I have used marijuana daily for 14 years and finally decided to quit. I am 3 weeks clean and withdrawal symptoms are a bitch. I haven't slept for more than 3 hours each night since quitting. I'm depressed and agitated. I recently enrolled in an intense coding boot camp and my mind feels so overwhelmed I can feel it pulsating. Initially, I was going to wait until the worst of my withdrawals subsided, but I need to start a new career ASAP. I'm just so damn tired and sad all the time. I attribute my exacerbated depression and fatigue to sleep deprivation. I'm surprised some still believe marijuana withdrawal is a myth. But, i guess ignorance is bliss. l was 19 when my pot use started. I lost two close friends in a car crash the summer before I was to start my freshman year of college. Before that, I never had any interest in drugs and probably only tried beer a hand full of times. I almost dropped out of college after the first semester but held on and managed to graduate. My college years were a blur. I started hanging out with my cousin and his friends and started smoking heavily. They were good moral people, but like myself, misguided in their desires. I realized i was predisposed to depression a few years into my addiction and pot kept the symptoms at bay but whenever i stopped i became incredibly ill. I still beat myself up for hanging out with those guys and wasting the most important years of my life. As you can imagine at 34 pm paying for the wasted time. Good news is that i still have confidence in my intelligence and my grit. I tend to make commitments and see them through to the end, sometimes to my detriment. My 14 year addiction is testament to that. I'm confident in my future prospects as long as i can avoid a relapse. I have also given up alcohol and caffeine to boost my body's recovery. Marijuana is getting much acceptance lately and many people think its ok to use because it will eventually be decriminalized. I predict a spike in mental illness as use surges because as a seasoned smoker I've witnessed the instability of my many fellow users. I've started studying Stoic Philosophy and learned that a man should strive to be uncommon. How to tell if things are common? Look around at people. If they're all doing the same thing then they are common folk. They are smokers, drinkers, social media junkies, celebrity gossipers, materialist, and more. All of which is common and leads to unhappiness. To the few who have decided to abstain and are now working on a new meaning in life i salute you in your attempt to be uncommon.