One of the most asked questions about misophonia that I’ve seen has been whether or not marijuana, or weed, can help sufferers with misophonia. I’ll start this article by letting people know that I am Canadian. Weed was legalized here officially, for recreational use, on October 17th. In the past week I tried sativa, indica, and hybrid strains. I’d like to first mention that there is no scientific evidence that weed can help misophonia patients. You should not try a treatment that has not been tested. However, if you live somewhere that weed has been legalized (or your doctor believes it could have benefits), you might want to read this article first.
In my experience, marijuana does not help alleviate misophonia symptoms.
When I smoke (or ingest marijuana through edibles) I still hear and see triggers. I am still anxious about them, and I still have the “trigger” response. Sometimes I will recover faster, but in some instances I found that weed made the triggers worse. I am still thinking of one of the triggers that happened almost a week ago. I found that weed made me focus a little too much on triggers and I can say that even in the best case scenario, weed was not making my triggers better.
You should never take a substance for a disorder or test without talking to your doctor. While there currently is no research on how marijuana will impact misophonia, we may see more research come forward about anxiety. For myself, misophonia has not shown any impact on misophonia other than having triggers be more noticeable or being slightly less anxious.
Coping with misophonia is about more than just taking a substance. Until research finds a treatment we are going to have to look at a plethora of coping mechanisms. Instead of trying substances, I recommend that sufferers look into coping tips and sensory diets.
I am by no means demonizing marijuana or coming from a place where I believe that the substance is all bad, however, there is just no research (or any evidence beyond some anecdotal accounts) that weed is going to be a treatment for misophonia. While this may be disheartening for some sufferers, I think we should instead focus on the research that is happening and help spread the word that science is gaining an understanding of misophonia.
