Rebuilding the Mind: Strategies for Overcoming the Neural Impact of Weed

Weed or Marijuana, whatever you may call it, affects the brain in a way that is actually not easy to handle later. And if you have a consumption habit or pattern, it becomes very difficult to let go of your addiction. I have already discussed how weed affects our brains in my previous article. Here I’ll tell you more about it and how to overcome its impact.

Actually, weeds affect the brain in varied ways, plus the impact is not just limited to your brain but also the cells and neurotransmitters. The brain machinery is completely affected, but to rework your way back, you must know what needs to be done

How Does the Consumption of Weed Affect the Brain?

Just like all other substances that we consume, like meth or heroin, or even alcohol, regular consumption of weed also causes brain damage to some extent. And if the use is very long, then it might cause irreversible brain damage also. The entire brain’s activity is also affected, and eventually, symptoms spread throughout the body.

The component of marijuana that binds with the receptors in the brain is known as Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). This is a psychoactive drug ingredient that attaches to the cannabinoid receptors of the brain. These are directly related to the nerves, which work with memory, appetite, and mood.

Impact of Weed on Young Brains

There are a lot of effects of the consumption of weed on people, one of them being on your IQ. However, the effect can vary depending on factors like the amount of weed that you smoke, when you are smoking, and how much you consume.

Your age is a big factor in actually determining the effects of weed consumption on your IQ. If you are an individual below the age of 25, you will be more prone, and there can be a loss of about 6/8 points in the IQ in that age bracket.

Sometimes, when you stop consuming, there can be an improvement, but if it hasn’t stopped in a long time, you might never regain it. Another problem with young consumers is that if your brain is developing, your cognitive development can be hampered, not to the extent that it will kill your brain cells.

Studies were conducted on young adults that found that acute THC (a crystalline compound found in cannabis) administration increased blood perfusion in areas important for emotional and cognitive processing of the brain.

Reality Perception

Consumption of weed affects your psychotic system. When you are consuming marijuana chronically, then your dopamine activity is involved. And when there is little or a lot of dopamine in the brain, it can sometimes lead to a mental illness.

You can experience psychotic symptoms like those in schizophrenia. This is called cannabinoid-induced psychosis, and you experience a lot of anxiety and hallucinations.

Due to such a situation, it can actually alter your perception of reality. This implies that you will have difficulty in judging a real-life situation, and you will also have issues with your memory. The speed of processing by your brain will decrease, and you will have fewer learning and reading abilities. Impacts of Quitting Weed on our Brain

Although we have seen above the effects of consuming weed, we must understand that quitting marijuana also hits hard on the brain. These effects are not just limited to short term but even long-lasting effects can be seen.

When you talk about the immediate effects or the short-term effects, withdrawal will affect your sleep and sleeping pattern. This leads to a lot of irritability, along with loss of focus and even motivation.

You might even experience headaches or other physical effects like dizziness, but these are short-term, so they go as the healing starts.

Long-term effects are actually rather positive, unlike the short-term effects. Your brain’s normal functioning also becomes better, and your brain’s volume recovery is positive.

Due to chronic consumption, there are a lot of ill effects on different parts of the brain, like the orbitofrontal cortex area. However, withdrawal brings changes in these again, which in turn leads to better decision-making, emotional regulation, and improved attention span.

Benefits of Quitting Weed

Quitting can really help you in a lot of ways. Specifically, what can be observed easily in everyday behavior is that your energy levels are increased, and so is your motivation.

This is scientifically backed because the component THC, which is found in marijuana, basically binds to the receptor in the brain, which regulates your mood and appetite, along with sleep and memory. When this binding happens, your brain will feel fatigued and lethargic, so when you withdraw, these feelings will also go away.

Your memory can actually increase in a drastic manner if you diligently follow abstinence. It has been observed that following a strict withdrawal for 4 weeks or more leads to better information retention.

This, again, can be circled back to THC, so much so that constant or chronic consumption can lead to short-term memory loss in people. THC binds to the hippocampus in the brain, which is the part of the brain responsible for the memory-making process, so when the binding is gone, the memory gets better.

Detox from Marijuana Is Crucial

Detoxing from weed helps you to clear the presence of that substance from your body. It is usually very irritable on day 1. Although you will feel the peak on days 2 and 3, the cravings will be maximum, along with physical symptoms like chills, sweating, and stomach pain.

It starts improving between days 4-14, but cravings do not completely go away. After 15 days, most symptoms should go away, except psychological symptoms, which might take up to a few months.

The best way to overcome the damage caused by weed consumption is by cognitively repairing the brain; anything or anything that leads you towards the consumption of marijuana should be eliminated.

These negative attributes should be replaced with positive coping mechanisms for your body to attain a sustainable recovery.

Last Updated on May 18, 2024 by Pragya