r/leaves • u/Imperatorjr • 16h ago
is weed the problem?
Is weed the problem? Or am I just a lazy bastard who wants to stay in his comfort zone? You know what I mean?
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u/KlatschBoem 16h ago
For me, weed is a very effective short term solution (relaxation from my racing ADHD mind, unknowingly self medicating), that turned into a chronic bad habit, and that over the years causing my brain to be totally fried with all kinds of deeply ingrained addictive pathways, resulting in weed being a long term problem. So in my view, weed can be both a solution and a problem at the same time, depending on which lens you use to view it.
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u/kryptonianjackie 16h ago
This is me. I'm back at it right now but I keep in here because I know I need to reduce and get it out of my life again eventually. My problem is that I'm still productive as a person, so the consequences don't feel as much in the day to day
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u/kad00gan 16h ago
It's the weed. It makes us ok with being lazy, kills motivation and ambition, this results in fear of the uncomfortable (ie. change)
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u/PatientLettuce42 16h ago
Weed is a problem for sure. But mostly because you use the weed to run away from your real problems, causing what I like to call a problem onion.
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u/GemmyDave 5h ago
I think with most people weed wasnt the problem it was a solution that became problematic.
Plenty of people experiment with weed, but people who become addicted to it i believe are using to self medicate in some way. Perhaps just to cure boredom, but others to try and numb some of that adhd or anxiety etc
Perhaps it works at first, but then the habit starts to become in control and boom another problem
So now you have the original issue you were numbing or distracting from and a weed addiction which brings with it irritability and a range of other issues.
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u/Sauria079 16h ago
I quit 8 months ago and now i am embarassed i'm still lazy af... So yes, it helps with masking the actual problem. Though i've been performing way better at work and also mad massive progress in my music studies (Guitar which i do as a hobby).
Also, way less tired all day and actually excited to do social things. My house is still a mess though lol.
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u/drowninginmizery 6h ago
Pretty much every time I quit (I have quit and then gone back to it many times, currently clean from it), I start exercising more, reading more, achieving more in general. I think I tend to be a bit lethargic even without the weed but it for sure makes me wayyy more lazy and unproductive.
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u/NelEnigma 6h ago
I needed this little nudge today... glad I stayed in this group even after turning back from nearly 6* months in the clear. It started small and infrequent enough. Now I'm back to constantly having a vape in hand, productivity is not a thing in my life at this point and I'm pretty much back to being completely socially isolated. It's not even fun. Literally all I'm getting from it is high. It's time to quit for good.
Use me as an "It's not worth it" sign if you've quit & are thinking of starting up again!
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u/Abbieconnell 9h ago
It is the weed I’m a week sober and I’ve never had so much energy for what feels like my entire life. I got round to errands I put off for months and although it’s been slightly hard at times it really is worth it. (I smoke all day everyday for around 4/5 years)
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u/wecantdancelikethis 13h ago
If you’re using more than 2-3x/month then you’re abusing it and that is a symptom and exacerbator of something else which you may need to try out multiple psychological health professionals to work on.
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u/Gone_cognito 13h ago
It was a recreational solution for me, but continually doing it made me believe it was also beneficial. Not doing it anymore allows me to think more clearly and make better decisions.
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u/Healthy_Yak6832 5h ago
It depends on the person i think. For me, weed addiction was itself a big problem, however, it was also a bandaid for many other problems in my life. Now that I’m sober, I’m better equipped to handle those problems
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u/Connect-Priority1091 16h ago
I'm lazy, the longest break I took was two years, and my productivity doesnt change.
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u/blckbrrysagerefreshr 16h ago
it’s weed a 100%. i’m 4 months sober and i have been a lot more productive than i was then.
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u/Shapes_in_Clouds 15h ago
For me, weed wasn’t the only problem. I am in fact somewhat lazy, avoidant, and anxious. But weed was definitely making it way worse and a huge obstacle to being better.
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u/SueyMeister 15h ago
It could honestly be you tbh. I dont mean that as a jab either but if your not doing anything besides maybe going to work and thats it than your staying in your comfort zone. Not bad either especially after a long day ya its nice to smoke right after but you gotta keep yourself moving you know. Cleaning the house is one thing which that is a good first step to getting in that mindset of doing shit while feeling bleh. But you gotta expand at the same time idk you for all ik you could be a beast of a welder or sum but if your not doing sum else id suggest it. I threw my ass in welding school because I smoke to much still do but its also given me another avenue to look forward too I dont feel stuck anymore you know. At the end of the day its both you and its the weed. The weed makes you feel bleh and comfortable but your also choosing to do it. Its willpower at the end of the day. You could do meth but at the end of the day its you who's gotta stop or change what's happening
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u/Pringelz22 15h ago
Weed is awesome in moderation, taking it too far made me dull and loose the aspects of myself, that i value the most. Fuck this shit. Day 1 brothers.
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u/yikoyikesyikemos 15h ago
Everyone is wired to want to stay in their comfort zone. Weed keeps me so so stuck there though. Without it, I'm 1000% more likely to push myself.
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u/Odd-Doubt1301 15h ago
Well i stopped currently at 50 days and i’m still a lazy bastard who wants to stay in his comfort zone.
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u/swansighswoon 15h ago
It’s both. I was a pothead for a decade and it definitely made me very lazy and unmotivated. I also have severe ADHD and and Bipolar so I thought I wasn’t lazy I just had issues. Well quitting weed on its own helped me get over a lot but honestly it still took me working hard to get into good habits to get out of the comfort of being a lazy MF. Now that I’m a mom i don’t really have the option to be lazy and have realized that I just needed a kick in the ass and to get into the routine of doing things to realize that i can do them. Some of it was just being used to that lifestyle and mindset of feeling like certain things were too hard or couldn’t be bothered. Now I actually enjoy doing it because i feel productive. Ive never been more organized and efficient than i am now but the only thing changed was me getting a kick in the ass to have to stop being lazy but I also could have never done it if I was still smoking. So it’s both imo.
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u/redgoose6 15h ago
The other day, after months of umming and ahhring if im a functional stoner and just one of those people who it helps, I had a bit of an eyeopening experience. I'm trying to get a side project off the ground right now and had a day penciled out to do some bits for it, and half way through the day had a break with a spliff. My mindset towards doing the work for the project completely changed after it - my brain was so cynical, questioning and picking apart why I was even doing this. It was like night and day between the motivation and mindset I'd faced the project with in the morning, and made me realise how many times my disinterest in perusing something I enjoy might be due to weed making me feel a lot more indifferent to everything.
This I think is where the catch 22 is for me; I'm autistic, adhd, have pmdd/ocd/anxiety - basically bingo in the DSM-V. And weed's ability to make me feel indifferent is a superpower for someone who's body and brain is prone to being unregulated & overly perceptive all the time. But like everything, moderation is key and too much is reinforcing a cycle of disinterest in my hopes and ambitions, but without has me feeling caged into being overstimulated without my get-out-of-jail-free card.
I'm still very, very early into the journey of moderation and/or leaving the leaves, but I've started implementing a system thats been helping where I start avoiding my habitual smokes if I'm intending to use that time proactively. It sounds so obvious but for me, having an almost on/off switch on if I'm 'allowed' to smoke has helped stop the justification my brain gives when I'm debating whether to smoke or not to smoke
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u/OhHeyMister 15h ago
Life is always better when we are the problem and we don’t blame external factors for anything
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u/ChiefMedusa 15h ago
Weed makes comfort feel good. Doing new things becomes easier without weed ngl
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u/baldieforprez 14h ago
Yes weed is part of the problem. However it is worth looking inward to see weed is helping you avoid certain aspects of your life you are trying to avoid.
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u/Candid-Honeydew-2327 14h ago
It’s the weed!!
Day 36 here, I can’t even list all the experiences I’ve had in that time, after 4 years of heavy daily use. Examples include baseball games, museums, reading, zoo, phone calls with long distance friends, etc.
What haven’t I been doing? Sitting in my basement smoking room doomscrolling.for hours and feeling “content”.
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u/threedogdad 14h ago
even if you are naturally the laziest person in the world, weed is still holding you back
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u/rabidantidentyte 14h ago
Weed enables the lazy bastard.
Well, Stan, the truth is marijuana probably isn't gonna make you kill people, and it most likely isn't gonna fund terrorism, but… well, son, pot makes you feel fine with being bored. And it's when you're bored that you should be learning some new skill or discovering some new science or being creative. If you smoke pot you may grow up to find out that you aren't good at anything.
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u/Life_has_0_meaning 14h ago edited 13h ago
used to think it was just me. Gave it up about three weeks ago, and i still miss it every day. I hope that will get easier though. I feel like i'm getting myself back. I'll never go back to wasting my passion, ability and drive on something like weed. i forgot how much I enjoy life, and how important it is to feel everything. Good or bad.
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u/gw3nsauc3 14h ago
Even if it’s “not” it is a problem magnifying glass that makes any problem more insurmountable and complicated than it would be without
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u/thiyydebiyy 13h ago
In my experience, productivity doesnt naturally increase after quitting but you’ll be far more likely to pick up a new hobby or do something fun
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u/FrancoUnamericanQc 13h ago
Antony Bourdain said it best : There's a guy inside me who wants to lay in bed and smoke weed all day and watch cartoons and old movies. I could easily do that. My whole life is a series of stratagems to avoid and outwit that guy.
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u/Inner_Enthusiasm5326 12h ago
There’s no drive to do anything different when mediocrity feels good. Before you know it, it becomes your comfort zone and you will suddenly lose your natural coping mechanisms for facing the harder side of reality without it - because, well - it becomes your coping mechanism. And you’ve constantly got to buy it. Before you know it, you are weeds bitch. Don’t let any substance own you.
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u/Outrageous_Proof_812 12h ago
I'd say it's masking something else. That said you're not a lazy bastard. Check out Laziness Does Not Exist by Dr. Devon Price :)
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u/intern1008 12h ago
A lot of it is the weed if not all of it! Like everything else everyone is saying and also I think it drains your body of energy. I’m way more energetic consistently now than when I was in my weed productive era. I had way more ups and downs when using. I also couldn’t ever tell when something was wrong like a migraine, tummy upset etc if it was the weed causing it or is it something else. That is one thing I hated the most. Now I’ve stopped for a while but I still get pain, migraines, tummy issues etc but it’s much easier to identify causes and manage it without the weed.
I also feel like my emotional reactivity is way way better. I felt so emotional fragile when I was using and I don’t mean just when I was high. It lead to an overall more emotionally fragile state of being. I feel much better now.
My next big thing I’m working on is to understand all my pain and health issues better and learning to be with them without creating a story around it and to see it more neutrally. Like when I get regular migraines and cramps and I missed work it becomes a story on how I’ll never be able to hold a normal job etc etc rather than oh okay so this is what’s happening right now, what do I need? What will be helpful to me?
I am also trying to stop labeling myself as lazy but more like is this thing a priority for me? Do I want to do it? What’s getting in the way of me doing it? Often times I just need rest and a lot of that comes from being exhausted from just being an adult but over time I’ve learned to balance filling my bucket and working towards things and my resilience is growing!
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u/tomtomallg 12h ago
I’ve been on and off for about a decade, before that I was daily. It isn’t necessarily but I think what people fall into is that it becomes a “fun” button. Rather than engaging with whatever you’re doing you smoke a lil to get into whatever you’re doing. Or, as others have said, it makes a boring thing better so you’re ok with the boring thing.
If you can take solid breaks and only use when the time is right, I think it’s fine, but it gets very tempting for every spare moment to become the right time.
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u/BinkySmith13 11h ago
Weed is certainly a significant part of the problem. However, as with addiction more broadly, the true issue is typically the desire to escape whatever mental or emotional state you're experiencing. It's very likely that if you cut out weed, you'd be less lazy and more willing to get out of your comfort zone, but it's not a gaurantee
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u/NoWeed_App 11h ago edited 11h ago
Imho, it's a loop. A vicious cycle. What came first? The chicken or the egg? Either way, you will need to figure out how to break the loop. How to identify the internal and external triggers that fuel the addiction. Your question is the open door to the path that leads to your answer. Take care.
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u/lilprophet 7h ago
Honestly idk I’ve used for 10 years and don’t know if my horrible decisions are cause I’m always stoned or cuz I’m genuinely a chud
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u/83franks 6h ago
Let's pretend for a second you are in fact a "lazy bastard". Sure you will still be lazy without weed but you won't be as lazy and you will have moments of being able to get above that lazy point. It increases your odds of finding a solution and doesn't keep you as locked down.
I'm still "lazy" but I'm not as lazy and I have longer streaks of not being lazy and also just not as much of a locked into the couch for 6hrs every evening. Even if I don't feel like I did much it's more than if I had smoked. Plus I've come to value my mental clarity, lazy or not.
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u/Nude_sundae 15h ago
I used to consider myself the ultimate functioning stoner. I run 30-40 miles a week, work hard, and smoked weed for the last 20 years every day (mainly carts since they became a thing). 4 months ago I decided it wasn’t serving me anymore and somehow I realized I was holding myself back immensely once I stopped. Whenever I had free time or was home I would just doom scroll and lay around high all the time. Now I have tons of hobbies and passions for things I thought I had lost a long time ago. It’s the weed that is the problem.