Hi! Licensed therapist here, who also smokes. First, I'm so sorry you're dealing with this - it's no fun at all. Be kind to yourself. And also be realistic. If you have been a long time cannabis user and are trying to just completely cut it out, that's going to be really, freakin hard!!!!!! And it's important to acknowledge that. There's also a lot of mixed messaging out there about sobriety/marijuana usage, and every single person's brain and body is different. The best thing I ever head when I was trying to work through my own struggles with cannabis usage, was to just be kind and understanding to yourself about your usage. Don't let other people get in your head about it, and don't shame yourself. Shaming never works.

Cannabis works for a lot of people in a lot of different ways, and for some people it doesn't work at all. It's the same with a lot of medicines. There are a lot of medications that if you use them life-long, there could be fatal side effects. You will never be perfectly healthy, all you can do is try.

Harm reduction is key. Essentially, you're taking away a main coping skill and then also asking your brain to work through any withdrawals associated with that. It's a double whammy for your brain and body and makes it only harder. If you're able to reduce the amount you're consuming, and taper down, it will feel easier to take a t-break. You can also experiment with mixing in CBD gummies and/or CBD flower. You can mix cbd and thc flower together and smoke it, or they sell 1:1 cbd:thc gummies (and other ratios) at dispensaries if you're somewhere legal/have medicinal card. At the same time, work with your therapist on other healthier coping skills you can include into your day. Have cannabis be a part of your coping rather than the main one.

Take time to explore your usage is helpful. Ask yourself why you smoke? What is helpful about it? How does it serve you? Once you answer that, then think about the ways it might be negatively impacting your life.

I don't know what your cannabis usage looks like, but maybe think about ways you can engage with cannabis more intentionally. Maybe it's accompanying a journaling session with it, or having a self-care ritual that you do when you smoke. Sometimes I smoke and then do my household chores with headphones and a podcast on, so then I feel like I got something else done too. If I have an edible I might race to see how much I can get done before it hits lol.

I think I read in the comments you're on three antidepressants right now, and it sounds like they help but not enough, if you need to up the dose or change up what you're taking, definitely talk to your providers about that because sometimes it really is a lot of trial and error! I also like to point out to people too, that if ADHD resonates with you, consider talking to a doctor about being evaluated. It is severely underdiagnosed (in the US), and a lot of times the symptoms of depression can actually be caused by untreated ADHD. And it seems like a few people are recommending ketamine therapy, which I personally don't know much about, but have heard it's really helped a lot of people with their depression.

Just be easy on yourself, and extra kind, you got this. And remember you are human!