Cannabis Induced Apathy (While Sober)

[invertedisdead]

Do you feel buzzed all the time, or do you just feel "normal" since you do it all day?

I feel both, really.

Somehow my tolerance keeps getting lower and lower which I can't explain, so my "normal" has been able to maintain an altered perspective despite how frequently I medicate.

 

[Ricardo]

Interesting question. It's not so much apathy while sober, it's knowing that (almost) every experience is better high. Even boring shit like cleaning the house can be an adventure, cooking is more creative and sensual, so when I'm doing this kind of thing straight, I am less engaged than if I'm buzzed but I wouldn't go so far as to call it apathy.
However, I do find myself postponing certain activities until after vaping - listening to music, watching certain (mindfuck) movies or TV shows. I've also got into meditating while stoned - I realise that this offends Zen purists but it can be awesome. Mindfulness is a good practice in everyday life but the levels of blissfulness and insight while high are incomparable (although I probably won't remember much when I come down )
Also, for example, I've been at concerts straight and wished I was buzzed and sometimes the memory of being high kicks in and elevates the mood but clearly not to the same degree.
Long story short, I can't be high or even buzzed most of the time and don't feel apathy as such - just love when the day's work is done and I get to vape some lovely weed.

 

[C No Ego]

When talking about a Cannabis Induced Apathy, I was mainly referring to a long-term effect that persists while you are sober. I think if you are just made super relaxed and maybe even couch-locked while buzzed, is a different story.

I'm more interested in the persisting phisiological changes caused by frequent Cannabis usage, that may or may not actually dull your body's reward system reaction to normally pleasurable things, rather than the tired feeling that causes you to consciously choose to not want to do something while buzzed or for a while afterwards. Personally, I don't like the idea of my sober life choices being affected by my buzzed life (haha), so I've decided to start doing a bit more research, and surveying of users.


Whatabout when you aren't stoned? While under the influence of Cannabis, relaxing and enjoying things is easy. It's a matter of it having a long-term negative effect on your brain's reward system when you are sober.

I find this extremely hard to believe. If the guy had no LSD tolerance, I highly doubt he didn't get blasted into space from taking so much LSD. The guy has no idea what was going on in the guru's mind while he was sitting there motionless meditating.


I wouldn't consider knowing what both the positive and negative effects of anything we do, useless. It's better to know the truth and then decide what to do with it, than to life in a comfortable delusion until it's too late.


Oh, alright. Yea, I would consider vaporizing an ounce a week to be pretty extreme. A gram in a day divided in 2-3 sessions is pretty much the max I would even enjoy. More than 3 times in one day, and the effect of diminishing returns makes me rather just be sober for those remaining few hours.


Do you notice anything different about your enthusiasm for non-Cannabis things, while you're sober?

As for Cannabis vs alcohol... if everyone in the group is getting stoned, I much prefer Cannabis, but I don't really enjoy being the only one buzzing on Cannabis when everyone else is sober or buzzing on alcohol. In that case, I'd prefer to remain sober or drink a bit.



I do agree that such apathy can be found with a lot of addictions. It may or may not be caused by the same physiological processes, though, so I think it's worth researching.

It may be easy to counter the laziness by getting up and doing stuff, but for those who feel uninterested in a lot of things, perhaps cutting back on the Cannabis could help make doing those things more enjoyable, as opposed to just getting them done so you don't feel lazy.

yeah- the guru told Ram Dass he felt nothing and unchanged, unmoved etc........ if you are interested I suggest you read the entire story from the man himself - Ram Dass- he wrote a book about his life with Timothy Leary etc...

 

[EverythingsHazy]

yeah- the guru told Ram Dass he felt nothing and unchanged, unmoved etc........ if you are interested I suggest you read the entire story from the man himself - Ram Dass- he wrote a book about his life with Timothy Leary etc...

I gotta check that out. The mind is truly amazing.

 

[WeAreVenom]

I don't have Cannabis induced apathy.

I just hate everything and everybody when I am sober. Shit...maybe I do.

 

[biohacker]

I don't have Cannabis induced apathy.

I just hate everything and everybody when I am sober. Shit...maybe I do.

My new favourite post of the year! Thanks for making my sober apathy tolerable this morning!

 

[EverythingsHazy]

I'm really surprised at how many people consciously experience this apathy. That's a big negativeness side effect that everyone has been sweeping under the rug, if you ask me.

 

[Farid]

A lot of people use cannabis because they like the apathy they get. If you are an overly emotional person, and cannabis makes you a bit more apathetic, it could help you function. If you are dealing with grief after the death of a loved one, and cannabis helps you be more apathetic about the situation, and be able to hold yourself together, then power to you.

Cannabis helps me be more apathetic/joke around about my epilepsy. Instead of feeling strong emotions about it, I can joke about it. And with a condition like epilepsy, anxiety about seizures can make you more likely to have seizures. So cannabis just helps me be apathetic about the whole thing.

 

[Squiby]

I don't experience this. I am generally a happy engaged person and my cannabis consumption only gives me the extra energy to get things done and makes me even happier.

I don't over indulge. My vaping is limited to sativa microdoses, around 0.015-0.02 grams per session, every 2-3 hours throughout the day. I am retired and can do this regularly. However, sometimes I have commitments that require me to be straight. When this is the case, I am still happy and engaged and I don't feel like I experience any apathy at all.

Dose and strain may make the difference.

 

[C No Ego]

I don't experience this. I am generally a happy engaged person and my cannabis consumption only gives me the extra energy to get things done and makes me even happier.

I don't over indulge. My vaping is limited to sativa microdoses, around 0.015-0.02 grams per session, every 2-3 hours throughout the day. I am retired and can do this regularly. However, sometimes I have commitments that require me to be straight. When this is the case, I am still happy and engaged and I don't feel like I experience any apathy at all.

Dose and strain may make the difference.

I tend to be the same way and set a baseline from living and avoid things that take me off base... my baseline is happiness and tends to lead to best results LoL.... just talking personally to a loved one recently he said he could not touch something and not get completely addicted to it, in the closet for days type stuff.. I told him I love my self and who I am and do not want to avoid it , hide etc and seek things that enhance and not hinder.. some people are different in outlook that matters for their experiences. change How you see and what you see changes...

 

[Diggy Smalls]

I have experienced this, and as @HighSeasSailor said, I've also experienced it with other things. World of Warcraft years ago.
I think it's a symptom of addiction.

 

[Little Bill]

I just changed my vote from "I am currently unsure about this issue" to "I believe it exists, and I experience it". Been thinking of changing for weeks, but just got up the energy to do it.

I'm kind of glad I didn't start using weed until I had already retired. I am still doing the activities I really enjoy, sometimes even while high. I have stopped other activities that were marginal anyway. I never get high if I have any driving to do.

 

[hinglemccringleberry]

Substance addiction affects the reward centers in the brain, but there are so many variables to consider on this topic that all we can do is speak for ourselves and speculate about everyone else, since everyone's body composition and circumstances vary. For instance, I used to fall prey to pot induced apathy earlier in life but I don't nowadays, now that I've done it long enough to clearly define what overdoing it is for me - I no longer let myself go to that place, because I don't like what it feels like. So now I recognize the benefits associated with abstaining and I also recognize the benefits of partaking, and my usage is carefully planned around the balancing of these benefits, so I've effectively created a "win-win" situation for myself.
FWIW some antidepressants are also reported to create apathy, inducing the side-effect and numbing the positive feelings in order to solve the problem of depression in an individual.

 

[biohacker]

Helluva post @mccringleberry ! Immagunna tattoo that one into ma brain! Seriously, i'm there now... realizing that fine line of overdoing it, and making the proper changes in order to get rid of this apathy!

 

[1DMF]

I have plenty of shit that never gets done because I have a vape and then can't be arsed.

However...

Am I lazy - no!
Am I stoned all day, every day - no!

So if I really wanted to get that shit done, it probably would be already. So I think the apathy is sometimes welcomed with open arms!

 

[ichibaneye]

...been using Cannabis daily since...1968-69..it's never diminished nor enhanced my apathy...I can do a study linking apathy to tab cola...big deal....let's negate human experience...for another useless study!

Well said, I think most adults lack accountability and like riding the excuse train. No one owns up to their shit almost anymore. It's like the DSM round table where b.s. artists in white coats come up with more disorders to keep their patents for poison alive and business booming. It's within a person regardless of herb or concentrates.

 

[EverythingsHazy]

Well said, I think most adults lack accountability and like riding the excuse train. No one owns up to their shit almost anymore. It's like the DSM round table where b.s. artists in white coats come up with more disorders to keep their patents for poison alive and business booming. It's within a person regardless of herb or concentrates.

I do believe people look for excuses, but the brain controls a lot of things, so I don't doubt for a second, that various chemicals (including those in Cannabis) have the potential to cause or influence changes in mood, behavior, thinking patterns, emotion, etc..

 

[biohacker]

It's like the DSM round table where b.s. artists in white coats come up with more disorders to keep their patents for poison alive and business booming. It's within a person regardless of herb or concentrates.

That "poison" keeps some people alive, and many would disagree with you about "coming up with more disorders". @herbivore what do you think about the DSM and cannabis induced apathy?

I think the votes here speak for themselves, but just in case anyone wants to educate themselves further and not just look at their own personal experience:

https://www.google.ca/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=cannabis+apathy

I do believe people look for excuses, but the brain controls a lot of things, so I don't doubt for a second, that various chemicals (including those in Cannabis) have the potential to cause or influence changes in mood, behavior, thinking patterns, emotion, etc..

Yep, DOPAMINE is the big one here. Long term users are said to produce less.