My son wants to stop smoking cannabis after 15 years! Can he get help from his GP?
June 10th, 2011
As above my son wants to quit smoking cannabis after 15 years which we are so pleased about. Can he get help from his local GP?
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i don’t know what a doc can do but you should always talk to your doctor before you start or stop something you’ve been doing to your body for a long time. his doc probably knows ways to help. you should also look into a local support group unless you think being around a group of people with drug issues may introduce him to an element of people he should not be associated with. i have friends who have been helped tremendously through AA meetings and are sober for many years. here are some things to share with him. make sure you have a willingness to quit on your own. you have to quit for reasons of your own. think about how much better your life will be completely sober everyday. most people use marijuana because they believe that they need to to relieve their stress. this belief is what many doctors think causes marijuana to be a mental addiction. if you think you can’t have a smooth calm day without it, replace the urge with stress reliever tips such as deep breathing, exercise, reading etc. another way to kick the marijuana using habit is to get involved in other positive activities. write, learn to play an instrument, volunteer your time etc. keep yourself so busy everyday that you don’t even think about using. reach out for love and support from family members, friends, professional counseling and support groups. don’t ever think that you can do it alone. bad habits are best overcome when you have good people cheering you on. just like good support will help you quit, bad support will keep you from quitting. stay away from those who still use or encourage your marijuana use. it may be hard to let friends go that you’ve known for years but what you will get out of a clean sober life is much better. making a doctor’s appointment is a good way to get started. good luck.
There are 3 aspects of addiction and he will need support for all three. There is the mental aspect of facing the world everyday without cannibis in his system, dealing with the strss head on with no buffers. He is going to need mental health support, whatever he is comfortable with. It may be as simple as talking to friends, it may be something more formal.
biochemical and behavioral (since these are intertwined)- If he wants to quit, another thing he is going to have to do is to break the dopamine loop of his habit.. Studies have shown that once a substance or even activity becomes a habit (for better or worse, biochemically as long as there is a reward for a behavior, he will get a squirt of dopamine and thusly reinforce the behavior ( you know, the feel good stuff produced by the body, and in this case he is getting dopamine and THC.). His own body has been reinforcing the behavior by giving him a squirt of dopamine at the anticipation of/ or completion of that behavior (in this case smoking pot). Go here:
http://www.jneurosci.org/cgi/content/full/27/31/8181
What he needs to do is to find a reward for NOT smoking pot. It can be exercise, or anything that he enjoys other than smoking. The secret is replacing the habit with a healtheir one. A Psychaitrist or psychologist may be more appropriate to help with this.
As for a GP, his lungs may need to be checked to make sure he isn’t suffering from any lung disease. Smoking is smoking no matter what the substance in the pipe or paper is…