Heavily addicted to cannabis and too much anxiety to leave house

Stingerbar

My close relative is 30ish years old and heavily addicted to cannabis and has developed (nurtured almost) an extreme social anxiety and fear.

Was the popular kid in school, very intelligent, much loved by anyone , started smoking cannabis around 15 years old.

Now just lives in the basement, internet all day, cannot go outside, heavily addicted to weed.

The psychologists and psychiatrists we've talked to refuse to touch him with barge-pole because their only solution seems to be strong medication - which he utterly refuses to take as he is very paranoid about them and reads up on the subject constantly, he is very learned on the whole thing so is hard to debate it with him.

He is a very decent guy, but has become very consumed with paranoia, anger, frustration, having to rely on his family, shame, etc, etc. Was a very hardworking, charming guy with a lot of dignity - so all that adds to the problem

Solutions tried so far
-Helping him live with girlfriend (stupid stoner crusty) abroad, but thats when most of the damage happened, stopped leaving house, etc

- Subsequently taking him to warm foreign country with family, he went out made a good effort, he KNOWS what is wrong with him but its such a fight. His stoner girlfriend couldn't deal with that and emotionally ****ed with him while he was there and he ended up going back

- Getting him to move in with family member, progress for awhile, but now getting worse and worse, mentions suicide a fair bit, sits on internet all day, smokes hideous amount of weed

He has utter contempt for companies, pharmeceuticals, doctors, psychologists, society, etc, etc - says everyone is just in it for the money - problem is he is partially right and he has to be constantly convinced

Hard to cram everything in without writing a book on the subject - but any ex-cannabis social anxiety recoverers? anyone with realistic solution?

thanks

kmick

Happened to a friend of mine. He had to go see a doctor and take strong meds for 2 years. Unfortunately if the guy does not want to help himself its going to be a lot more difficult. I bet he is able to leave the house to get his precious dope though? How does he finance all this?

28064212

kmick wrote: »

Happened to a friend of mine. He had to go see a doctor and take strong meds for 2 years. Unfortunately if the guy does not want to help himself its going to be a lot more difficult. I bet he is able to leave the house to get his precious dope though? How does he finance all this?

+1. No-one can have that kind of lifestyle without someone propping them up

LegacyUser

I've posted on these boards before helping people who have my condition. While I don't think your relative has schizophrenia he certainly needs to see an intelligent professional. That level of paranoia is not natural and not everyone addicted to weed suffers from it. Believe me, the sooner he is off the stuff the better as his long term mental health will deteriorate and if he does have (A great giant big IF, don't be that concerned) schizophrenic tendancies then it will manifest itself with consistent cannibas usage. This has to be dealed with before it becomes a major problem. Some people can smoke cannibas and be perfectly fine, but others are on a long road to self destruction.

Stingerbar

28064212 wrote: »

+1. No-one can have that kind of lifestyle without someone propping them up

The girlfriend gets the doob, he never ever leaves the house

If doob and finance are cut he would get very suicidal

terrible terrible situation

thanks for the replies

Overheal

Hell, I despair about humanity sometimes too, much in the same areas he is concerned about.

But at some point you need to decide what you're going to do about it. Does he want to be locked up in the basement all his life and just watch through a computer screen while the world burns (as he sees it) or does he want to clean himself up and make a difference somewhere?

LegacyUser

Stingerbar wrote: »

He has utter contempt for companies, pharmeceuticals, doctors, psychologists, society, etc, etc - says everyone is just in it for the money -

and what are the people who sell the cannabis in it for? Paranoia/anxiety is caused by heavy weed use and he probably will need heavy meds for a while. Heavy meds are no joy but at least you knowwhat is in them, unlike street drugs

Stu

He needs to see a doctor about getting prescribed some anti-anxiety medication. Once he is taking the meds, he will feel more in control of his anxiety and might be able to ween himself off the cannabis.

This is a very serious situation and you can't pussyfoot around it. If he doesn't get off the weed, he is fooked, plain and simple. I've seen it happen with some of my own mates over the years where they became so psychologically addicted to cannabis and they become very paranoid, delusional and withdrawn.

Some people think that cannabis isn't dangerous but if a person has any underlying emotional or psychological problems, cannabis will heighten these issues and often times bring about further deterioration of the persons mental health. Cannabis is an insidious drug that often times turns happy, outgoing people into paranoid nervous wrecks if taken regularly. I've seen so many people messed up in the head from taking this so called harmless drug.

OP, I hope your relative goes to see a doctor otherwise he has a very bleak future ahead of him. You need to drag him kicking and screaming to a doctor if thats what it takes, good luck.

Darlughda

No, you cannot drag someone 'kicking and screaming' for help they do not want. Interventions rarely work. Especially, in a case of paranoia combusted by consisted smoking. It could be horrendous.

Unfortunately, most of the weed obtained today is artificially grown 'skunk' that does accelerate any potential for this kind of paranoia and deliberate solitude.

The best you can do, is to say to him that you understand he needs the drug right now, but you will be there for him if or when he really wants to give up, and explain you can no longer be part of his life (essential to follow through with this), until he is ready to really want to give up.

Smoking spliff can be a lot harder to break as a continous habit or lifestyle choice than alcohol. So, it might be useful for you to research harm reduction online, maybe print out a few things and leave them with him.

Harm reduction in the case of cannabis abuse can be enormously beneficial to slowly changing the stubborn mind set that is reinforced by the smoking.