How To Deal With Weed Addiction

Treatment For Marijuana Abuse

Because marijuana use impairs the area of the brain responsible for motivation, it is often challenging for users to be sufficiently self-motivated to quit using the drug. For this reason, motivational enhancement therapy , which rewards abstinence with money for goods or services, and motivational interviewing principles are two approaches often incorporated into the recovery plan.

Individual and group counseling, including cognitive behavioral therapy, along with family counseling, and participation in 12-step or other support groups are also typically part of the treatment plan.

At Midwest Recovery Centers we believe the most effective method for treating marijuana addiction is found through a holistic approach. Our compassionate staff is highly trained in both addiction recovery and naturopathic remedies. Many of our support staff have personally walked the addiction recovery path and are uniquely qualified to inspire those on the journey.

Because many recovering addicts struggle with more than one disorder, we recognize the need to treat co-occurring disorders simultaneously. Successful outcomes have been shown to be the highest when this integrated treatment approach addresses both mental health and substance abuse issues together.

Contact Midwest Recovery Centers to start your recovery now.

How To Quit Weed

This is a common question many people are currently asking and realizing to quit smoking weed is a challenging feat.

In the case that you have tried all of the options above and nothing seems to be working, there are a few more options you can try:

• Speaking to a Professional: A therapist can be very helpful in working through what makes it so challenging for you personally to give up weed. Here you can understand concurrent disorders and addressing them would help you quit your marijuana addiction easily.
• Virtual Treatment Programs: Do you know that you can quit marijuana with virtual outpatient programs in the comfort of your home, at your convenience? You can start your recovery journey easily with a comprehensive and structured online treatment program through a secure telehealth platform.
• Outpatient Addiction Counselling: Some Addiction Centres offer outpatient rehab programs that teach you how to quit using marijuana.
• Residential Treatment: If you have tried everything and need more help, inpatient rehab treatment is likely the best option.

Coping With Withdrawal Symptoms

Withdrawal symptoms can be a difficult aspect of overcoming addiction, both for substance and behavioral addictions. With substance addictions, the physiological aspects of withdrawal can be extremely uncomfortable, feeling like a bad flu, or can even be life-threatening. For this reason, it is a good idea to talk to a doctor about the best way and the best place to quit a substance.

Fortunately, most of the acute symptoms of withdrawal pass within a week or two of quitting. However, some people who quit an addiction find that certain withdrawal symptoms seem to go on and on. This is known as post-acute withdrawal syndrome, and it can go on for weeks, months, or even years in some cases.

The risk of dying from an overdose is extremely high if you have been through withdrawal, as your tolerance of the drug will be much lower than it was before you quit. Make sure you have someone with you if you decide to use again.

In addition, addictions can sometimes mask underlying mental health problems, such as anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, and even psychosis. If you are feeling blue or agitated, or you are concerned that the world or other people seem strange or upsetting since you quit, talk with your doctor. There are effective treatments for these problems that are much more effective than addictive substances and behaviors.

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Its A Completely Natural Drug

One of the most common reasons people advocate the use of cannabis as opposed to other drugs is because it comes from a plant, and is therefore perceived as more natural.

While cannabis does come from a plant, the form that many people smoke is provided by dealers who are only interested in making their strain as potent as possible.

They will frequently put chemical compounds such as Cannabinoids into the cannabis theyre selling. Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, also known as THC, affects the neurotransmitter in your brain called dopamine. Prolonged use is therefore disruptive of this natural system.

Because many of these dealers are selling in shady places, they dont have to reveal what is in their cannabis or whether it is chemically pure in the first place. There is no way of knowing whether cannabis bought off the street is truly natural.

Enlist Support From Loved Ones

Friends and family who know you dont want to keep smoking can offer support by:

• helping you think of hobbies and distractions
• practicing coping methods, like physical activity or meditation, with you
• encouraging you when withdrawals and cravings get tough

Even knowing that other people support your decision can help you feel more motivated and capable of success.

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Key Tips For Dealing With Kratom Addiction Withdrawal

So lets say that you have started to notice a potential kratom addiction. Once you recognize it, you need to look at the scale of the problem.

The two sides to this are how frequently you are dosing, and the size of the doses you are taking.

So take a look at whether you are dosing once per day, or even more frequently than that. Or is it only once every other day, or on demand?

Then look at the dosage. If youre taking 5 g or more once or more times per day, then you have a problem that needs to be confronted. Even if you are not dosing every day, if you are dosing high doses every other day, or every few days, that could still point to a problem if those doses are obviously increasing.

So once youve pinpointed if its the actual dose or the frequency that is the problem, you can look at starting a kratom taper.

If your doses are pretty moderate, but you are dosing frequently, try to leave more time between doses. If you dosing twice per day, either lower the dose, or only dose once per day. Then try to taper down to every other day.

If your doses are really high individually, then the kratom taper has to start with getting those doses down. If youre taking 10 g at a time, start chopping it back by a gram at a time over a couple of weeks. Once you got the dose more under control, then you could start dealing with the frequency.

Try to exercise and eat healthily. Think positively, and do everything you can to focus on other things other than the kratom addiction.

Tips To Combat Marijuana Addiction

• Extrovert your attention. Walking and spending time outside can be very therapeutic.
• Make sure to eat healthy foods. A deficiency in vitamins and minerals can create a drop in mental and physical energy.
• Go to the gym. Exercise can boost morale and reduce stress and anxiety.
• Find a hobby or activity, that allows you to be in a different location than where you are using drugs.
• Recognize the people in your environment who affect you emotionally. They could be one of the reasons for your emotional problems.

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When You Should Intervene

If someone is taking cannabis frequently and they act aimless or the drug has completely overtaken their life, its time to intervene.

If someone can still hold a job and your relationship is largely unaffected, you probably dont need to step in.

But most of the time, you cant just talk them into giving up the drug. This will mostly lead to broken promises and relapse.

If you want to convince your loved one to seek treatment, find an intervention programme online and get in contact with them.

You can also examine your own behaviours and try to change any behaviours that are enabling your loved one.

Tolerance Buildup And Withdrawal Symptoms

If you notice that youre needing higher doses of marijuana just so you can get high, then that means that youre building up a tolerance. When you attempt to stop using marijuana and you experience withdrawal symptoms, this can also mean that you are already addicted to this substance. Some withdrawal symptoms include anxiety, insomnia, irritability, and loss of appetite.

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Quitting Marijuana A 30 Day Self Help Guide

The information in this self help guide is twofold first, it provides some of the more recent information on marijuana provided through research. Second, if you are a marijuana user and wish to stop using, the manual provides a self-assessment and daily program to support that decision. Confidential assistance is also available through the McDonald Center for Student Well-Being, 204 Saint Liam Hall. You can call 631-7970 to consult with a professional.

Before going on, complete the self-assessment to help you explore your use.

Is Depression Actually A Unique State Of Consciousness

Begin a program of meditation right now, today. Currently this is being called “mindfulness” but really, it is good old-fashioned meditation, an activity thats been used to help people with mind problems for almost 5000 years. It is not hard to learn, try it today. Simply sit down somewhere and for three or four minutes, partly shut your eyes and try to pay attention to your breath, breathing in and breathing out. You don’t have to breathe particularly deeply, just breathe your normal way. You can count each breath with each exhalation. Or you can say silently, to yourself “I’s breathing in, I’m breathing out.” If three minutes is too long, do it for two minutes.

Start taking walks every day, the longer the better. Any physical activity or exercise you even half enjoy will help you. And exercise has been demonstrated to help rewire your brain more efficiently. Like anti-depressants, it kicks your brain into gear so that it begins making more BDNF.

Educate yourself about addiction disease. There are many books out there about it, many of which are written by recovering addicts just like you. Read their stories, learn about this disease that is as they say in AA “cunning, baffling and powerful.” It is but it can go into complete remission and stay there by the simple method of not using any mind-altering, recreational drugs.

Read Also: What Are The 12 Steps Of Addiction Recovery

Effects Of Marijuana On The Brain

When marijuana is smoked, the THC passes from the users lungs into his bloodstream. Blood, then, takes the chemical to his brain as well as the other organs in the body. With smoking marijuana, the effects can be felt after 30 minutes up to an hour. It is a slower way for the THC to be absorbed compared to when the extract is consumed by eating or drinking.

THC affects particular brain cell receptors. These receptors react to natural chemicals similar to THC. Such chemicals are important in the normal development and functioning of the brain.

Using marijuana can over-activate areas of the brain that have huge amounts of those receptors which, in turn, causes the person to feel high. Here are other effects that marijuana users experience after using the drug.

• Mood changes and impaired memory
• Altered senses and inability to focus
• Difficulty in motor skills and body movement
• Psychosis, delusions, and hallucinations

Harmful Effects Of Marijuana Use

If youre wondering why you need to learn how to overcome marijuana addiction, think about the harmful effects. People who abuse weed will feel the need to sustain that maximum high. In order to do so, they inhale the smoke more deeply and hold it in their lungs for a longer period of time.

It irritates the lungs which may lead to asthma attacks, bronchitis, and chronic cough. The effect of smoking weed in pregnant women affects the unborn baby and may cause problems such as premature birth and abnormal size.

In worse scenarios, marijuana, when taken in higher and larger dosage, can also result in toxic psychosis and hallucination that makes most people paranoid. It affects your concentration, reaction to stimuli, and your coordination, making it dangerous for you to drive a car and even ride a bike.

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How To Help A Pothead

When a marijuana addict is high, helping him involves seeing a medical professional Doctors can assess whether the pothead truly is addicted to weed and rule out other compounding psychological problems. Doctors can also assist if the pothead shows signs of psychosis or other serious mental concerns.

Doctors can assess marijuana addicts for:2

• True marijuana addiction
• Intoxication-induced anxiety
• Other physical and psychological problems caused by, or occurring with, marijuana addiction

Pot addiction rarely requires inpatient medical treatment, but during severe intoxication, tranquilizers may be given and the pothead may be under observation until the intoxication passes.

Supporting Your Loved One Without Enabling Them

When attempting to convince someone to seek treatment for their addiction, you can help remind them what life was like before they became addicted.

Compare their behaviour now versus when they first started smoking cannabis.

Likely, they had many dreams that they abandoned once they became dependent. Encourage your loved one by telling them that those dreams arent completely gone if they quit smoking.

But you will have to set boundaries. Your loved one cant spend time with friends that use or smell cannabis.

That makes relapse a lot easier. You will have to employ a bit of tough love if you want them to truly recover.

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Cancellation Of Dates Etc:

Again, early in the relationship I got stood up. The reasons were various, some understandable some I had less sympathy for . Please note that I am talking about a partner who does this very early on in the relationship, and with slightly too much frequency. Again, the sober person is left wondering if her/his partner is really as into the relationship as them, but in my own case there were many fantastic and loving moments between us and so again I ignored my gut and went with it

Therapy While Going Through Weed Withdrawal

Cognitive behavioral therapy seems to be recommended for just about anything these days but note that while the underlying focus of CBT is always on correcting the thought patterns or behaviors that lead to the problems for which the individual is seeking therapy, practical therapeutic approaches are adapted to the client’s specific needs.

Cognitive behavioral therapy has been shown to have a positive effect on the mental health and daily functioning of people with substance abuse disorders, including marijuana addiction. Mechanisms you may encounter if you choose CBT to cope with your marijuana withdrawal symptoms are:

• Motivational intervention, where the weed user’s feelings of reluctance to stop using cannabis are addressed and therapist and client work on motivational strategies that will help the user stay off weed.
• Contingency management seeks to disrupt the reward your brain associates with drug use, since addiction hijacks this system and leads you to crave the rewards associated with drug use. You may receive small motivational items in return for abstaining from cannabis for a certain amount of time, and then work up to larger rewards. Your brain will hopefully begin associating not using weed, rather than smoking it, with rewards.
• Relapse prevention, where you will examine what your personal triggers for weed use are, and what you can do when you experience these triggers instead of smoking pot.

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Addiction Treatment For Marijuana Abuse

Sometimes, quitting marijuana is difficult to do alone. If you cant seem to quit weed cold turkey, you may want to seek professional help to cease marijuana use. American Addiction Centers offers multiple forms of treatment to help those abusing marijuana that helps patients gain the skills to cope with craving and avoid their triggers. Therapy also helps improve on other skills, such as problem-solving and lifestyle management.

Addiction treatment providers may use several behavioral treatments to help those struggling with marijuana use, such as:

• Cognitive-behavioral therapy. Cognitive behavioral therapy is a form of behavioral therapy that focuses on treating a variety of mental health issues under the assumption that many problematic behaviors are borne from unhealthy thought patterns. With CBT, one can identify their negative thought patterns, learn healthier ways to cope with their emotions, and observe their negative thought patterns.9
• Contingency management. Contingency management is a form of treatment that utilizes incentive and reward to reinforce healthy changes in an individual. When treated through a contingency management method, providers may give patients tangible rewards that reinforce their positive behaviors .
• Motivational enhancement therapy. Motivational enhancement therapy strives to resolve any ambivalence toward treatment and prompt an internally-motivated desire to change in people suffering from substance abuse issues.10

Which Approach Works Best For Quitting Marijuana

Frankly, there is no best way to give up weed.

An approach that works for someone might not work for you but there is at least one for everyone.

Since everyone develops different habitual smoking patterns, considering different methods and maybe a trial and error approach may be beneficial.

In this guide, we will cover quitting cold turkey and quitting gradually in different sections with pros and cons.

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What If Someone Cant Get Sober

If someone cant quit the drug on their own, they may need to be admitted into rehab. Out of everyone who has a drug addiction, only about ten per cent of people actually get treatment.

If you think someone close to you is addicted to cannabis, use the intervention methods detailed above and help them check into a rehab facility.

Paying For Marijuana Addiction Treatment

Depending on which inpatient marijuana rehab center you choose for treatment, youre likely to discover that this kind of treatment may come at a high price. Prices vary a great deal between public and private rehab facilities. Most private facilities accept insurance and many of them offer financing arrangements.

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