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The Link Between Marijuana Use and Panic and Anxiety (cont.)

Q. Hi, I've had panic attacks for more than 1.5 years now. Fortunately, I can now control the attacks and am aware that "I am not going to have a heart attack"

Approximately twelve acquaintances of mine have since discussed, through different conversations, evidence of having panic attacks. Speeding heart beat, panic, going to hospital, etc. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM HAD THEIR FIRST ATTACK while consuming marijuana, including me. About half of them, including me, were heavy smokers (minimum 1 joint/day).

Also, I saw a small TV report about a year ago where a medical doctor (psy.) says that he's encountered more-and-more adolescents coming to see him about anxiety disorders. The TV report's subject was about high levels of THC in Canadian cannabis plants. He seemed to state that there was a link. I am not a doctor, I am an engineer and am ABSOLUTELY POSITIVE that there is a link between THC levels in cannabis and Panic Attacks. Ever since my first panic attack, I have completely stopped smoking pot! Most of the many acquaintances that I know that also smoked pot have also stooped.

I am available for any further discussions on this subject. The amount of people I know (that I have known for many, many years) who also now have panic attacks is astounding. There should be a lot more studies on this matter. A person who has had panic attacks is the only one who knows how scary and devastating an attack is!!! Please respond!

Answer from Bronwyn: You are right. There is definitely a link. We have been seeing this and working with it for many years.

We have also worked here in Australia, in this area, with the Schizophrenia Fellowship, because marijuana can either cause Spontaneous (uncued) Panic Attacks and/or Panic Disorder or Psychosis. It is either one or the other. Both are discrete separate disorders and people with spontaneous attacks will not go on to develop a psychosis. For people who are predisposed to spontaneous panic attacks, the marijuana can trigger the predisposition and marijuana can trigger a psychotic episode in people who are predisposed to schizophrenia. And you are also right about research, but there appears to be little interest amongst researchers in following this through.

We have been researching and working with the link between dissociation and spontaneous panic attacks for almost eight years. The dissociation being a naturally occurring phenomena and nothing to do with smoking marijuana, though the effects are the same...altered states of consciousness which can induce panic, because people have no idea what is happening to them. Again, until recently the researchers didn't want to know about these links.

One psychiatrist who is involved in research in the latest 'miracle' drug said to us last year, 'You and your clients don't know anything about this. We are the scientists we know - you and your clients don't know, you only experience it'.!! Another renowned psychiatrist who is involved in drug research discredits us to his patients because we have recovered using CBT. He says "CBT doesn't work, so we couldn't have had panic attacks/panic disorder in the first place. So what would we know!" When we asked another one why not look at the spontaneous panic attacks from individual experiences he said, "well we are thinking about it, but really you all should just forget the causes and get over it!!!" This appears to be the attitude amongst many of the researchers.

Thankfully, over the last couple of months, one of our Universities, through its Dept. of Psychology, have approached us and have asked us to draw up a list of research subjects we would like to see done. They in turn are going to give them to their Masters and PhD students to see if there is interest in researching them for their degrees. The link with Marijuana will be one of them.

You may want to follow up with your local campus, through the Dept. of Psychology and ask them to ask their Masters/PhD students if anyone would like to investigate this link.

Although not related to research, but as a matter of interest, every time we give a talk to health workers about Anxiety Disorders and we mention the link between marijuana, one or two of them will howl us down, because they are using it with no ill effect and think we are part of the anti-legalization lobby having a go!

You are more than welcome to stay in touch with us in regards to this.

Reply: Thanks for the response. I would be glad to have you publish my email on your questions and answer page. I am really amazed at how there is a link between both. I am not against marijuana use, I am for its legalization. But users beware. If they do have a panic attack, I am sure they will stop using as I have.

Response: We wish it was that simple. Even when people do stop using, it can take years for people to lose their fear of their attacks. Some people may only experience panic attacks, others will go onto develop Panic Disorder / Agoraphobia / major depression and possibly alcohol and/or prescribed drug dependence. Studies/Careers, relationships, etc. can be lost, adding further to their own sense of fear and confusion.

But the greatest tragedy is the teens / young adults who develop a psychotic episode as a result of using. They can be on the anti-psychotic drugs for the rest of their lives with all the major side effects which go with them and the suicide rate, as with panic disorder, is high.

Marijuana has been decriminalized in our State for quite a number of years. People are allowed to grow up to three plants at home for their own use. Legalized, or not, it simply isn't worth the risk of using.

Q. I was reading the information at your website and decided I would write you regarding some questions I have. As a teenager, I experimented with LSD and PCP a couple of times. About a week after taking a half dose of LSD, I was getting high on pot when suddenly I felt as if I was tripping on LSD again.

This frightened me very much and I quickly developed a panic disorder problem. I thought I was doomed to a life where I would never be "normal" again. I got help by learning T.M. (transcendental meditation). This helped me to control the panic, but I never really got over the belief that I was somehow not like everybody else. I felt I was somehow different, that my mind had been permanently changed because of the use of these drugs.

I'm in my thirties now, and over the years I had two-or-three episodes where I've developed panic disorder again. It usually lasts a couple of months and then goes away. The latest bout started this past November. I purchased a book about help for panic attacks and it has been a big help. But my question still remains - have other users of LSD, PCP and pot had these same problems? How have they gotten over them? Is there a group on the internet of people with similar backgrounds? I'm interested in talking with others who have passed through similar experiences. Please let me know if you can help.

Response: We have been in contact with quite a large group of people whose panic disorder has begun either as a result of marijuana, LSD and ecstasy, but marijuana is the one which is causing most of the problems we see.

As far as we are aware there is no definitive site/chat room for people who developed panic disorder as a result of these drugs.

You are correct in saying you feel different. Most everyone feels this way, but so to do people whose disorder started through other causes.

Although there is no definitive research yet, it appears as if the marijuana, etc. is the trigger for the development of panic attacks/panic disorder. Once it develops, from what we can see, the problems associated with panic attacks/panic disorder is the same for everyone irrespective of the cause.

The secret of recovery is the loss of fear of the attacks and the anxiety. This means, in times of stress, we may experience an attack, but once we have lost our fear it is over within 30-seconds and there is no residual anxiety. The most effective way to lose the fear of the experience is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. We may be able to refer you to a therapist, if you wish. If so, could you advise in what country/state/city you live in.

Response: Thanks for the info. Your letter has given me a better understanding of the events leading up to my first panic attack. (It happened while I was high on pot, about a week after I had taken LSD.) I had associated the attack with the LSD and not the marijuana.

Q. I first experienced panic when I was 17 after having marijuana. It was so extreme, the word panic doesn't seem strong enough. It was more like absolute terror. I am now forty, and in recent years depression has also been a problem for me. I have tried most of the antidepressants but I just can't seem to tolerate them, even at a very small dose like a quarter of a tablet. They make me feel more anxious and susceptible to panic.

I know I get quite apprehensive about taking them, but I feel that it is more than psychological. I remember taking moclobomide which is supposed to be non-drowsy and falling asleep for 6-hours in the middle of the day. A half a tablet of tolvon put me in bed for 24-hours. A full tablet of Prothiaden brought on a panic attack. Aropax made me feel drowsy and disconnected with things.

I have been in a support group and never known anyone else to have such weird reactions to drugs. In recent years, I have found even antibiotics make me feel more depressed and anxious. I don't experience full blown panic very often, but when I do it seems to be extreme. To say to myself "don't worry it is only a panic attack" seems ludicrous. It would be like the fear of someone holding a gun to your head and really thinking they were going to shoot. That's what it feels like.

I really feel like a freak of nature. Can you explain to me what's happening? Do other people have these kinds of reactions?

Response: Yes, other people have these reactions and no, you are not a freak of nature. People can develop these types of attacks as a result of major life stress, a build up of stress or through marijuana, LSD, cocaine, etc., although out of all the 'recreational' drugs, marijuana seems to be the primary cause of panic/anxiety.

One of the most frustrating aspects of these types of panic attacks is that the Mental Health professionals don't realize how extreme these attacks are. We work very closely with Anxiety Disorder psychologists and psychiatrists and no matter what we say, and what their patients say, the professionals cannot take on board how horrific these symptoms are. They simply think we are exaggerating. We have been there ourselves, so we know how violent they are.

You are also right in regards to taking medication. Although most of us are frightened of taking medication, and this does need to be taken into account, many people who have these types of attacks cannot take any medication at all. Although there is no research on this, we have seen within ourselves and with thousands of our clients, we all become very sensitive, not just to medication but to many things in our environment and to various foods. Many of us go onto develop allergies to a range of items where we never had the sensitivity before.

>to say to myself "don't worry, it is only a panic attack" seems ludicrous.<

We agree, but this is actually how all of us recover. Not so much in saying, 'don't worry it is only a panic attack', but we need to be taught how it is happening. Once we can really begin to understand the dynamics of it all, we lose our fear. Once we lose our fear it is over within 30-seconds and there is no residual fear or anxiety. Although they are still just as violent as they have always been we reach the point of 'So What' instead of 'what if'. But to do this we do need to really understand it fully. This is how I recovered and this is what we teach people to do in our Programs and Workshops. I may have an occasional attack every few months, but 'So what'. It is now over in thirty seconds compared to how it used to be when it would last an hour to an hour-and-a-half and I would have 5 - 6 attacks a day.

If you go to our website and check these pages : 1. 'Research - An analysis of an uncued panic attack' 2. 'About Anxiety Disorders - Dissociation' 3. Questions and Answers - 'D' for Dissociation, these pages can help you understand your experience.

We can refer you onto a Cognitive Behavioral therapist and/or we are in the final stages of developing a Correspondence Program which teaches people how to manage their attacks, plus we are about to release two videos of one of our Workshops which again teaches people how to manage these types of attacks. If you would like a referral to a CBT therapist can you let us know in what country/state/city/town you live in.

Q. I noticed that there was something wrong with me for awhile and I was told that it could be anxiety. So I read some of the symptoms for it, and I think I do have anxiety disorder. I'm pretty sure it started after I tried some drugs like marijuana. If I stop using the drugs, should it go away?

A. We do advise you to speak to your doctor and have a physical check up to ensure there is no physical cause for your symptoms as the anxiety symptoms can mimic a number of physical problems.

Unfortunately many people are developing panic disorder as a result of using marijuana and even though they stop using it, the Disorder can be ongoing until they receive appropriate treatment. We do advise people not to use this, or any other 'recreational' drug including LSD, cocaine, or ecstasy, etc. because they can add to and increase the problem.

If your doctor confirms anxiety and/or an anxiety disorder, then you may need to see an Anxiety Disorder CBT Therapist who will be able to assist you. We notice from your email you are at a University. Many universities run Cognitive Behavioral Programs through their Dept. of Psychology. You may wish to check with your local dept. If they don't the psychologists on staff, they would be able to refer you to someone.

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