In college,my friends and I had several friends whom we would consider to be “conspiracy theorists”. These friends of ours would constantly be warning us of impending federal government lock down, how Masons controlled the white house, and so on. Some of us had a long-standing joke about these conspiracy theorists, that they all seemed to be heavy smokers. Along the same lines, there were more than once during my living when I was at the party or social gathering, and suddenly somebody freaks out, developing a severe panic attack, after smoking marijuana.

So what exactly is the link between marijuana, anxiety, and paranoia? Surprisingly, there is very little hard evidence associating marijuana use with anxiety or panic attacks. Some researchers think that marijuana can develop paranoia due to the natural ability to affect the perception of the people.This is true for first-time users, as they most likely have never stepped outside of the box of their thought of reality and the experience can be quite jolting.

Others believe that marijuana acts as an antagonist for those that are already predisposed to having panic attacks. Specifically, the intoxicating of the marijuana have shown to be influenced by psychological expectations and social environment. What does this indicate in plain English? It indicates that the person’s own expectations will color the type of intoxication felt by the drug. Two people can have drastically different reactions to smoking the same strain of marijuana, simply due to their expectations of what the drug will do to them.

Going back to predisposition, even though cannabis has not been found to cause paranoia or schizophrenia, it does seem to precipitate psychotic episodes in vulnerable people. If you are predisposed to psychotic episodes or schizophrenia you will definitely want back off from marijuana as it can lead to intense paranoia!

From a neurological standpoint,it is believed, that marijuana relaxes the system that controls brain signal paths. So this means that your brain and thoughts will quite literally stray off of their normal paths, and your train of thought will advance into new territory along a string of associations that would normally never occur. Because marijuana effects the part of your brain which gets auditory and visual comprehension, and since this area is also linked with schizophrenia episodes, the pathway to this schizophrenic area is “strengthened”, to put it simply, even after the consequences of marijuana normally wear off.

However, subscribers to this theory also believe that, through conscious intervention, it is easy to “de-condition” the pathway through meditation and logical reasoning.There are also special resources developed for those with panic disorder which claim to either reverse the physiological changes that cause panic attacks (the function of the Amygdala organ in the brain) or use psychological methods for breaking the cycle of fear.

When you feel any of the following, you most likely are experiencing a panic attack. On the other hand, if this is initial stage, you are not able to feel these symptoms, and you should seek medical help immediately because there is no way of knowing whether you are having a panic attack, or if the symptoms are related to a more serious problem.

If this is the second, third, or one hundredth time you’ve had these symptoms, then you may have a real panic disorder.

Panic attack symptoms:

- Fear of impending doom, insanity or death;
- Difficulty breathing;
- Uncontrollable itching;
- Shaking;
- Exhaustion;
- Tunnel vision;
- Chest pains;
- Vertigo;
- Racing heart beat;
- Hyperventilation;
- Uncontrollable crying;
- Racing thoughts;
- Loud internal voices;
- Feeling out of control;
- Cramping;
- Dizziness;
- Nausea;
- Hot flashes;
- Trembling;
- Tingling in extremities;
- Claustrophobia;
- Limpness in the body;
- Sweating;
- Extreme nervousness;
- Terror;
- Chills;
- Apparent slowing down or speeding up of time.

If you experience 4 or more of the above symptoms then chances are you have a real panic disorder. The good new is that there are a wide variety of treatments available to you ranging from prescription drugs to cognitive therapy to natural techniques.

Panic attacks can often be triggered simply by the fear of having another panic attack. A person could be alone, or within a group, and suddenly the cycle of fear and anxiety creates a negative feedback loop, as physical symptoms encourage negative thoughts, which in turn heighten the physical response. Soon, the initial trigger may be completely forgotten, and a person is physically preparing for a worst-case life or death situation, when in fact the environment surrounding them is completely safe.

The underlying cause of panic attack symptoms is the release of adrenaline (epinephrine) into the bloodstream. Adrenaline is a hormone released by the adrenal glands which sit atop the kidneys. It is responsible for our “fight” response and has served a useful purpose in our evolution. However, it now seems to be working against us, as many situations which give rise to the release of adrenaline pose no immediate physical danger. This inappropriate bodily response is most readily apparent in those experiencing panic attacks.

By educating yourself on the mechanism that perpetuates panic attacks, you are already on your way toward leading a panic and anxiety free life. Be sure to check out the resources on this site in order to accelerate this journey.

Anxiety it is a widely spread disorder which attacks about 4% of people. Women suffer from it in 6 times more often than men. The panic attack can start as in teenage period as in middle age. The exact reason of panic attacks is not found, however it is known that while this disorder can be noticed changes in central nervous system. It can be connected with metabolism of such substances as serotonin and noradrenaline. The main role of appearance of this disease belongs to heredity. Often close relatives also have a tendency to panic attacks and have not only anxiety symptoms, but also symptoms of other different disorders.

Anxiety disease usually connected with psychological disorders, stresses and great changes in life, such as divorce, change of place of living, graduating from the University, marriage, birth of a child. Often there can noticed a connection leading to negative emotion that person had in his childhood. Half of children who suffer from anxiety, for example from fear of school have anxiety disorders while they get older. Panic disorders can be treated successfully with medical treatment, however if it is not treated it can lead to terrible consequences, such as social isolation, loss of employability and then to further decrease of life quality.

As sings of anxiety can be described strong feelings of fear, inner discomfort which a person can get suddenly, usually without any other signal symptoms. As a result can appear strong heartbeat, shortness of breath, pain in chest, dizziness, string weakness, loss of reality, at the same time usually appears fear of death, fear of control loss or fear to get crazy. Panic attack happens very quickly and lasts 5-10 minutes, its symptoms can disappear also quickly. So as usual anxiety lasts 10-20 minutes and then all the symptoms vanishes by themselves. without arousing any threat to the life of the patient.

There is a difference between anxiety and real dangerous situation in life. For sure in the last case it is a normal reaction of a person, when he knows that he met a danger and have to protect himself or runaway, however anxiety appears without any reason. The panic attacks a person in everyday life, where there is no anxiety, sometimes it happens even before sleep. Often patients are frightened by physical symptoms of anxiety and think that they have any serious heart disease or any other dangerous disease.

Treatment of anxiety is possible and it can bring good results as soon as it started. Many people start taking alcohol or any seductive medicines, however they can do only worse for their health. They just suffer from isolation of place where they have panic attacks, such as large shops, elevator or public transport. Here the aim of the treatment must be removal of panic attacks and restoration of normal life. You have to attend a doctor and the best results will give medical treatment in combination with psychological treatment.