hi everyone,

I am 19 years old and im really looking for some help. I had this program for about 4 years but constantly have been putting it off because my anxiety seemed to go away. Recently, i did something very stupid and smoked marijuana for the 1st time in my life. It was the worst mistake i ever made because it completely changed everything. Before this experience i never messed around with anything relating to drugs or alcohol. But when i did smoke i had a crazy panic attack. I didnt know what was going on i just wanted to die. After this experience i have been stuck with "chronic depersonalization" . I feel like im constantly in a dream and my mind is disconnected from my body. The worst symptom is that i feel like the world refreshes itself every couple of seconds. I hear this is a symptom of being high but i havent smoked since that time and im still feeling this way. Im looking for some hope and guidance. Has anyone done this program experiencing the exact same symptoms as me and made it?

Maybe the guilt you are feeling from smoking pot is causing you to continue to feel the effects. You should accept that fact that you made a mistake, tell yourself that you are human, learn from it and move on. Don't continue to feel guilty over it. Remember to live in the moment not the past or the future. Also remember that everyone makes mistakes, we need to learn from them and leave them behind.

Hi mate, I could have wrote that post. What happened to me was, I had smoked a few joints in my youth but never had any major problem, infact I don't believe I even got stonned. Then one evening before going out me and a group of friends had a joint, I had about 3 or 4 puffs then WHAM!! I felt an intense fear, a fear I have never experienced since, I felt my heart going, I felt totally out of reality, almost like I was in a dream sorry NIGHTMARE but there was nothing exactly to be afraid of, all I wanted to do was go home, but then what would my parents say? Would I end up in a mental hospital, I couldn't tell what exactly was reality I was that bad.

And you know what is worse? I lived in that state for 6 months, It does go away gradually though. I have never smoked a joint since, that was 10 years ago, but it was that experience that triggered of my generalised anxiety and panic attacks. Stay away from cannabis, it acts like a trigger, cannabis itself will not cause anxiety, it triggers of anxiety related disorders in people prone to them and unfortuantly you are one of them my friend.

I have been there. Not fun at all! It does go away in time. I was so bad when i tried it i hit myself in the head a few times trying to bring myself back to reality. I have not been around it for 7 years and i don't plan on ever. I'm 24 now tried it when i was 17.

This is quite interesting to me as I never though anyone else had experienced this with cannabis