G'day

[Matt77]

Hi everyone,
My name is Matt and I have suffered from anxiety for about 15 years. My anxiety is primarily health oriented and I have spent most of the last 15 years continually worrying about dying. I also suffer from social anxiety and for many years I have tended to avoid public places, preferring a solitary existence. Over the years I have learnt to deal with my anxiety, but I still go through stages where I am consumed with fear. As you can imagine my preoccupation with death has had a significant impact on my family and my relationship with my wife. Sometimes I feel like my life is a constant struggle, and it feels like I am a soldier on the front line, constantly worrying about what will happen next.

At the moment I am in the final year of my psychology degree and I am doing a thesis investigating the relationship between cannabis use and anxiety. My interest in this topic stems from my own experience where I found that cannabis actually exacerbated my symptoms. However, after doing a lot of research I have actually found that many people use cannabis to self medicate their symptoms of anxiety.

At the moment scientists are still unsure about the effects of cannabis, however it is believed that there may be some people who may be more vulnerable to cannabis induced anxiety. I am currently looking for participants to complete an online survey. The survey is completely anonymous, and takes about 15-20 minutes to complete. It does not matter whether you have tried cannabis before.

If my research can save just one person from experiencing a life of anxiety, then maybe my own struggle with anxiety will not be in vain.

If you are interested you can access the online survey from this link: Survey | Qualtrics Survey Software

Thanks for your time.
Matt

 

[Nack]

I am truly sorry for your suffer, I can sympathize and even empathize. But one thing I have to disagree upon is that one cannot live a life without anxiety, its just not realistic...

 

[stephen]

Hi Matt. Maybe you should rename this thread "Marijuana Survey"?

I took a look at your survey but couldn't really complete it. My problem was with making definitive statements about the effects of cannabis when in fact effects vary hugely between different users and even with the same user depending on their level of use or abuse. Marijuana usage may be relaxing for some but in others it will induce something akin to panic. Also someone for whom smoking has become habitual may not enjoy the effects that they felt in their initial casual usage.

 

[Matt77]

Hi Nack,
You're right, living a life free of anxiety for people that are genetically predisposed to anxiety disorders is probably unrealistic, but I would suggest that even genetically prediposed individuals require some type of enviornmental trigger/s that sets off their anxiety. Depending on the severity of the trigger this can have a profound effect on how the disorder manifests itself and how enduring the symptoms are. If we can identify those users who are more likely to experience symptoms of anxiety through cannabis use we may be able to reduce their chances of experiencing chronic anxiety. In my own experience I continued smoking cannabis for many years even though I knew it was exacerbating my condition. Perhaps if I knew the potential risks associated with cannabis use when I first started smoking I may have avoided using. I hope this helps to clarify my point.
cheers,
Matt

 

[Matt77]

Hi Stephen,
thank you for your comments. Let me try and respond to your points.
"My problem was with making definitive statements about the effects of cannabis when in fact effects vary hugely between different users and even with the same user depending on their level of use or abuse"
In most cases the questions in my survey don't require definitive responses ie. the questions ask how often you experience certain effects (ranging from always to never) this allows for you to illustrate that you don't always experience the same effects, or use for the same reason (or whatever question I asked). You see when I analyse the results each response is awarded a score and then an average score will be detrmined for each question (bare in mind that some of those questions were composed of subsets of questions).

"Marijuana usage may be relaxing for some but in others it will induce something akin to panic."
Yes this is why I am doing the survey and why there are quite a few questions devoted to this point.

"Also someone for whom smoking has become habitual may not enjoy the effects that they felt in their initial casual usage"
Yes this is true and this why I have asked many questions about your motivation for use and the effects that you experience. It is the frequency with which you experience these effects that ultimately becomes the most important factor - not whether you have experienced them. I would urge you to consider retaking the survey if you have the time. You may find that many of the criticisms you have will be cleared up simply by completing the whole survey.
cheers,
Matt