Marijuana is currently the most widely consumed illegal drug, and that is partly because many people see it as a “soft drug,” not being aware of its negative effects and dangers to mental health.
In this article I am going to explain to you 3 effects of joints on personality that very few people know (because if they did, they would consider quitting smoking marijuana as soon as possible).
These are the main effects of joints on the way people behave.
1. Individualism and lack of empathy
Almost every day I am contacted by family members and partners of people with marijuana addiction problems, who smoke almost every day or even several times a day (and see it as normal).
They have told me hundreds of times how these people have changed over the years because of the joints. Mothers and wives no longer recognized their loved ones, who They had become much more individualistic and more disconnected from the emotions of others
When you smoke joints as a lifestyle, you become more withdrawn into yourself, too focused on your own thoughts and finding time to smoke the next joint. In the end, your life revolves around marijuana, and you neglect relationships with the people who love you.
Many of the people I’ve helped overcome their joint addiction have told me how they realized they had changed. They felt much more selfish, and there came a point where all they cared about was locking themselves in their room to smoke joints and isolate themselves from the world.
2. Anxiety and irritability, emotional instability
Smoking marijuana greatly imbalances the brain’s endocannabinoid system, which directly affects our mood. Many people abuse marijuana looking for quick relief from everyday stress and anxiety, without knowing that long-term consumption unbalances their nervous system and increases their basal anxiety.
That means that people who smoke more joints seeking to avoid stress end up being much more sensitive to stress and anxiety when they are not smoking.
Many people I worked with in therapy admitted that they had a problem with joints when they realized they were much more irritable around people. They had a greater tendency to “jump at the slightest”, get angry easily and lose control, in addition to having sudden mood swings for no apparent reason.
Fortunately, this is reversible in most cases When people manage to go without smoking joints for a few months, they usually return to normal, to how they were before. This is not only due to getting the marijuana out of your system and getting your nervous system back into balance. Giving up joints is also an opportunity to learn to deal with stress or irritability naturally, without getting carried away by automatic and impulsive thoughts.
3. Less ambition and desire to do things
When we talk about the negative effects of joints on personality, we cannot ignore the amotivational syndrome and symptoms of depression. Many people who smoke joints frequently lose ambition and motivation, they lose the desire to do things beyond the minimum. I have worked with many people who had dropped out of school or who had a very difficult time going to work because they just wanted to run out and smoke a joint.
Basically, marijuana had become their only joy in life, because it prevented them from enjoying everything else. More than one person admitted to me that they felt like they were “dead alive” during their worst time hooked on joints.
It makes sense, because cannabis is a nervous system depressant, which It makes people live much more sleepy, with less energy, and more disconnected from what surrounds them
Many of these people were lamenting themselves, missing the person they were in the past before they began to rely on marijuana to survive day to day.
How to quit joints and be you again
The good news is that most of the effects of joints on personality disappear after a while if the person stops taking joints. The nervous system and mind of the person They return to normal if the person works little by little to recover their life
To quit joints, the person will have to:
Many people have realized that they need to quit joints to get their lives back, but They do not dare to ask for professional help because they are ashamed or their pride has them trapped. The reality is that, if you have already tried to quit joints and have not succeeded, it is best to ask professionals for help to avoid repeating the same mistakes of the past and constantly relapsing, over and over again (which brings a lot of frustration and makes you many people give up and sink even deeper into addiction).
My name is Luis Miguel Real and I am a psychologist specializing in addictions. Over the years I have helped hundreds of people quit joints and enjoy their lives again without depending on any drugs. If you need help, contact me and we will get to work.
