Recently I’ve been told I have anxiety by a medical professional. I got into counseling but i don’t see it helping me really. Lately, I’ve been bedridden and not like I’m sick but I just have no motivation to do anything. I lay in bed almost 24hours aside from the occasional bathroom trip or going to my school site (I’m in a homeschooling program). This has resulted in a lot of stress and I don’t really sleep I stay up all night and day. I lose focus a lot when I read, the word just kinda morphs and make it hard for me to clearly see sentences. I eat once a day occasionally twice. I smoke weed here and there but I vape a lot which is what I believe ties into my eating but I’ve also lost about 30 pounds in the last few months which isn’t healthy. I am veryyyy very irritable and mean even if I don’t feel angry I come off angry. I zone out a lot and it hard for me to do anything even getting up for those bathroom trips. I have hate for myself and the world i just feel very off this has never been me but idk i suffer great consequences from the behavior like almost being kicked out of school due to lack of work turned in. I feel woozy a lot and my vision shifts often and gets blurry I have occasional heart pain and my chest usually feels heavy I’m just scared cuz I’m slowly throwing my life away and I just don’t care like what’s wrong with me please help me!!! I feel unique and happy around my friends but when I’m home or given any type of commitment I just cannot follow through granted I’ve been through my fair share of life experiences from abuse to getting kicked out and moving around my whole life but it never stopped me then. I’ve never talked about those things really even in front of counselors cuz I physically cannot it makes me extremely uncomfortable and embarrassed is this something others go through? I need help, please. (From the USA)
Thanks for sending in your concerns. If we look at your complaints — being bedridden, lacking motivation, insomnia, stressed, inattentive, poor appetite, feeling alienated and alienating, being unfocused, irritable, suffering chest pains, and hatred of yourself and others — we see symptoms that systematically chip away at your well-being. Added to this you say that you cannot follow through on any given any type of commitment and that talking about all this is both uncomfortable and embarrassing.
Yet, mixed in with all of the symptoms is one commitment — chronically vaping. Nearly every symptom you’ve measured has been linked to high doses of tetrahydrocannabinol THC, the active component of cannabis used when you vape rather than smoke weed. Here is an article on these effects.
When you talk to your counselor talk about how much you vape and ask for help in quitting. The first thing is to stop doing the thing that is most likely fueling all, or most, of your symptoms. My guess is that if you address this issue first you are likely to have greater success in coping with the things that are troubling you.
Wishing you patience and peace,
Dr. Dan