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The thing with most addictions is that as long as you are taking a substance and don't try to stop you feel that you are in control. As long as you have not tri

by ta988 4y ago

The thing with most addictions is that as long as you are taking a substance and don't try to stop you feel that you are in control. As long as you have not tried to stop you will never know

mikepurvis 4y ago
Fair, fair. I think the main thing is that I'm not taking it in response to a craving, but rather in recognition that my mental state in the early evening is fragile and I'm going to be more susceptible to an anxiety attack when trying to sleep. I'm also well aware of the root causes of my mental state, so if it ever became bad enough that I did feel like I was losing control (upping the dose, taking during the day, etc), then I would treat that as a sign that it was time to start thinking more seriously about exiting the situation that is the main root cause. I think it also helps that edibles take 60-90 mins to kick in, vs smoking which is pretty immediate gratification.
- ta988 4y ago
  As long as you have a steady supply you don't really have cravings either.
- nicoburns 4y ago
  > if it ever became bad enough that I did feel like I was losing control (upping the dose, taking during the day, etc), then I would treat that as a sign that it was time to start thinking more seriously about exiting the situation that is the main root cause. I would argue that taking a drug to cover over something like anxiety is exactly the sort of circumstance that usually ends up with people being addicted/dependant. If I were you, I'd start addressing those root causes ASAP.
  - apatters 4y ago
    I wish people would give less medical advice over the Internet, even when it's well meaning. You're sort of right but the reality is that you can't just go find the root cause and "solve" it most of the time. How do you know a person you're advising over the Internet hasn't already tried? How do you know they weren't abused as a child, or a veteran suffering from PTSD, or a rape victim or any other number of things where the root cause is probably never going to be fully resolved, just managed. There's a tragic amount of hate for doctors in this thread, and I really mean tragic because it's going to result in someone out there not getting the help they need, because they think they and the Internet are smarter than a doctor. The medical profession has the right answer here, which is that in general for serious psychiatric disorders, you use a combination of drugs and therapy in order to get results. Drugs get you immediate results with a higher degree of reliability. Therapy is less consistent, expensive and slow, but when it works the effects are mostly permanent and side effect-free. Now does the US system over-prescribe drugs and is it fucked up by cost pressures? The answer is way too often 'yes,' but people are conflating this with "doctors are awful." There are people who need the drugs now as well as people who will need them forever. There are also worse fates than addiction.
    - nicoburns 4y ago
      In this case the parent said that they know what the root cause is, and hinted that they could solve it if it came to it. But they didn't think they needed to, because they thought that habitual cannabis use wouldn't cause them any issues. It seems reasonable to me to point out that such situations often cause problems, and that people don't usually realise until it's too late.

by ta988 4y ago

The thing with most addictions is that as long as you are taking a substance and don't try to stop you feel that you are in control. As long as you have not tried to stop you will never know

mikepurvis 4y ago

Fair, fair. I think the main thing is that I'm not taking it in response to a craving, but rather in recognition that my mental state in the early evening is fragile and I'm going to be more susceptible to an anxiety attack when trying to sleep. I'm also well aware of the root causes of my mental state, so if it ever became bad enough that I did feel like I was losing control (upping the dose, taking during the day, etc), then I would treat that as a sign that it was time to start thinking more seriously about exiting the situation that is the main root cause. I think it also helps that edibles take 60-90 mins to kick in, vs smoking which is pretty immediate gratification.

ta988 4y ago
As long as you have a steady supply you don't really have cravings either.
nicoburns 4y ago
> if it ever became bad enough that I did feel like I was losing control (upping the dose, taking during the day, etc), then I would treat that as a sign that it was time to start thinking more seriously about exiting the situation that is the main root cause. I would argue that taking a drug to cover over something like anxiety is exactly the sort of circumstance that usually ends up with people being addicted/dependant. If I were you, I'd start addressing those root causes ASAP.
- apatters 4y ago
  I wish people would give less medical advice over the Internet, even when it's well meaning. You're sort of right but the reality is that you can't just go find the root cause and "solve" it most of the time. How do you know a person you're advising over the Internet hasn't already tried? How do you know they weren't abused as a child, or a veteran suffering from PTSD, or a rape victim or any other number of things where the root cause is probably never going to be fully resolved, just managed. There's a tragic amount of hate for doctors in this thread, and I really mean tragic because it's going to result in someone out there not getting the help they need, because they think they and the Internet are smarter than a doctor. The medical profession has the right answer here, which is that in general for serious psychiatric disorders, you use a combination of drugs and therapy in order to get results. Drugs get you immediate results with a higher degree of reliability. Therapy is less consistent, expensive and slow, but when it works the effects are mostly permanent and side effect-free. Now does the US system over-prescribe drugs and is it fucked up by cost pressures? The answer is way too often 'yes,' but people are conflating this with "doctors are awful." There are people who need the drugs now as well as people who will need them forever. There are also worse fates than addiction.
  - nicoburns 4y ago
    In this case the parent said that they know what the root cause is, and hinted that they could solve it if it came to it. But they didn't think they needed to, because they thought that habitual cannabis use wouldn't cause them any issues. It seems reasonable to me to point out that such situations often cause problems, and that people don't usually realise until it's too late.