advice about phobia/anxiety issues with psychoactives

[poisoninthestain]

Hi, I've been having quite a problem for some time now. I'll try to keep it short.

Put bluntly, whenever I smoke, eat, blow anything I know is a "psychoactive" substance I tend to panic such as fear of dying/insanity, disturbing thoughts, intense urge to escape. Pretty much symptomatic signs of anxiety.

I've tried a lot of substances in my life and have had quite a few "bad" ones but I don't regret any. In the same, I've had hundreds of amazing ones. I used to have a great, spiritual time doing things but now even after taking a tiny tiny hit of bud I freak out. It doesn't make any sense.


IMO i think over time I've aquired a phobic response to drugs since the only time I ever have panic attacks in my life is when I take a drug(once I smoked fake cannabis and panicked only to later realize it was fake haha). I think part of it stems from my father telling me as a kid that "drugs make you lose control of yourself" and somehow subconsciously I worry I will get "too" high and go insane...yeah just an idea lol...rationally it sounds stupid to me even as i type this but the second it happens I need one of my close friend to talk me through.

Slowly I've been getting better. He makes me take gradual exposure steps to confront my anxiety I little bit at a time. I'll smoke a bit of bud wait for the anxiety to come, confront it, relax, breath, understand that it's irrational. I'm not sure if this is the best approach but I'd be interested in what everyone thinks about this incredibly strange phenomenon.

 

[Guest]

My GF had this kind of thing to, what she did was simple, she stopped smoking, and Bob's your uncle.

IMHO confronting your fears is only a good idea when you've no other choices and that the fear is rational.

Undergoing a lots of efforts to try to calm down some drug-induced paranoia while still using it is a bit pointless.

 

[Nomada]

I feel as if I know what you are talking about-I have been through that. In my case, I what one night that changed it all. I smoked too much cannabis with a somewhat heavy alcohol hangover and I freaked like I have never before. My heart went fast paced beyond normal activity and I panicked severely. Horrible it was.

The important aspect of this experience was that for a while a couldn't even draw close to cannabis smoke or I would go panic again. I thought I had become allergic to cannabis [I'm asthmatic] [this is non-sense, but the mind doesn't care much for sense].
Gradually it fell away. I stood a while away from it and then gradually tried it little by little-I bought the highest quality I could manage and started probing with close observation of set & setting and some close friend sitter until the programed circuit brought forth that day finally disappeared.
All I can say to you is that, I believe the mind-body dichotomy is a linguistic commodity-the two are fundamentally the same.

 

[GOD]

I think it would be better to stop and not to fight it head on . Get straight with yourself first and then try again . I think it was your subconscious just saying take a break , now is not the right time you have other things to do . If you keep taking it and keep fighting against it you substantiate it , make it your enemy that has to be fought . You cant win a fight like that because its not the dope your fighting against its your own thoughts = if you try to fight you you can only loose . Dont take it to seriously and dont worry about it its normal .

The old thing about a bycycle , just because you fell off once doesnt mean you cant ride and are going to fall off again .

 

[druglessdouglas]

I think it would be better to stop and not to fight it head on . Get straight with yourself first and then try again . I think it was your subconscious just saying take a break , now is not the right time you have other things to do . If you keep taking it and keep fighting against it you substantiate it , make it your enemy that has to be fought . You cant win a fight like that because its not the dope your fighting against its your own thoughts = if you try to fight you you can only loose . Dont take it to seriously and dont worry about it its normal .

The old thing about a bycycle , just because you fell off once doesnt mean you cant ride and are going to fall off again .

very well put

just take a break for a while