If you are suffering from anxiety, you probably have heard a lot of claims regarding the potential of cannabis to treat anxiety symptoms. In fact, in a survey conducted in 2017 on nearly 9000 people, it was found that more than 80 percent of them believe that cannabis can help in more than one medical condition. And around half of them listed “curing anxiety and depression” as one of the benefits of the herb.
Given all this, a lot of people across the country are applying for a medical cannabis card to treat their anxiety. Are you too one of them? Then this article is for you.
While many believe cannabis to be an effective remedy for anxiety, a lot of people claim the opposite too. There are many patients who say that cannabis makes their anxiety symptoms even worse. Now, that’s a bummer!
So, what should you do? Should you apply for a medical marijuana evaluation and give it a try? Or should you stick to your regular anxiety treatment? Let’s try to find out.
Before we get into understanding if cannabis can help you with your anxiety, let’s get to know the two main components of the herb- THC and CBD.
If you have read about cannabis, or are already a consumer, you probably know about cannabinoids. But if you are new to marijuana, or somehow don’t know about it, let me put some light on it.
Cannabis plant is actually made of various compounds called cannabinoids. And not only one or two, the herb carries more than 100 known cannabinoids. These compounds are the actual reason why cannabis has so many medicinal properties. However, today, we are gonna talk about the two most popular cannabinoids of marijuana- THC and CBD.
THC and CBD both are the compounds of the same plant. However, they are different in a lot of ways. To understand it easily, THC is the reason why you feel what you feel after consuming cannabis, while CBD usually doesn’t have any such effects. In simple words, THC makes you intoxicated, while CBD doesn’t.
But then, what does CBD do? Now, this question is really important in terms of anxiety treatment.
See, when we say CBD doesn’t make you feel high, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t have any effects. A high dosage of CBD can make you feel extremely calm and relax. And it makes your mind very clear. But the most important thing here is CBD balances out the intoxicating effects of THC.
But why is this important? We’ll discuss it in the later sections.
There’s no doubt a lot of people have applied for a medical cannabis card specifically to treat their anxiety. But does cannabis really work?
The most common symptoms of anxiety include:
And the most common effects that cannabis produces are:
If we compare the above two things, it seems cannabis does help treat anxiety disorders. In fact, various doctors claim that cannabis has helped their patients with various conditions, including:
Furthermore, even the scientific studies claim that CBD can help reduce the symptoms of anxiety.
So, given all the above facts, I think, it’s safe to say that cannabis is an effective substance to manage your anxiety disorder. Or is it?
The equation here isn’t as simple as it seems. So, let’s try to dig a little deeper.
While a lot of people claim cannabis helps them with their anxiety, there are many who suggest the complete opposite. Some patients say that cannabis doesn’t have any effect on their symptoms, while others felt their anxiety getting even worse.
But how come some people get benefitted from the herb, while others not?
As per the research, THC and CBD have completely different effects on the symptoms of anxiety. On one hand, CBD helps you decrease these symptoms. But on the other hand, THC tends to increase the level of anxiety.
Negative effects of THC include:
The answer is a little bit complicated.
Have you ever heard about the term “biphasic effect?” Biphasic effect means in one condition a thing produces one type of effect. But when the condition changes the effect get reversed. And the same happens with THC.
The above-mentioned negative effects of THC are usually the result of a high dosage. But if you keep the THC level in your cannabis in control, all these effects are reversed.
Furthermore, do you remember the point when we talked about CBD balancing out the effects of THC? This is where it helps us. Even if the THC level in your cannabis is high, if the product has a good amount of CBD, it can balance out the negative effects of THC, making it completely safe to use.
While all the above facts put a strong case in favor of using cannabis for anxiety, there still are a few things you should keep in mind. Let’s discuss them.
Smoking is the oldest and most popular way of consuming cannabis. However, this method can often lead to the development of various lung and respiratory conditions. Furthermore, it may even increase your chances of developing certain kinds of cancers.
However, there are many other ways of consuming cannabis, including edibles, oils, etc. And they are much safer as compared to smoking.
Though many people believe that cannabis isn’t an addictive substance, you still can develop a psychological dependency on it. The withdrawal symptoms associated with cannabis aren’t usually physical. But there may be a few short term effects on your mind.
The legality of cannabis has been a controversial topic for a very long time. And you should note that, currently, not every state allows you to use cannabis legally. Right now, only 33 states in the US allow you to possess marijuana legally. And among these, only 11 allow recreational use.
Therefore, if you are thinking of using cannabis to manage your anxiety, you should check if it is legal in your state or not. Furthermore, you may apply for a medical marijuana evaluation and get an mmj card to enjoy the benefits associated with it.
Cannabis definitely has the potential to help you with your symptoms of anxiety. However, you also need to be careful. The trick is to keep your CBD intake high and THC as low as possible. In the end, if you are on any prescription drugs, you should talk to your doctor first before you start taking marijuana.
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