Recovery is a team effort, and your support can make all the difference. Cannabis use disorder can significantly impact your health, relationships and overall quality of life. It’s crucial to seek help as soon as you develop signs of this condition. THC resembles a naturally occurring chemical in your body called anandamide. THC can “work” as anandamide and fit into anandamide receptors in certain parts of your brain.
- Nearly 90 percent of people who use medicinal marijuana claim that it helps them to manage their disease and symptoms, and many find that they are able to decrease their use of other medications.
- “Mental health is a huge risk factor for addiction,” said Stalcup.
- The natural vs. synthetic debate is a red herring when it comes to addiction potential.
- “If I try to cut down or stop my intake and have negative consequences — cravings, irritability, upset stomach, chills, etc. — that could be a sign that my use has become dependence.
- Marijuana use disorder, also known as cannabis use disorder, is when the use of marijuana negatively impacts a person’s health or life but they continue to use it anyway.
Red Flags: Spotting the Signs of Weed Addiction
Thus, the THC in marijuana overly activates parts of your brain that contain the highest number of these receptors, leading to a series of effects. Stalcup recommends this simple test for determining if a person has an addiction. “Part of the problem with prevention and deciding whether you should use a drug or not is that it’s hard to imagine, with one’s current brain, having a brain that isn’t making those evaluations rationally,” he said. Unlike opiate misuse, which can set in fairly quickly with heavy use, marijuana misuse can take months or even years to develop. A user might not immediately realize that they’ve crossed the line into addiction.
Support for Me and My Family
There are studies of children whose mothers used marijuana when pregnant with them. These children were found to have decreased verbal reasoning skills and more hyperactivity, impulsivity, and decreased attention. When someone you love is abusing marijuana or addicted to it, there are often signs and symptoms to look for.
How Pot Affects Your Mind and Body
They’re not driving under the influence of the drug or using the drug at work. They don’t get caught with marijuana marijuana addiction and never enter the legal system. Instead of marijuana’s sedating effects, a person might get insomnia.
Getting help from your healthcare provider or therapist can increase your chances of successfully quitting marijuana. It can be challenging to deal with the symptoms of marijuana withdrawal, so caring for yourself is particularly important during this time. https://ecosoberhouse.com/ Make sure you are eating a healthy diet and getting plenty of rest. Finding ways to stay busy can help distract you from some of the unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. It can also keep your mind off of the drug cravings that you might be experiencing.
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- Keeping a routine during stressful times can be important for your mental well-being, but sticking to old habits (those that featured regular drug use) can make recovery much more difficult.
- Compared to healthy controls, adolescents who used cannabis had lower activation in the amygdala in an emotional arousal word task during fMRI (Heitzeg et al. 2015).
- Once you decide to stop smoking weed, it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with the withdrawal symptoms you might experience as you give up the drug.
- Studies of identical twins raised in different families support this theory.
- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) classifies marijuana as a Schedule I substance.
