7 ms·
The psychology of getting high a lot
- Ajay-p 2y agoI used marijuana for a short time at university as a means of relieving stress. It made me feel wonderful; relaxed, less anxious in social settings, able to focus without stressful thinking, etc. No paranoia, no drawbacks at all.. except one. Stopping was like suddenly ending a really good conversation with a friend. I stopped because I realized that I was enjoying this too much, and to continue could have harmful ramifications for myself. Something that felt that good, something I don't really know everything in it (chemicals, pesticides, etc.,) did not feel like a good thing in the long run. It will be fascinating to see what pharmaceutical companies will do with it, which could be good or really awful for humans. Nothing is quite as addicting as happiness, especially in a pill.
- throwing_away 2y agoI took the other route and figured it would be a good idea to be high all the time. It's worked out pretty well over many years and now I see it much the same as coffee or sugar for mood modulation. If anything, I wish we were allowed small amounts of cocaine/morphine like the old days, because I think those too would be useful modulators, but you can't use them all the time. Also, happy holiday to everyone :)
- Throri5 2y agoDo you realise coffe has no positive effect on mood, in long term use? You have to keep drinking it, just to feel the same as non addict. Any positive effect it may have, are balanced out by negative (anxiety, sleep disturbance and stomache damage). There is a lot of nonsense and false advertising surrounding coffe (daily dose that is officially considered safe is like 6 cups of coffe a day). You can stay away from junk, and be naturally high. That is the normal state for an organism to be in. As for cocaine/morphine/weed. Most world does not share your opinion, and is not ruled by pharma industry.
- bratwurst3000 2y agoAre you kidding? Most of the world is high. Allmost all my Indian or Arab or African or European friends smoke weed where they come from and especially outside Europe it is very Common
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- Gud 2y agoSorry but you are wrong. Only a small percentage of the population smokes weed in the places you’ve mentioned.
- Ancapistani 2y agoNow do khat.
- xandrius 2y agoMost of the world has huge sanctions on weed, so I wouldn't say that. Maybe you just hang out with lots of people who enjoy some nice MJ.
- jajko 2y agoYou sir, are wrong in every single sentence. No point breaking it down though
- exceptione 2y agoI thought he is right in that coffee only provides an up when you are not used to it. Once you are, you need it to hit your normal baseline. So still an up, but not a net gain anymore. Is that not true?
- bayindirh 2y agoAs a person who had to hit 2L/day to be able to work at some point in my life, I can definitely can say that coffee tolerance and addiction is real. The only good part is it resets in ~10 days.
- kovacs_x 2y agoImo Pharmas are interested to keep it illegal as long as possible, same as alco producers. Pharmas like something they can patent and charge money for. Alco producers like to keep their "monopoly" on "recreational high", without any bad feelings that they kill their customers. Marijuana is none of that. I strongly believe THC/CBD are more like medicine, that allows you to boost / condition your nervous system, that has been "legal" for many thousands years and now thanks to idiots in US government and theyr racist outlook we all have to suffer. Don't believe it's for everyone, but for some of us, it works and makes us more conscious, relaxed and allows us to enjoy life more. Most of the bad effects to me are because of the "illegal" status of it, not the herb itself.
- GuB-42 2y ago> I strongly believe THC/CBD are more like medicine > Don't believe it's for everyone A prescription drug then. Pharmas and the rest of the for-profit medical world will love this. And so will the street drug market for the off-medical use.
- admax88qqq 2y agoPharmas love things they can patent. You can't patent THC or CBD. That was the parent posters point.
- GuB-42 2y agoThey actually can. Not the molecules themselves, but a specific formulation of it, that according to their studies, is somehow better that what existed before. Adderall is just Amphetamine, that it has been known for decades didn't stop the patent. That's because it is a specific formulation.
- fragmede 2y agoJanssen Pharmaceuticals managed to find a way to get a patent on ketamine with Spravato. I'm sure a clever scientist will find a way to patent some aspect of Cannabis once it's rescheduled.
- Toutouxc 2y agoI used to smoke weed quite regularly in college (had a well-supplied friend), but had to stop for two reasons. First, I felt it was making me dumb and less ambitious, and second, my body slowly stopped tolerating it. The high was still pleasant, but I'd feel like shit the next day. Then I started getting nauseous and at the end it was just two pleasant hours and then straight to the bathroom to vomit. I haven't had any weed for 10 years now and I'm not very interested in it. Maybe an edible here and there when I'm retired, that could be nice.
- wholinator2 2y agoA very similar thing happened to me, except it was ever intensifying stomach cramps. This is a known syndrome called Cannabinoid Hyper Emesis Syndrome. Something happens in the stomach where smoking weed chronically eventually creates some kind of chemical imbalance. The act of smoking begins to cause stomach aches that worsen with each dose. Eventually if cessation is not achieved, the cramps turn to nausea into vomiting that can become life threatening if you cannot stop smoking. It's extremely terrible and the only known cure is to just stop smoking weed. I'm thankful for that now though because I've just been admitted to a PhD physics program and id've never made it this far while still smoking weed like i used to.
- LargoLasskhyfv 2y agoI've had something similar, but without pain, just super annoying hick-ups, during my 16tienth bday, where I've been introduced to it for the 1st time. Later on I've known that vomiting thing, but that could be compensated by popping some glucose (half or whole 'chip' of 'Dextro Energy', or similar) right before. No problems whatsoever then, not even slighest feelings of unwellness around the stomach.
- LoganDark 2y agoCannabis is only one of many different kinds of high, so the article title here is a bit ambiguous. I'm curious, when people say high, is the general expectation to default to cannabis? Before clicking, I at first thought opioids.
- GeneralMayhem 2y agoYes, the assumption, at least in the United States, is cannabis - unless you're in a social circle that routinely and exclusively uses a different drug. But the assumption is 100% cannabis when it's an article posted on April 20.
- LoganDark 2y agooh, I didn't notice the date's relevance at all. Weird though, that the average person associates "high" with cannabis specifically. Usually I see people using "stoned"
- monkellipse 2y agoA survey about how motivated the users felt? I am not convinced by this data. Surely we can do better.
- photonthug 2y agoThey also proposed to task/reward them so as to not exclusively rely on self reporting, but yeah, it’s suspect. Probably just measuring their external obligation count rather than measuring motivation
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- MichaelRo 2y agoWell marijuana is still illegal in my retarded EU-member country, hopefully they'll change that eventually now that Germany legalized it too. But I did try it in Amsterdam and gave me rather severe psychosis every single time. Paranoia, hearing things, that sort of stuff. Maybe it takes time to get used to it, maybe dosage matters, maybe strain matters, didn't have time to test much that one time I visited and not inclined to do it in Romania due to the harsh penalties for the smallest possession. But the first time I tried vodka it didn't go well either. I downed like 200ml in a blink of an eye and thought "this ain't go no effect" so downed another. Then another. And then ... came the effect. So maybe my first attempts at marijuana weren't a "glass of beer" but a "bottle of vodka" as an allegory.
- kovacs_x 2y ago"maybe dosage matters" .... rofl... YES, IT DOES! Same as with other medicine, alchocol including. Water can kill you too, btw. Next time try one small puff & dont keep it in you too much and see where it takes you, if nothing for 30min, try one more. Another thing- it might be possible you already have preconditioned yourself mentally in a way that might be hard to get outside of, that'll cause anxiety even when thinking about smoking marijuana. I'd recommend trying "medicinal" first (ie. mostly CBD (ie. 20%), THC <0.5%) and then only progress to strains with higher THC content. Also, you probably should see therapist anyways. Having psychosis is not a good sign. Most likely you have some other issues you need to work on. "If you have problems using weed, weed is not the problem!" (c) :D
- nicbou 2y agoIf you saw how Germany legalised it, you might not be so hopeful. It’s decriminalisation by another name. https://allaboutberlin.com/guides/is-marijuana-legal https://allaboutberlin.com/guides/is-marijuana-legal
- xandrius 2y agoI'll take decriminalisation any day of the week over illegal.
- mise_en_place 2y agoAnecdotal but a decade's worth of recreational cannabis use destroyed my body's ability to produce testosterone. If you are going to use any substance for long periods of time, make sure to get frequent labs. TRT has mostly reversed the damage but I will need to take this for the rest of my life. My levels were always upper 500s/low 600s (590 ng - 610 ng). Then recently, two years back or so, my total testosterone dropped to below 200 ng/dl, as low as 190 ng/dl. Estradiol was very high (triple digits) as was prolactin. My point in sharing all this is that your body WILL maintain homeostasis at any cost, even if it means grossly adjusting your hormone ratios. Be cautious with anything you put in your body.
- geewee 2y agoI mean, maybe you have more background knowledge than what you're posting, but it doesn't seem to me that there's necessarily an especially strong link between your recreational cannabis usage and your testosterone levels. Particularly if you've been doing something for 8 years without any side-effects and then suddenly something drastic happens - it seems to me there are plenty of other potential explanations.
- yellow_lead 2y agoHow do you know it's related?
- darby_eight 2y agoWhy do you believe your loss of testosterone production is related to cannabis?
- nicoco 2y agoDo you consider low-testo a problem in itself or did you find it to be the cause of a symptom you experienced?
- kovacs_x 2y agoHave you considered that you just became "old" or it's some other genetic predisposition you're not simply aware of? Having that happen abruptly, imo its sign of something else. Also, You're implying you were doing these tests through all the years.. why? No "normal" person does that, are you having other "preexisting conditions" as well?
- Weryj 2y agoDaily smoker here, I feel significantly more level emotionally and really enjoy a long programming session high. Work loves it too because I find it fun to accidentally put is over time, but maybe that’s just saying I love the job and balance I’ve found. However quitting almost doesn’t feel like an option and I feel powerless to stop myself from having another joint. It’s interesting to see the reduction in self control as a side effect, it tracks with my experience.
- michelsedgh 2y agoThe hard part of quitting is the first two weeks. Also, I was like you, but now that I’ve quit I understand how I thought im doing better while high, but actually wasn’t. My two cents, quit it now its not doing you good but you think it is. Also again, the hard part is the first two weeks. Lastly, music is never the same while not high that’s the worst part for me.
- lordOfCodes 2y agoI don't smoke. Neither cigarette or weed. I am a 28 year old male. I have a friend who smokes maybe twice a week. He once asked me If I would like to have one or two puff, I accepted and got high. The friend asked me to put your favourite track. I put "Hypnotised by Coldplay". I never experience music that way, I never knew that track has that many instruments, depths and layers. I closed my eyes and I could just visualize all the instruments playing in the space separately. It was just amazing experience. But I never tried after that.
- Toutouxc 2y agoI had a musician friend in college who would smoke a joint with us and immediately retreat into his room, put on headphones and just listen to music for two hours. Surprisingly, I (audiophile but not that much of a musician) never found it too pleasant. My other friend an I would always fire up the Xbox, put on Forza (a car racing game) and go drifting on Fujimi Kaido (a fictional Japanese mountain route). I always found that absolutely mesmerizing, a weird combination of flow, speed and relaxation.
- navane 2y agoDoesn't this study have a giant selection bias? Recruited people from a cannabis forum? What type of cannabis user actively posts on a forum dedicated to cannabis?
- oldpersonintx 2y ago[dead]
- holoduke 2y agoI used a lot of different drugs. Mainly marihuana, xtc and cocaïne. From all the drugs i have used I think low doses of xtc felt a good combination of still be able to function and feeling happy. Smoking weed only made me dumb, unattractive and created illusional unrealistic behavior. Cocaïne is just too much. Maybe good if you are under extreme pressure at all times. But now i am sober for a while all ready. Best thing i could have done. Also much better for nearly every aspect in life. Relationships, work, health and more.
- jajko 2y agoAll drugs do work differently on people. I love weed, but by far the best effects are when used say 1x a week, the more the less good. That's why legalization would be great here, I can just get a single joint/edible and not be buying bigger questionable bags from random paranoid dudes on the corners of streets. I have quite a few folks around me who simply love alcohol (with corresponding long term consequences, give it 2 decades max). It doesn't do much for me, I see dumbed down folks doing stupid shit they later regret (sometimes for rest of their lives, a real permanent dent on character). I did most of my best long term decisions in life on weed, alone on long walks, then mulled it over weeks/months when sober, and it checked. It opens the gate of subconsciousness to me massively, and oh boy that mister has things to say and perspectives to share. I also saw near breakdown on thc edible. What I want to say, everybody reacts differently, its normal. There is no best-fit-all setup.
- profsummergig 2y agoNicotine lozenges had me high all the time. I was on them every waking minute. Felt mentally sharp on them. But my anxiety went through the roof without them. A 2-week bout of bronchitis/covid helped me quit cold turkey. Hope I never get back on it. Gen-Z has recently discovered Zyns. I shudder for them.
- emchammer 2y agoI quit, and I don't miss it. It's too strong these days, and recreational shops being everywhere makes it tacky. CBD seems like a milder alternative, but I just don't care enough.
- tacocataco 2y agoDon't use it if you don't want it. Your body your choice. Just don't choose for me. This goes for all the other drugs to.