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Comment by kempbellt | Hacker News Reader

For this reason, I am very selective about using THC. Unless I've also had some alcohol, it'll typically induce anxiety for me. Kudos to those who can enjoy it though.

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I had the same experience during my high school and college years. THC consumption (with alcohol or without) consistently induced anxiety (sometimes so much as to induce mini panic-attacks).

Fast-forward five or so years, and I gave it another shot out of curiosity. Interestingly enough, my experience was starkly different. I guess you could say I experienced the traditional side-effects that I had missed my first time around. What's most notable is the subtle after-glow I would feel days after using THC.

I have since been using THC while practicing mindfulness and the benefits have been enumerable! It's quite interesting what role age, set, setting, etc. can have during these experiences.

Kinda sounds to me you used sativa at first, then switched to indica and that's pretty much exactly how that usually works. They have significantly different "highs" and sativa can feel antsy and uncomfortable for already anxious people.

Not necessarily: I always had anxiety issues with cannabis until I tried a pure sativa strain. The problem is that indica gives we weird bodily sensations which trigger my anxiety, whereas sativa only affects my mind.

I think the important thing is that people can experiment in a controlled way. It wasn't until cannabis became legal that I could compare strains and figure out what exactly was causing my anxiety.

An alternative explanation is "No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man."

Certainly holds true for me: the experience, it turns out, depends more on where I am in that stage of life than the substance in question. Cannabis is radically different for me now (at 30-something and after several intense psychedelic experiences) than at 19 or 20 when I first tried it.

And...I'm not assuming you're a man :)

If you're enjoying it with mindfulness it might also be good with cardio. A tiny bit before 45 minutes on a bike along with some music really makes the time fly.

I do this myself. Cycling is much more enjoyable this way. Even better with edibles and a long distance ride.

Very much so! The combination with an endorphin rush is pretty nice afterwards too.

Anecdotally, I find it fascinating that many people find cannabis induces anxiety, while many others use cannabis as a treatment or coping mechanism for anxiety. I'm sure the strain, strength, and exact blend of cannabinoids are relevant factors (and perhaps a bit of placebo/psychosoma based on past experiences), but I suspect if one controlled for all those variables, we'd still see wildly different effects w/r/t anxiety, based on individual brain differences alone.

There are definitely a lot of variables to consider. Method of consumption - I prefer not to smoke things, so I would use edibles.

Strain, strength, psychosoma, as you mention. Psychosoma can be affected by location, time of day (light out or dark out), the company you are in, legality, or potential work-related ramifications, etc.

I _do not recommend_ this at all, but if you want to have an anxious episode, consuming a 10MG THC edible on an empty stomach, while alone, will likely do it. You may find yourself repeatedly Googling "Am I going to die?!", and then forgetting the answer 10 seconds later, for about 90 minutes.

That said, there have been times where I've enjoyed it. Being in a familiar environment, with people I trust, having eaten food, and maybe a drink or two, tends to nullify the anxiety and allow for a relaxing experience. I find similar benefits from meditation though, so I have little reason to use THC these days.

i find it hard to believe that 10mg would do that to me, but that's mostly because I've taken a ~50mg edible (about 1/3 of a 150mg brownie) on an empty stomach and didn't particularly feel super anxious. i certainly was effected, but all in all i ended up finishing that whole brownie and just felt really nice. but i had a fairly strong tolerance at the time and i am a fairly overweight person with a slow metabolism so those things probably contributed. ill have to try again at some point in the future when I'm in better shape and have little-to-no tolerance because that genuinely sounds like a fun time to me.

kinda weird but i find experiencing anxiogenic effects and then calming my mind and letting them go to be an extremely enjoyable experience with mind altering substances. huge part of why i used to abuse diphenhydramine regularly, other than seeing my friends the shadow people!

I consistently have a similar response to the parent. I used to consume a lot in college, but since slowed down to very infrequent usage, primarily because I found I started having anxiety when using it. It started with a vague sort of "is that the cops" kind of thing, but quickly evolved into panic about my health, and overpowering existential dread.

I can still enjoy a very small dose, preferably in the company of others, like at a party or something.

You might find the website leafly.com interesting. I found it while developing a website for a company. They list different types of cannabis & their effects based on what it contains.

I always had the feeling it would raise my heart rate, which usually leads to anxiety for me.

But I have a really low heart rate. It's around 30 when I wake up in the morning and usually 50-60 during the day. So I guess pretty much everything could raise my heart rate, haha.

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