# Why marijuana causes DP



## Pancthulhu (May 27, 2006)

I think I've figured out why trying hash triggered my DP - I'm just wondering whether this makes sense to anyone else.

Trying hash made me realise just how mechanical the human mind really is. Your brain is your personality - it's what makes you yourself. The fact a substance can have so great an effect on your consciousness is terrifying, and that realisation has messed up my sense of self.

But, at the same time, I know that my personality is a product of nature and nurture - just because it is not an untouchable entity that doesn't mean that you are not yourself. The fact we interact with the universe and observe it makes us human. If nothing could affect our consciousness, we would not have evolved and we would be nothing.


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## Don_Esporian (Aug 14, 2006)

YES, this makes sense, but many people understand this concept without drugs, other people have tried drugs and they didn?t get DP. so there must be something different with the people who get Dp from pot.


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## nicon (Aug 19, 2004)

I know that my personality is a product of nature and nurture...!!!

what a statement!

and I beleive very true

I think the people who dont get dp from weed are more comfortable with there mind "being free" they are more nuturing and trusting of their mind. Do you know what I mean?


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## nicon (Aug 19, 2004)

I know that my personality is a product of nature and nurture...!!!

what a statement!

and I beleive very true

I think the people who dont get dp from weed are more comfortable with there mind "being free" they are more nuturing and trusting of their mind. Do you know what I mean?


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## nicon (Aug 19, 2004)

I know that my personality is a product of nature and nurture...!!!

what a statement!

and I beleive very true

I think the people who dont get dp from weed are more comfortable with there mind "being free" they are more nuturing and trusting of their mind. Do you know what I mean?


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## amazongodess (Mar 22, 2006)

I think that people who get dp are more prone to thinking about the nature of the universe and where they fit into it. Therefore when you introduce a substance that expands your conciousness it makes these thoughts overwhelming and highly personal. When my boyfriend smokes pot he thinks about playing counterstrike not about world peace.


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## landrethr (Feb 4, 2010)

I'm not sure I totally agree with this theory but now that I think back on it, I first started experiencing DP around the same time I smoked weed for the first time and I often describe my symptoms the same way I would describe how I feel when I am high. I guess it's a thought.


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## jul.gold (Feb 2, 2010)

amazongodess said:


> I think that people who get dp are more prone to thinking about the nature of the universe and where they fit into it. Therefore when you introduce a substance that expands your conciousness it makes these thoughts overwhelming and highly personal. When my boyfriend smokes pot he thinks about playing counterstrike not about world peace.


Haha same here about the boyfriend.
But I totally agree. 
If you're the type of person who already has these philosophical and existential thoughts, smoking weed will increase the level of these thoughts, making them feel more real. Then, when you are sober once again, those thoughts that once felt real cloud your mind, making life itself feel unreal.
Don't know of that makes sense.
Experiencing that different dimension of consciousness makes you doubt life the way you used to see it.


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## fieldsmatt31 (Dec 16, 2009)

Pancthulhu said:


> If nothing could affect our consciousness, we would not have evolved and we would be nothing.


this is nice but it's about all i agree with. not to be a dick. i don't usually comment unless i think it could start an interesting dialogue.


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## Guest (Feb 17, 2010)

.


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## Ivan Hawk (Jan 22, 2010)

In my case, Marijuana didn't really trigger my episodes of DP, but it certainly led to my greater understanding of the phenomenon I'd been experiencing since about 8 years ago.

Once I tried a massive level of marijuana (silly me), it multiplied that same unknown sensation to the point of a much greater concern. I've rarely ever tried the stuff, so I had and still have very little tolerance to it. The effects felt kind of reasonable at first until a massive twist occurred for no reason and I was in this bizarre LSD trip of a DP experience, feeling as if I fell out of the warp of time itself. This massive episode certainly made me more aware of the subject, but it eventually faded and the usual episodes still occur from time to time.

However, there are some people who still claim they've never had DP until they smoked marijuana and now they have it chronically.
In this case, perhaps the marijuana had the same effect massive anxiety has, because the drug is also known for it's massive levels of paranoia as a side effect - thus resulting in heavy anxiety. But it still doesn't make sense that a short experience with heavy anxiety would give someone the DP that is caused by long-term experiences with anxiety.

LoL, some people who get much better effects from it say "ohhhhh..that's normal for first timers (massive depersonalization for 24 freaking hours!?!?) you just have to do it many more times to build up a tolerance so you get more of the good effects." Haha, but what's funny is if everyone felt such a horrible negative experience from the stuff, I doubt anyone would be doing it.







Like many people say, everyone is different. Some people don't like certain things - other people do. There are reasons of personal attraction behind most of our choices in life for these mysterious differences in preferences. The reasons some people like the taste of certain foods, while others hate them. Some people like certain colors more than others. People tend to like certain personalities more than others. These same mysterious qualities of personality and brain structure that effect our experience and preference of marijuana.


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## m&m (Mar 8, 2010)

Most stories I read seem to link marijuana use to DP. However, I have never used it or any other illicit drugs.

If you had a perfect childhood, no trauma, and then used marijuana and then developed DP that would be something to considered.

I am certain that my DP/DR was caused by childhood trauma, my consciousness seeks to distance itself from the cause.

Interestingly, other things that may have triggered my episodes include illness, chemical fumes, uncontrolled laughter.


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## isthisreallife (Mar 20, 2010)

Yeah mine started when I was only 5 or 6, and then from age 9 forward was pretty much constant. I obviously never did any marijuana back then, and was not really thinking about my existence from such a young age at all. Even though I do think about that loads nowadays but it wasn't the cause of the onset. I agree with what m&m said because for me its exactly the same. Mine was without a doubt caused by childhood trauma, I think it was a coping mechanism, I just dealt with the horrifying things around me by perceiving them as not being real.

Also I find situations that make the world seem more unreal or out of the ordinary, like if something is not right, triggers me to go into an intense DP/DR episode. An example of this is when I work at the hospital and I have to go to the psychiatric ward, if a patient tries talking to me and they are really messed up, I feel dizzy and the DP spikes, and this is not anxiety, its just an unreality feeling. Could be different for everyone but for me its some kind of coping mechanism from childhood that never went away.

m&m, when you say its like your consciousness seeks to distance itself from the cause, would you relate this to what I described as perceiving the trauma as being unreal, or not really having happened? Thats what I got out of what you said.


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## m&m (Mar 8, 2010)

isthisreallife said:


> m&m, when you say its like your consciousness seeks to distance itself from the cause, would you relate this to what I described as perceiving the trauma as being unreal, or not really having happened? Thats what I got out of what you said.


Yes, very much the same. I've read that the extreme would be having no memory of the trauma except emotional. This is why they believe that severe trauma esp. during childhood is blocked from memory. There is still a question whether these memories can be retrieved since they may not exist in the proper areas of the brain. Most only have an 'emotional' memory. It is unclear if attempts to recover memory brings back the true events or if the mind creates one to fill the void.


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## kukutininkas (Apr 9, 2010)

Kendra47 said:


> Haha same here about the boyfriend.
> But I totally agree.
> If you're the type of person who already has these philosophical and existential thoughts, smoking weed will increase the level of these thoughts, making them feel more real. Then, when you are sober once again, those thoughts that once felt real cloud your mind, making life itself feel unreal.
> Don't know of that makes sense.
> Experiencing that different dimension of consciousness makes you doubt life the way you used to see it.


God damn right! i've burnt from smoking pot, but i been using antipsychotics which i later quit anda fter it i smoked some pot - blew my head off. I REALLY DIDNT KNoW WHAT IS WHAT ? even when i got sober nothing changed - one question i couldnt't anbswer myself was "am i crazy or not?"


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## Patrick (Apr 10, 2010)

Drugs are certainly strange things. I think it all kind of depends on how the drug effects you. I smoke weed everyday, and I have had lower than moderate DP symtoms. I still smoke weed, and I get mixed feelings from it. Sometimes I am more susseptible to the devilish anxiousness that is associated with DP. Other times I find it easier to relieve myself of these deep thoughts, or I can turn into the sensation of music which gets me away from the nonseniscle thoughts that DP provides. But I also smoked weed everyday a long time before my DP, so perhaps I have a more comfortable experience with DP due to this habit. Those are my thoughts anyway.


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## voidvoid (Sep 5, 2008)

Existentialism is NOT dp/dr.


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## Claymore (Jun 13, 2009)

Pancthulhu said:


> I think I've figured out why trying hash triggered my DP - I'm just wondering whether this makes sense to anyone else.
> 
> Trying hash made me realise just how mechanical the human mind really is. Your brain is your personality - it's what makes you yourself. The fact a substance can have so great an effect on your consciousness is terrifying, and that realisation has messed up my sense of self.
> 
> But, at the same time, I know that my personality is a product of nature and nurture - just because it is not an untouchable entity that doesn't mean that you are not yourself. The fact we interact with the universe and observe it makes us human. If nothing could affect our consciousness, we would not have evolved and we would be nothing.


I agree with everything but the evolution thing. You realize whats really going on when you're high is just chemicals working against you're brain and that is scary.


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## Ryan D Morris (Jul 23, 2008)

I read once a study that proved Marijuana affects a part of your brain the is responsible for coping with stressful situations, and it occurred to me that this could be the key to DP.

Like you, marijuana was responsible for triggering my DP. After having withdrawn from pot for 4 years, I began smoking again. This has been in a sense, a form of therapy.

I believe DP is a result of overt self-awareness, which settles into us unconsciously for those who are especially susceptible to insecurity. Allow me to expound:

I believe I was scared to be myself because of the judgement that would be cast on me. The marijuana made me pour over my actions as a person, and see into my intentions. What I saw, I did not like.. and as a result, the brain turned to the defense mechanism of memory suppression.

Suppressed memories are a Freudian phenomena.. but I believe the brain is powerful enough to suppress the part of our brain that allows us to see into ourselves, that allows us to reflect. In this way, DP is nothing more than the forced suppression of reality as a means for coping with our eccentricities, and Marijuana its catalyst.


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## Mushishi (May 31, 2010)

I didn't read all posts here, but I just wanted to add something to this. It is not the brain that defines who you are. It has a lot to do with the brain, but not just that. It has also to do with magnetic fields and your heart. Do a search on the thinking heart, and heart mind connection. If you go to the source, it is our feelings/emotions that defines who we are. Marijuana can detach you from your feelings, both physical and mental. Marijuana completely alters consciousness for what it is. You can "see" things on Marijuana that you couldn't see before, but that doesn't mean it's true. Being detached from your feelings/emotions, yet still conscious, forces you to play the role of the observer, which can often lead to the idea that everything is mechanical.


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## Rogue Bullies (Jun 1, 2010)

nicon said:


> I know that my personality is a product of nature and nurture...!!!
> 
> what a statement!
> 
> ...


I think you hit that on the nose. The feeling of being high doesn't bother some people like it does others. I think freaking out on weed is what really causes people to have DP. If they have a good high which most people do then they are fine. I have smoked for 7 years with no problem at all. Then one day I had a bad trip and BAM DP was here.


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## Guest (Jan 12, 2011)

Marijuana is among one of the drugs which is banned in many countries but still are being consumed as it helps in relaxation by decreasing the frequency of activities of brain which leads to DP


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## supersaiyan91 (Oct 26, 2011)

When people tell me my feeling emotions and ideas or values create who I am, I can't help but wonder what creates those ideas? What gives us the a ility to feel and perceive things, and to form personal objective opinions? Its just a train of unanswerable questions.


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## forestx5 (Aug 29, 2008)

Rogue Bullies said:


> I think you hit that on the nose. The feeling of being high doesn't bother some people like it does others. I think freaking out on weed is what really causes people to have DP. If they have a good high which most people do then they are fine. I have smoked for 7 years with no problem at all. Then one day I had a bad trip and BAM DP was here.


The brain is not as connected as you might think. I also believe the amplitude of emotion (FEAR) causes problems with brain communication. The Amygdala assigns emotional importance to
sensory input in the limbic system, and passes that information to other parts of the brain for processing. What does the rest of the brain do, when the Amygdala says "hey everyone, we're dying!" The rest of the brain doesn't ignore it, because it has no way to ascertain that it is a fake message caused by a psychoactive drug. So, It executes the SOP for "we're dying".
This causes problems, because the "self" is the integration of all of those brain processes. When/if some of those processes go "off-line", how might that change the perception of "self"??


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## rightwrong99 (Apr 17, 2011)

forestx5 said:


> The brain is not as connected as you might think. I also believe the amplitude of emotion (FEAR) causes problems with brain communication. The Amygdala assigns emotional importance to
> sensory input in the limbic system, and passes that information to other parts of the brain for processing. What does the rest of the brain do, when the Amygdala says "hey everyone, we're dying!" The rest of the brain doesn't ignore it, because it has no way to ascertain that it is a fake message caused by a psychoactive drug. So, It executes the SOP for "we're dying".
> This causes problems, because the "self" is the integration of all of those brain processes. When/if some of those processes go "off-line", how might that change the perception of "self"??


Agreed... the "self" is the integration of brain processes... people say DP is not brain damage, and true, maybe the brain hasnt been physically injured... but its no longer communicating correctly. I would consider that damage.


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## saniyah (Mar 22, 2012)

Some people have different adaptation of drugs. That is the reason that are some people go for depression.


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## tnasty2 (Aug 12, 2012)

I think all of these thoughts your having are thoughts based upon the feeling of dp. Your having a lot of these thoughts and theories due to you thinking about your current state of do. I believe you either get dp or you don't. None of this you only have it cause you think about it bs. Certain people are prone for whatever reason, I believe it has to do with a sense of security. Marijuana for som reason just exploits this.


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## peanut butter (Nov 9, 2012)

tnasty2 said:


> I think all of these thoughts your having are thoughts based upon the feeling of dp. Your having a lot of these thoughts and theories due to you thinking about your current state of do. I believe you either get dp or you don't. None of this you only have it cause you think about it bs. Certain people are prone for whatever reason, I believe it has to do with a sense of security. Marijuana for som reason just exploits this.


I think that might make sense too.
For example such dialogue
"What if everything is just a dream?"
-It does not matter for things still appear as real to us as they could be
This would basically be end of discussion. It feels real and it should be enough.
But for DPer things may not appear real, so of course that contributes to the thought that these are based on feeling of DP


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## eddy1886 (Oct 11, 2012)

From reading all the posts on this topic one thing is clear to me about DP sufferers...They are all extremely deep levelled thinkers and i would think they always were even at a young age before DP became a part of their lives (I know i definitely was)...What i believe is that marijuana alone did not cause my DP...While my first ever DP (panic) episode experience occurred when i was stoned i believe weed was not the main cause but instead it was a trigger for my DP which i believe i was predisposed to in the first place...I grew up as an anxious child because of home and school life...And then into my teens i started becoming an actor in life so i could fit in with my peers...I basically stopped becoming the person i was meant to be and started acting like someone i wanted to be...All to fit in...This resulted in massive ammounts of phsycological energy being expended as i basically worried morning noon and night if people liked me and did i belong...I also put massive ammounts of energy into wearing what i describe as a mask...I was always secretly fearful of people not liking me so i gave them the person they would like instead of being just myself....Its no wonder anxiety took a grip of my life...What weed did was help me to both wear this mask and hence fit in...Problem was i was starting to forget who i was and who i was MEANT to be as a result of using weed regularly..I must also say that all the time i spent smoking weed i was always aware of the fact that it made me a little uneasy in the sense of slight paranoia...Also being a deep thinker weed made me think even deeper and i believe i tapped into parts of my inner mind that basically i wasnt meant to go to....The truth is the weed was running riot with the chemicals in my brain and eventually triggered the imbalance that im stuck with today...I have come to this conclusion...Anybody who is of a nervous disposition should NEVER smoke weed as all it does is exaggerate whats already going on in your mind....I bet if you asked all the DP sufferers on here who smoked weed at any stage of their life they will tell you they werent totally comfortable with the experience of being stoned...We are deep thinkers but we also like to be in control of our minds...When weed caused us to loose that sense of control it scared the living daylights out of us...The result was panic and the frightening thoughts that we had lost our minds...To deep thinkers who like to be in control of their thoughts that is terrifying...My basic theory is this...I was predisposed to anxiety but would never have gotten DP if i hadnt caused the chemical imbalance in my brain that smoking marijuana triggered...The irony is i smoked weed to try make myself happier by getting high...Now im high all the time and its a misery........................


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## peanut butter (Nov 9, 2012)

Do something about it?
Also, you'd have most likely gotten DP at some point if you had encountered high anxiety/stress.


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## laufke1 (Dec 17, 2012)

I think that it causes DP because existencional questions (very huge questions that can never be surealy answered) can arise and you can became very introspective... it is my case..


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## peanut butter (Nov 9, 2012)

You would only become introspective about existential questions if you had anxiety, a "normal" people think that those questions are and remain unanswered and is fine with it. One might even start to ponder them more and be okay with it.
Do you honestly think every philosopher had DP?

But fearing those existential thoughts accompanied with anxiety can make miracles. When you fear them, you think that they are somehow meaningful.
Basically, you have bad feel and start to look for threat (flight/fight response). You can't find the threat because there is nothing in visual to be afraid of. There is no threat outside as you can't see one, so you start to look inside (thoughts).

The thoughts may seem real because you can't see threat but you still feel like there is one. _There must be a threat, because I feel this way, and because I can't see any threats, it must be this thought._
That's basically how I've understood and experienced it.

I remember having high anxiety over thought " what is the sound my thoughts make" or "what is my thinking voice". Once you are not anxious you realize how stupid those thoughts are.


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## laufke1 (Dec 17, 2012)

mmrrlla said:


> You would only become introspective about existential questions if you had anxiety, a "normal" people think that those questions are and remain unanswered and is fine with it. One might even start to ponder them more and be okay with it.
> Do you honestly think every philosopher had DP?
> 
> But fearing those existential thoughts accompanied with anxiety can make miracles. When you fear them, you think that they are somehow meaningful.
> ...


Thank you for advice (and experience). I understand what you mean and I can see that "this process" is also my case. Interesting. From now I will perceive that from a different point of view.


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## Washer (Mar 19, 2013)

Heh, this is interesting.

I'd like to add that my DP/DR was triggered by weed as well (i think)

Had been smoking more or less every day for 3-4 years, without paranoia or stuff like that. It was always a sure escape route from problems and obsessions for me, though.

But one day, i was smoking a joint and drinking a cup of coffee while watching TV, when it happened. I had not been anxious or feeling uncomfortable before that point, not even thinking deeply. So i disagree that it always is a product of bad experience.


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## forestx5 (Aug 29, 2008)

Just my opinion. DP is a logical consequence of ingesting cannabis. Cannabis crosses the blood brain barrier and the active ingredients bind to receptors in the temporal lobe of the brain. (as well as other areas like the brain stem). This is equivalent to putting null statements in your brain's computer code.. The temporal lobe is home to the self. It is where sensory and emotional experiences are processed. The temporal lobe is highly individualistic. It is literally structured on a person's previous sensory and emotional experiences and also influenced by hereditary factors. For some people, the disruption in sense of self causes traumatic levels of anxiety.

The real question is why DP resolves when the chemicals leave the system, while others continue to be symptomatic with DP following the experience.


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## Aerin (Nov 1, 2012)

Something that I have considered is that prolonged DP after marijuana (and maybe other hallucinogens - never tried any others though so that's out of my realm of personal experience) is related to an increased/greater than average level of neuroplasticity.

In some people maybe the brain just pretty much goes:

"Oh, we can just send the impulses this other route now! *network network network* " with the result that the person literally feels stuck high.


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## jake.krupa (Oct 5, 2013)

Great info and advice on this thread!

I personally smoked for 6 years (im now 21) and never really had an anxiety attack or any kind of uncomfortability. I mean i would absolutley try my HARDEST to smoke mass amounts just to see if I could "Trip" or see shit, but it never happened and I literally loved to smoked weed. I did it by myself, with friends, during sex, before bed, you name it.

3 weeks ago I ate a VERY VERY VERY strong and high potency pot brownie that me and my friend made. Im talking about a solid 2 grams of cannabutter itself inside this ONE brownie. I mean i was bound to trip my balls off or see something, and i honestly thought i was going to be okay when I ate it and had an optimistic mindset about how the trip would turn out.

Long sotry short, it felt like my heart was going to explode, and then BAM! Massive trigger to anxiety and panic and my mind was fucking racing haaaaaaaaaaaard. I mean i had thoughts inside of thoughts that derived from other sub-concious thoughts and yeah...i was balls deep in this trip and just tried to close my eyes and ride it out. I eventually got home and felt weird as hell so i went to bed.

2 weeks after I smoked 2 bowls of pure black hash. about .4 grams in a bong. I went outside afterwards and yawned. Now try to imagine this...when i yawned, it was a huge yawn, almost as if my brain was starved for oxygen it felt like. I closed my eyes during this yawn and BAM! I saw what seemed to be the back of my eye sockets connected to the cortex of my eye itself....WITH MY EYES CLOSED. try to imagine that. I instnatly went into panic mode and felt extremely sick and barely made it to the toilet without blacking out, i couldnt throw up or take a shit so i made it 9 feet to my bed and basically blacked out there.

The next morning, DP had set in fully overnight and i was scared shitless. And here I am 9 days later.

Almost all of the above comments and suggestions are %100 spot-on to why marijuana causes this living hell we go through. We are very deep thinkers and when anxiety or panic is mixed with our train of thoughts, we develop this DP.


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## Manof_theFuture (Dec 14, 2013)

eddy1886 said:


> When weed caused us to loose that sense of control it scared the living daylights out of us...


You sir have just explained an entire theory that has been swimming in my head for some time since my journey into DP...I was a deep thinker before weed and i remember having a certain amount of control over my deep thinking but after my "bad trip" I lost that control for a while and still sometimes get strong spells of this terrible feeling...I just hope it fades away eventually..did it fade for you? if so how long did it take for it to dissipate?


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## gygjghbj (Sep 26, 2013)

Marijuana worsened my DP for me. Whenever I used to smoke, I would slowly fall into a mind-numbing every day state. I don't know, I suppose it's different for a lot of people. I personally wouldn't smoke while being imprisoned in your own mind like this.


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## missjess (Jun 1, 2012)

amazongodess said:


> I think that people who get dp are more prone to thinking about the nature of the universe and where they fit into it. Therefore when you introduce a substance that expands your conciousness it makes these thoughts overwhelming and highly personal. When my boyfriend smokes pot he thinks about playing counterstrike not about world peace.


I disagree with this....I was not much of a thinker before I got dp I was extremely impulsive and all about having fun I was never interested in the nature of the universe and all that garbage.


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## chakrisdom (Nov 9, 2013)

My mind has always been very open and constantly all over the place. I used to smoke weed when i was younger around 14..15. I would feel a little strange but i continued on for about six months. Then one day i had a semi bad trip so i stopped. About a year or two later i started again and it made me feel that same feeling that i didn't like, so again i stopped. This year i decided to smoke again. i did almost every day for about two months and then it happened, the looped thoughts. I feel into a place where reality was disturbing/odd and i still cant seem to snap out of it. I've had anxiety longer than i even knew what weed was. I understand anxiety takes a toll in this hell.


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