SA or just shear paranoia

[jimbo07]

Orite here goes. For the past 2 years this is what has been troubling me SA or paranoia. heres how it started. i first found out ma bro has SA 2 years ago, and then i started having thoughts like maybe i have got it, then i read ur posts on here and they some are like what happens 2 me like for example i don't like approaching a group of epople when by myself. but hen other things are like total opposite. i am very popular in my school i have no trouble speaking out in class, in fact i have been told i talk the most and don't shut up. i smoke cannabis and have done for 2 years now aswell which is why i also think it may be paranoia. i just want ur opinions i will give reasons as 2 y i think i have it then reasons as to why i dont think i have it then can u tell me what u think if i have it or not.
Why i have it
dont like approaching groups
used to sttuter half year ago be very less frequent now
sometimes find hard to buil convorsation
occasionally anxious but not as much as the posts that i see here
used ot get a bit sweaty but hardly anymore
dont go out as much as your average joe but still do go out
moved around hte whole of engalnd 4 times and have harldy had a deep freindship until i moved to this place

why i dont have it
most talkative person in class
very popular at school
has number of freinds in and out school
interviews are easy for me and i find eye contact easy
I have motivation to go out and i would rather be out then in
i feel cannabis is putting hte S.A thoughts in my head especially as i hang round with ma bro everywhere and i see his affects then any slightest things that happens to ma bro happens to me and i think i have S.A
Neva blush and neva have done in ma experience

Although am only youung i have had these thoughts for ages and just wnat an end to them. its like a fucking spiral man. i found this site and maybe this has also made me think that i have it from seeing a few posts. but then i thik to myself again and i think that the average joe must get nervous and sweaty someitmes and i know a number of people that dont like to approach big groups. i even no some people who dont like to ask store people for help it dont mean they have S.A. so i would just like your opinions. do i or dont i????

 

[Tryin]

Agrees with Worrydoll.

 

[jimbo07]

yup thats what my mind thinks but every now and a gian something small happens like i may stutter whihc makes me think again. i ma off to uni in a year and i am again paranoid that i may not make freinds and have boring uni life. but i always think about thngs like that but they neva happen, like will i have the guts to get on the fance floor and i alwasys do have the guts. i think i need a brain surgeon more htne anything,

 

[JamesMorgan]

Yo Jimbo

I was really confident, i used to act on the stage in front of hundreds of people, loved it. I left school, went to college, started smokin, smoked lots and then some. Really enjoyed it bar the odd bit of paranoia.

Then things started to go downhill, started to disconnect, couldn't relate to people anymore unless i was stoned, like i needed it to be social. Time went on got depressed, started to feel major anxiety and panic attacks. Time became a trippy thing, couldn't remember what i had been doing or what i was meant to be doing. Mental illness followed, psychosis, hallucinations, all the nasty stuff. It started exactly how you are describing it. Popular etc then things seemed to change my life seemed to slip out of focus. Cannabis is an absolute mind killer if abused. If you want SA or want to be social phobic, carry on, trust me you don't wanna do that.

What happened? it took several years of hard work to be well again. Cannabis so distorts our view of reality that our mind can take such a long time to heal from it. The escapism from states of mind like anxiety to feel comfortable with other people by having a smoke is ironic, like licking honey of a razors edge. It causes such anxiety. Yeah, if used occasionally its a laugh just watch what you are doing though.

I too do not believe you have SA/SP but if you start feeling like this more frequently be aware.

James

 

[jimbo07]

james

thats just the thing though mate. i prefer to socialise without cannabis. i find it much easier. cannabis itself makes me more nervous and anxious i would say. and i am not a big time smoker i limit it on just for the weekends and have the odd pull onda weekdays. i dont get it fucking confusing. but what i dont get with what ur saying is that there are millions of skunk smokers and how come me smoking it will lead to SA. Do u not think that cannabis is just making me paranoid and making me think that i have it. because like i sd the minute i found out ma bro has it was the minute i started doubting myself and thats the same time i started smoking. what u think mate???

 

[JamesMorgan]

Do u not think that cannabis is just making me paranoid and making me think that i have it. because like i sd the minute i found out ma bro has it was the minute i started doubting myself and thats the same time i started smoking. what u think mate???

Abusing cannabis will definitely lead to some sort of mental illness eventually. There are millions of skunk smokers whose minds are out of control, it's entirely possible that they will develop SA. SA is a distortion of how we see our world, ourself and others created by our mind. Anxiety is only experienced in our mind. Cannabis also spouts chemicals around our nervous system which is closely related to our mind. When we become unbalanced by such chemicals, our mind reacts differently to all things. The way we perceive things is different, altering our view of other people, ourself etc distorting beliefs and so forth.

If you limit yourself to only weekends, then you probably wont develop SA but, as you notice, you will have to deal with paranoia. And this paranoia will change your beliefs oh so magically over the weekends. Is it making you believe you have SA? Of course!

That's also how SA develops for most people. They believe they have SA so this is all they see. Ironically, this magnifies the anxiety making it more powerful. What starts out as minor anxiety or one panic attack snow balls into a full diagnosis to them as SA. They relate the anxiety so strongly to who they are that it's like they become SA itself, permeating their entire world, nasty.

James