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Marijuana is a mix of dried shredded leaves, seeds, stems, and flowers from the hemp, or cannabis plant. It is typically green, grey, or brown in color and is normally smoked, mixed in food, or brewed into a tea.
Many people believe that marijuana is a benign drug that is not addictive. However, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, marijuana is very addictive and marijuana addiction withdrawal symptoms can range from mild irritants such as a decrease in appetite, to more severe problems such as aggression and anxiety.
Rehab Program or Stay at Home
Irritability and depression are common marijuana withdrawal symptoms.
While there are rehabilitation programs for drug offenders who want to overcome a marijuana addiction, many people choose to stay at home and deal with their addiction on their own, or with the help of family, friends, and support groups. The first step towards overcoming a marijuana addiction is to detox and remove all the toxic substances from the body. In many cases, this is the where a recovering addict will first experience marijuana addiction withdrawal symptoms. Although, some individuals are lucky enough that they do not experience any marijuana addiction withdrawal symptoms at all. In fact, it has been proven that this is one of the very few drugs that does not have a specific set severe marijuana withdrawal symptoms.
Types of Withdrawal Symptoms
However, for individuals who do suffer from marijuana addiction withdrawal symptoms, it can feel very uncomfortable. Some of the more common marijuana addiction withdrawal symptoms include increased anger, irritability, depression, restlessness, headaches, loss of appetite, insomnia and severe cravings for marijuana. Luckily, these symptoms are not life threatening, merely an annoyance. However, that does not make them any less serious for the recovering addict. For a habitual user, marijuana withdrawal symptoms will usually begin within the first eight to 12 hours that they are not using the drug. In most cases, the symptoms are most noticeable for the first ten days, and in severe cases, marijuana addiction withdrawal symptoms can last up to about 45 days.
Tools to Help Overcome Marijuana Addiction Withdrawal Symptoms
Regardless of whether an addict chooses to go through a rehab program or fight the addiction at home, there are many tools that can help reduce or overcome marijuana addiction withdrawal symptoms. Some of the things that may help include, writing a daily diary, including the day’s events and how the withdrawal symptoms were handled, listening to music, going for walks, and setting goals.
Make Lifestyle Changes
One of the most important things to do when quitting marijuana is to change things in your life that help to promote marijuana smoking. For example, look at all the factors in your life that brought you to the addiction, and then avoid those factors. For many, this step will usually include identifying, and avoiding high-risk situations. These situations can include the people they used to smoke with, or people who are related to the drug use such as people where there are conflicts with which might make you want to turn to marijuana. Many people also find that they need to avoid certain places, such as those where they used to use, or where they purchased their marijuana.
Thinking positive and setting goals are both tools that should be used to help overcome marijuana addiction withdrawal symptoms. Write positive thoughts, and goals down in a diary and refer to it often to remind yourself why you are quitting.