Andrew Huberman· PhD
If you quit, you’ll get a massive REM rebound.
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The evidence is convergent. Multiple independent sources reach the same conclusion, the underlying mechanism is well-characterized, and even the field's most cautious voices treat it as worth doing.
If you quit, you’ll get a massive REM rebound.
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That usually only happens if people suddenly quit cannabis or if they are sleep deprived.
But there are problems with THC. And they are twofold. The first is that it too, but through different mechanisms seems to block REM sleep. And that's why a lot of people when they're using will tell me look, you know, I definitely, I was dreaming. Or I don't remember, you know many of my dreams. And then when they stop using THC, let's say I was having, you know, just crazy, crazy dreams and the reason is because there is a rebound mechanism.
The second issue with THC is that it's very good at blocking your dream sleep your REM sleep in fact many people when they come and they tell me look I was a heavy cannabis user even a light cannabis user for some time and then I stopped using and one of the strangest things happened to me I just started to have the most wild Vivid crazy dreams and I didn't know what was going on and it's a very simple explanation as you've been using your brain has been compromised in the amount of REM sleep it's been getting and you've been building up chronically a REM sleep debt and your brain is smart in the sense that it does try to clock to some degree a counter of how much REM sleep you've lost and many people will say yeah I don't really remember my dreams when I'm using but when they stop the brain finally because it's been cleansed of the thing that's the roadblock to REM sleep not only did they go back to having the normal amount of REM sleep that people would have they have that plus they have what we call a REM sleep rebound which is even more and more intense REM sleep which leads to more intense dreaming
all of a sudden your brain doesn't just go back to having its standard amount of REM sleep and dreaming it has that plus it tries to get back as much of it as it possibly can by having what we call a REM sleep rebound
people who um come off cannabis um experience a tremendous REM rebound and lots of dreaming uh in the T you know the days and weeks and months after um cannabis
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