I think that for all of us, regardless of our differing journeys that got us to the places where we are currently suffering physical ailments notably of the brain, there are a few general things that will always help speed up the recovery process, in the unpredictable ways in which it is possible for us to return to the pre-existing conditions before the drug abuse (although we will on average generally become functional at some point):
-healthy eating (everyone will have their own opinion here... personally I eat a variety of fresh garden herbs (basil, cilantro, mint, sage, thyme, etc), plenty of fresh spices (ginger, galangal, garlic, and turmeric are huge for me), hot peppers (habanero, jalapeño, thai chili), lots of other vegetables (zucchini, eggplant, broccolli, kale, swiss chard, red lettuce, red onion, green onion, etc), I take a liquid vitamin B supplement, a variety of exotic and domestic fresh fruits, organic milk, plenty of seeds (walnuts, hemp hearts), and I don't shy away from high quality cuts of delicious meat, especially seafood.
-The healthy foods that I need to stay away from unfortunately because they agitate my anxiety are the following: cocoa (it contains theobromine, a stimulant like caffeine), any kind of caffeinated tea (white tea, green tea, black tea) although I do drink plenty of camomile and herbal blends, coffee (hell I'd never go near that one...), cocaine and methamphetamine (just kidding, and I would probably die of a heart attack off the tiniest bump)
-Keep hydrated, preferably adding some freshly squeezed lemon to every glass of water
-Physical exercise, I like biking and yoga but whatever floats your boat. Sweat out those toxins and get the heart pumping
-I prefer to stay away from alcohol completely and I find this helps a lot, and how can I handle the stress of a hangover if I can't handle the stress of a normal day. But this might be different for you, I used to abuse alcohol and my body doesn't process it properly nowadays, and I often have more than I intended, so I haven't had a drink in 4 months and never will again.
-Cannabis is the primary drug that I need to never put in my body ever again. However, I have also lost interest in psychedelics for the time being. This is actually a good thing as I am connecting with the "Godhead" or "The Void" through other more reasonable means that do not have potentially damaging effects such as the study of mathematics and theoretical physics, the study of musical theory and playing of instruments, spiritual readings (Tibetan Book of the Dead, the I Ching etc.). I feel more "out there" or "deeper into the true nature of reality" than ever before despite the fact the for the first time ever I'm not using any sort of drug that causes drastic alterations in consciousness. I will probably revisit psychedelics at some point in the future though, but for my present self they are just another unnecessary drug to put in my brain that will slow down my recovery to a stress-free sober state, like the way things used to be. But I think that finding more ways to utilize and exercise your brainpower and get yourself thinking might help.
-There are some drugs that I use to help ease my chronic stress, racing thoughts, debilitating panic disorder with physical symptoms notably tension and discomfort in my chest, and chronic spinal nerve pain which probably will never go away. I see no shame in this, as otherwise I would be too busy panicking to cook myself a healthy meal or sleep. This is just me, but I am still welcome to "downer" drugs in moderation: etizolam, a little xanax, a little ativan, and low doses of opiates are just fine in my case. Some people are prone to addiction with these / will quickly get out of control but that's not me. I am pretty much able to live a normal life these days, but this is all just my personal scenario and how I am able to deal with it, everyone will have a different journey. If you need them, you will know that you need them and nothing will stop you from being properly medicated. Otherwise, I would bear the suffering as much as is possible and reasonable.
-After 9 months there is PLENTY of improvement but I am still nowhere near being able to function normally. Keep in mind I was a full blown addict too, it was more than just the one experience that set off my panic attacks... it took me a good 5 - 6 months to stop obsessing and craving and fiending for the drug that I was using from morning until night. I was a pot fiend for a decade and by the end of that decade my whole entire life was completely consumed by all things weed, and I had no interest in anything else whatsoever. I gave up on science, foreign languages, my career path, and music, just didn't give a fuck because I had lost the ability to concentrate and my memory was shot. Plus I had brutally horrible social anxiety when I was stoned. I was smoking 50 bong rips a day, while hitting up the volcano, dabbing hash oil through rigs, wasting tens of thousands of dollars on the highest grade weed and imported hash and oil I could find, it was NEVER enough, I always wanted more and more and more, new strains, if I didn't smoke for a mere 2 hours I would begin to FREAK; if I actually tried to take a day off I would skip all my meals because I knew I would just puke my guts out if I tried to eat even a piece of fruit - so not smoking weed meant not eating food - this obviously made it VERY HARD to stop even though I knew I had to quit forever to get my brain back. And if I managed to take a break and my tolerance dropped, it wasn't a good thing because then I couldn't handle weed anymore and I would have light panic symptoms smoking it until I built my tolerance back up... but eventually I couldn't hold that weed-induced panic down anymore and it sprung out with a vengeance no matter how much I was using. I now have full blown panic disorder as a result of this blatant drug abuse. So although other factors were surely at play (chronic pain causes a lot of stress and I have a history with Mdma and other drugs, although I never really abused anything else, it was only weed I lost control with) I'm pretty sure what the main issue behind my descent into madness was... my hardcore addiction to cannabis.
I don't think about that drug at all anymore, it is worthless garbage to me. It sickens and disgusts me to be anywhere near the stuff, and I understand this is an unreasonable point of view, and that most people don't get in too deep with weed, but that is just who I am and the feelings I get around stoners are reasonable considering that I essentially destroyed myself with weed. So I generally avoid putting myself in those situations, I find it awkward and agitating to be around weed and heavy users.
-Keep in mind I did my fair share of crystal Mdma (and the odd sketchy E pill dammit) back in 2010 - 2011 ; ) so I am not just a dope fiend posting on the wrong page. Besides, the conventional stoner would deny that a lot of what happened to me was possible at all, and start flaming me for providing anecdotal input that cannabis can be heavily addictive, both mentally and physically, and lead to non pre-existing mental health issues, which although an uncommon occurrence I know to be a valid and very real risk from personal experience. Quite simply, that silly weed completely fucked up my life and I am struggling to pick up the pieces of my screwed up life and physically heal from the weed-induced brain damage / post acute withdrawal syndrome / whatever you want to call it: I fucked myself up really bad primarily through weed abuse which was fuelled by constant cravings to smoke and unbearable withdrawal symptoms. There was never any point to it, the stuff had no medical value whatsoever in my case, it actually increased my sensitivity to the chronic pain and there's nothing else in my life to be all that depressed or anxious about.
