants, this makes it easier to fall asleep, but harder to enter the "deeper" stages of sleep like REM. So when you quit ingesting cannabis, your body tries to make up for your ongoing REM sleep deficit, and you have more/stronger dreams as a result This what is happening to the top level commenter. I don't know if the nightmares in particular are a result of REM rebound, but it could be that the person is simply prone to nightmares, and part of their addiction could be self-medication for their innately nightmarish dreams.

boomboomsubban 8y ago
The latter, many people with PTSD suffer basically flashback dreams. So they may smoke as a self medication, but the fear of an REM rebound causes physical symptoms when they don't smoke.
- robdachshund 8y ago
  PTSD weed smoker here. Not the case whatsoever. If I don't smoke I don't suddenly have intense nightmares about my near death experience nor do I have a physical impetus to keep smoking. If I run out of weed I don't slip into the worst stages of PTSD. It seems that there ate a ton of people speaking on behalf of both actual smokers and people with chronic illnesses and disorders. If you don't have PTSD, you can't comprehend it, nor should you try to. Top commenters issue is that they lack self control. Their "addiction" to weed is self imposed and akin to overeating or being addicted to masturbation. When you stop smoking, you don't have withdrawals. You simply begin experiencing the chronic illnesses that you have been self medicating against. I'd also like to add that for mental issues like anxiety, PTSD, and depression, weed acts like a mild antidepressant that is extremely manageable compared to the prescription options that typically make people even more unstable. Every antidepressant in America comes with a warning that it can increase suicidal tendencies, and I can tell you from experience that it is very true. Those kinds of "medicines" work by making you numb, not treating the actual problems. You don't feel normal at all; you don't care about anything, become very reckless and unstable, and many kids end up killing themselves because of this mental state when they had taken the medicine to quell suicidal thoughts in the first place.