Psychiatrist: Why Some Enjoy Smoking Weed While Others Feel Anxious? Does Frequent Use Change Personality?

Did you ever wonder why cannabis doesn’t affect everyone the same way? Why do some people experience pleasure and relaxation when smoking pot and others get anxious or even paranoid?

To understand the various effects the same plant has on the same species, we humans that is, it’s essential to understand not only the plant and its components, but our own endocannabinoid system.

Enter neuroscience.

First things first, what is the endocannabinoid system?

Simply put, it is a biological system in the body that helps regulate and balance key bodily functions. An American psychiatrist with a private practice in San Francisco and Marin County focuses on addictions. In his book, “Marijuana on My Mind: The Science and Mystique of Cannabis,” Timmen L. Cermak, M.D. explores various questions about marijuana and its effects.

In his January post in Psychology Today, Cermak tries to explain how it feels to be high and why this experience can sometimes resemble meditation. In a new post, he focuses on “how THC and CBD ingestion produces pleasant effects for so many people, why too frequent use of cannabis can produce subtle cognitive and emotional impairments, and how selective use of cannabis has medicinal benefits for a variety of illnesses.”

Cermak looks at Koen Van Laere’s discovery of how genetic differences in the density of active CB1 receptors determine temperamental characteristics of extroversion exhibited in novelty-seeking and often risk-taking and introversion’s novelty and risk avoidance.

Cermak explains how THC increases endocannabinoid system activity, lowering the bar for experiencing novelty. This is why, when some people are, they notice things that they hadn’t noticed a long time ago, like the rainbow on each soap bubble. For some cannabis consumers, weed can help them become more fascinated with the everyday world.

On the other hand, too frequent cannabis use leads to raising the bar for experiencing novelty higher than normal, thus leading to a sense of boredom. “High cannabinoid activity produces novelty; low cannabinoid activity reduces novelty,” writes Cermak.

This means that people born with low CB1 receptors may feel good when THC increases their amygdala endocannabinoid system activity, as it “brightens their interest in the world.” On the other hand, people with high CB1 receptors who are already close to saturation with novelty could be overwhelmed with THC to the point of feeling anxious.

Temperament & Personality

Cermak notes an important distinction between temperament and personality when he says that “temperament is genetically determined and should not be conflated with personality.” He explains that two people with the same temperamental trait of novelty-seeking can develop two destructive personalities: “one becoming an inveterate world traveler while the other becomes ensnared in a series of drug addictions.”

In the end, Cermak highlights how Laere’s research offers a basis for understanding why the 20% reduction in CB1 receptors caused by frequent marijuana use could lead to temperament and ultimately personality changes. However, research confirming this theory would be unethical, so all we can do is trust anecdotes that indicate how regular marijuana use is related to various personality changes.

Photo: Courtesy of Ekaterina Krusanova on Unsplash