Hi Guys,
I want to post a link of a very nice website which provides the whole picture of the addiction. (the disease model, post-acute withdrawel, recovery and relapse prevention skills i.e..). I benefited from this site alot in early days of my recovery. It gave me quite some perspective of what i was really going through.
The link is;
http://www.addictionsandrecovery.org/index.html
Reading people's experiences definitely something very useful. But reading the literature about the science of addiction is also very very useful. There are thousands of experts working on this area for many many years and may be over millions of people. I think, we should make benefit of the findings of this whole culture.
I will try to post some links and articles time to time and I hope some people will benefit from these.
All the best to everyone,
Marijuana Addiction Forum
Wednesday 15 December 2010
Addiction Recovery Advice
Here I attach a pdf of a book which is written by 4 experts of the area. They introduce the Cognitive Behavioural Thearapy approach for the addiction recovery. It's a little old dated (1993) but still has lots of very useful information. To my very basic knowledge, cognitive therapy suppose that our every behavioral/emotional act (like going for a smoke) is always based on an underlying thought process (we may or may not be aware of the process). And what it propose is "we should change/recode the underlying thought process to change the behavior". So, it gives the main effort to recode/change the underlying thoughts instead of trying to change the behavior.
Recoding the brain really seems to the path to the success in my opinion. There shouldn't be any holes in our brains which will lead us to relapse. Because addiction is something too powerful that it will take root even from the unconcious thoughts which we are not aware of. And i believe that reading is the only way to recode our brains. Reading the same materials again and again, until it settles completely in our neurons. (and never completely settles actually, so it should be a continuing process). Recovering from addiction is really something requiring a continous study on ourselves. Because the core of the addiction is our brain and restructuring it is the only way to success.
I don't want to be pessimistic, but i'm just really very dissappointed by the success rates for recovering addicts. So, we must be the "chosen ones" to achieve complete recovery. Which means putting an ordinary effort will never give us what we want. I now realize that, staying sober is the hardest part but building a new life over it is the real challenge. Otherwise, if nothing changes in our lives, the reasons that put us on the lap of addiction can do the same again.
But it's also very exiting to be able to create a new life. We will be free and we can give any direction that we want to our lives. And when the cognitive abilities and the brain chemistry recovers, the feeling of being alive is worth everything. The clarity of the mind, the connection of the feelings to real world, looking to the future with hope are things that i never imagined that i would have again. But here they are and i wish everyone to have these again.
And what i also realize is my view of life is better than my oldself(nonaddicted oldself). Back then, i used to be very obsessive and anxious about very simple things. But after living through the hell of the addiction, now i don't mind anything in life. Whatever i live, feel, can be positive or negative, but it does not matter because i can "feel" and "live" now. I can live in the moment after so many years because i have the freedom to live it.
I was just going to attach a file but it happened to be a long post Please be very hopeful about the weed-free life. We can do it and we must do it to have our lives back. But we should put all our effort to achieve this. Best wishes to everyone..
http://www.2shared.com/document/jQCmUDsB/Cognitive_Therapy_of_Substance.htm
If you are having problems with cannabis addiction you may want to visit the Marijuana Addiction Forum.
Recoding the brain really seems to the path to the success in my opinion. There shouldn't be any holes in our brains which will lead us to relapse. Because addiction is something too powerful that it will take root even from the unconcious thoughts which we are not aware of. And i believe that reading is the only way to recode our brains. Reading the same materials again and again, until it settles completely in our neurons. (and never completely settles actually, so it should be a continuing process). Recovering from addiction is really something requiring a continous study on ourselves. Because the core of the addiction is our brain and restructuring it is the only way to success.
I don't want to be pessimistic, but i'm just really very dissappointed by the success rates for recovering addicts. So, we must be the "chosen ones" to achieve complete recovery. Which means putting an ordinary effort will never give us what we want. I now realize that, staying sober is the hardest part but building a new life over it is the real challenge. Otherwise, if nothing changes in our lives, the reasons that put us on the lap of addiction can do the same again.
But it's also very exiting to be able to create a new life. We will be free and we can give any direction that we want to our lives. And when the cognitive abilities and the brain chemistry recovers, the feeling of being alive is worth everything. The clarity of the mind, the connection of the feelings to real world, looking to the future with hope are things that i never imagined that i would have again. But here they are and i wish everyone to have these again.
And what i also realize is my view of life is better than my oldself(nonaddicted oldself). Back then, i used to be very obsessive and anxious about very simple things. But after living through the hell of the addiction, now i don't mind anything in life. Whatever i live, feel, can be positive or negative, but it does not matter because i can "feel" and "live" now. I can live in the moment after so many years because i have the freedom to live it.
I was just going to attach a file but it happened to be a long post Please be very hopeful about the weed-free life. We can do it and we must do it to have our lives back. But we should put all our effort to achieve this. Best wishes to everyone..
http://www.2shared.com/document/jQCmUDsB/Cognitive_Therapy_of_Substance.htm
If you are having problems with cannabis addiction you may want to visit the Marijuana Addiction Forum.
Wednesday 24 November 2010
Marijuana Addiction - The Addicted Brain
I just wanted to post an excerpt from a recent post which is relevant to the nature of marijuana addiction.
“Dear Eric,
Addiction itself is something in your head. Your brain gets addicted; not your body. "physical addiction and psyhological addiction" definitions are old dated now. Addiction is a neurological disorder which arises after prolonged substance use. Each substance has its own addictive properties of course, and it's true that weed may not be addictive for most of the people. But it's also hell out of a true that it can be very addictive for some people. Hence, each individual's brain respond to drugs differently. If you are addicted and when you stop using the drug, you may have physical and psychological withdrawel symptoms and people have a tendency to think that "harder physical symptoms mean that the addiction is worse". It's not true at all in my opinion. With the advanced medications, physical withdrawel symptoms of even heroin can be alleviated. It's the underlying neurological disorder which needs to me examined very carefully with its psychological, behavioral and social aspects.
You can find the criterias to diagnose a person for the disorder called "compulsive drug seek and use" in the below link.
http://www.addictionsandrecovery.org...-addiction.htm
I write these because the first thing you should do is to have a better understanding of your problem. And if you hang around this forum for a while, you will see that "stomach problems, lack of eating and burping" are not the worst things that you may experience as a consuqence of weed dependency. You are at 18 now, and you are at the beginnig of creating a life for yourself. If weed gets to you, it can also get your life. Weed is the most sneaky drug which at first seems to come with no harm, but years later you see that you did nothing in the world but smoked weed.
I'm sorry if i wrote too harshly but imagining you as a 28 years old man who wasted all his potential and life by weed is far more too harsh. You're 18 now, and there are infinite possibilites in the world that you could do for yourself. If you think that weed has become a problem for you, please take all the precautions now, because problem is only getting bigger and bigger by the time.
In my opinion, the most important part of the quitting lies in the understanding of the seriousness of the problem. If you do that, i'm sure at the end you will succeed.
Regards,”
You can read the full thread here
Young daily smoker trying to quit marijuana Forum.
Marijuana Addiction Forum.
“Dear Eric,
Addiction itself is something in your head. Your brain gets addicted; not your body. "physical addiction and psyhological addiction" definitions are old dated now. Addiction is a neurological disorder which arises after prolonged substance use. Each substance has its own addictive properties of course, and it's true that weed may not be addictive for most of the people. But it's also hell out of a true that it can be very addictive for some people. Hence, each individual's brain respond to drugs differently. If you are addicted and when you stop using the drug, you may have physical and psychological withdrawel symptoms and people have a tendency to think that "harder physical symptoms mean that the addiction is worse". It's not true at all in my opinion. With the advanced medications, physical withdrawel symptoms of even heroin can be alleviated. It's the underlying neurological disorder which needs to me examined very carefully with its psychological, behavioral and social aspects.
You can find the criterias to diagnose a person for the disorder called "compulsive drug seek and use" in the below link.
http://www.addictionsandrecovery.org...-addiction.htm
I write these because the first thing you should do is to have a better understanding of your problem. And if you hang around this forum for a while, you will see that "stomach problems, lack of eating and burping" are not the worst things that you may experience as a consuqence of weed dependency. You are at 18 now, and you are at the beginnig of creating a life for yourself. If weed gets to you, it can also get your life. Weed is the most sneaky drug which at first seems to come with no harm, but years later you see that you did nothing in the world but smoked weed.
I'm sorry if i wrote too harshly but imagining you as a 28 years old man who wasted all his potential and life by weed is far more too harsh. You're 18 now, and there are infinite possibilites in the world that you could do for yourself. If you think that weed has become a problem for you, please take all the precautions now, because problem is only getting bigger and bigger by the time.
In my opinion, the most important part of the quitting lies in the understanding of the seriousness of the problem. If you do that, i'm sure at the end you will succeed.
Regards,”
You can read the full thread here
Young daily smoker trying to quit marijuana Forum.
Marijuana Addiction Forum.
Saturday 20 November 2010
Marijuana addiction test
Marijuana addiction test
The following 7 questions are based and established upon the American Psychological Association’s clinical diagnosis test of marijuana addiction, and if you truthfully answer Yes to 3 or more of the following questions regarding your behaviour for over the last year, then indeed according to them, you’re addicted to marijuana.
1. Have you tried in the past to at least cut down on your smoking or totally quit, but failed?
2. Could you use more and more of this drug than you used to be able to? Do you need more to get high or just to feel or experience similar effects?
3. Have you ceased doing things which you used to enjoy just because of your smoking habit?
4. Have you ever spent a lot of your time on getting high, working to acquire cash to get high or merely thinking about getting high?
5. Have you ever smoked more than you had planned on smoking? For instance, do you ever have a joint, a few hours or minutes before work, and rather than stopping at one, find yourself very high a few hours later as you begin your work?
6. Do you still continue to use even after you begin to feel and experience unfavourable and detrimental social and health effects? You still continue to use at the similar level or extent even as you notice or observe, that the drug is already affecting your capacity to think and focus, or is having a negative effect on your school grades or work performance.
7. Did you ever begin to feel anxious or apprehensive if you cannot get any of this drug? And have you ever taken another drug instead when there’s no marijuana around?
So, what’s your real score? This is just one way of diagnosing if your cannabis use has become a problem, there are numerous others reasons for why it may have become a problem, including the fact because you feel it has. But never the less seven questions anybody who uses marijuana should ask themselves.
I run a forum that offers advice and support to those who are trying to quit marijuana. To speak to others who are there, or have been there visit the Cannabis Addiction Forum.
The following 7 questions are based and established upon the American Psychological Association’s clinical diagnosis test of marijuana addiction, and if you truthfully answer Yes to 3 or more of the following questions regarding your behaviour for over the last year, then indeed according to them, you’re addicted to marijuana.
1. Have you tried in the past to at least cut down on your smoking or totally quit, but failed?
2. Could you use more and more of this drug than you used to be able to? Do you need more to get high or just to feel or experience similar effects?
3. Have you ceased doing things which you used to enjoy just because of your smoking habit?
4. Have you ever spent a lot of your time on getting high, working to acquire cash to get high or merely thinking about getting high?
5. Have you ever smoked more than you had planned on smoking? For instance, do you ever have a joint, a few hours or minutes before work, and rather than stopping at one, find yourself very high a few hours later as you begin your work?
6. Do you still continue to use even after you begin to feel and experience unfavourable and detrimental social and health effects? You still continue to use at the similar level or extent even as you notice or observe, that the drug is already affecting your capacity to think and focus, or is having a negative effect on your school grades or work performance.
7. Did you ever begin to feel anxious or apprehensive if you cannot get any of this drug? And have you ever taken another drug instead when there’s no marijuana around?
So, what’s your real score? This is just one way of diagnosing if your cannabis use has become a problem, there are numerous others reasons for why it may have become a problem, including the fact because you feel it has. But never the less seven questions anybody who uses marijuana should ask themselves.
I run a forum that offers advice and support to those who are trying to quit marijuana. To speak to others who are there, or have been there visit the Cannabis Addiction Forum.
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