Does Weed Help With Depression What Science Says
For thousands of years, natural plants and elements with psychological effects have treated illnesses. Medicine men mixed healing poultices for their patients from whatever plants they had available.
And at times, what was available was good old-fashioned medical marijuana.
The first recorded use of medical marijuana was in 400 AD, and since then, its been used to treat a plethora of ailments from epilepsy to emesis.
Long before controlled peer-reviewed studies and scientific drug trials, people used marijuana to treat illnesses for thousands of years. This suggests that it worked at least some time in ancient medicine otherwise, why would they keep using it?
Over time, however, the attitudes toward medical marijuana and in turn, the studies that could be conducted have changed. Its hard to run controlled trials of an illicit substance, and government actions had increasingly targeted marijuana since 1942 when lawmakers removed it from the United States Pharmacopoeia.
Soon afterward, marijuana became illegal to possess or use in the United States, and reefer madness around marijuana use grew substantially worldwide.
Does Marijuana For Depression Work
There is a link between marijuana and depression. Marijuana contains sedative and stimulant properties, making it a popular drug of choice for those with depression. With that said, its not considered a safe option to treat depression.
Is marijuana considered a depressant? Well, in some cases, and despite the research done on the drug, its unclear if those who smoke marijuana are more likely to be depressed. Although research hasnt confirmed if marijuana causes depression, anecdotal evidence has proven that people who smoke marijuana in excess may be at risk for depression.
Signs Of Marijuana Addiction
- Inability to cut down or stop use
- Using more than intended
- Not fulfilling daily responsibilities like going to school or work
- Choosing relationships and activities based on whether you will be able to get high.
Researchers estimate that 4 million people in the United States met the criteria for marijuana use disorder in 2015, but only 138,000 of them voluntarily sought treatment.
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Cannabis For Medical Purposes
Some people use cannabis for their health problems. Deciding if cannabis is appropriate to treat your symptoms is best done in discussion with a health care provider.
To help you and your health care provider make informed decisions about the potential benefits and risks, we have published information on using cannabis for medical purposes.
In Some People Weed Could Increase The Risk Of Depression
Scientists can’t say for sure whether marijuana causes depression or depressed people are simply more likely to smoke. But one study from the Netherlands suggests that smoking weed could raise the risk of depression for young people who already have a special serotonin gene that could make them more vulnerable to depression.
Those findings are bolstered by the NASEM report, which found moderate evidence that cannabis use was linked to a small increased risk of depression.
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Lowering Your Risks When Consuming Cannabis
There are risks associated with cannabis use. The best way to protect your health is to avoid using cannabis or cannabis products completely.
Cannabis can be consumed in different ways. Two common ways are:
Each way carries different health and safety risks.
Everyone’s response to cannabis is different, depending on:
- experience with cannabis, frequency of use
- consumption of food, alcohol, other drugs or health products
Everyone’s response to cannabis can also differ from one time to the next.
Research suggests that there are ways to reduce the risks:
- Use it in a safe and familiar environment and with people you trust, especially if you are inexperienced or a new user.
- Delay cannabis use until the brain is fully developed. This occurs around the age of 25.
- The earlier you begin using cannabis, the higher your risk of serious health issues, including dependence and other mental health problems.
Does Marijuana Help With Depression
Now that weve examined some studies showing no definitive link of marijuana causing depression, can the drug help alleviate symptoms caused by the condition? Since the effects of marijuana lead to euphoria, stimulation, and relaxation, a person under the influence of marijuana might experience a decrease in their negative thoughts.
With that said, this anecdotal evidence isnt enough to say it can help with depression on a broad scale. Currently, no evidence exists indicating marijuana cures depression. Marijuana should never be used as the primary treatment for the disorder. For those who seek a natural means of treating depression and dont want chemicals in their body, treatments like cognitive behavioral therapy , talk therapy, meditation, diet, and exercise have proven effective.
Recreational marijuana and medical marijuana are slightly different variations, with recreational containing higher levels of THC, while medical marijuana contains higher levels of CBD.
Those who use medical marijuana can attest to the CBD treating anxiety, nausea, epilepsy, and pain, while THC produces more intoxicating symptoms. More research is required to determine if medical marijuana and CBD can be effective means of alleviating depression.
If youre dealing with depression and dont see a way out, you must reach out to a medical professional. If youre experiencing suicidal thoughts, you need to get help immediately. Fortunately, there is a way out. Get the help you need today.
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How Do You Know If Your Cannabis Use Is A Problem
The standard definition of cannabis use disorder is based on having at least two of 11 criteria, such as: taking more than was intended, spending a lot of time using it, craving it, having problems because of it, using it in high-risk situations, getting into trouble because of it, and having tolerance or withdrawal from discontinuation. As cannabis becomes legalized and more widely accepted, and as we understand that you can be tolerant and have physical or psychological withdrawal from many medicines without necessarily being addicted to them , I think this definition seems obsolete and overly inclusive.
For example, if one substituted “coffee” for “cannabis,” many of the 160 million Americans who guzzle coffee on a daily basis would have “caffeine use disorder,” as evidenced by the heartburn and insomnia that I see every day as a primary care doctor. Many of the patients that psychiatrists label as having cannabis use disorder believe that they are fruitfully using cannabis to treat their medical conditions without problems and recoil at being labeled as having a disorder in the first place. This is perhaps a good indication that the definition doesnt fit the disease.
About the Author
Peter Grinspoon, MD, Contributor
Healthmore Baby Boomers Generation Xers Are Smoking Weed
Warner has been sober since Oct. 17, 2010. He thanks his parents, the Mayo Clinic intensive addiction program and his 12-step recovery group for helping him to get back on track.
Addiction is real. It’s a slow downhill kind of thing it takes some years to get to that low point, and years to slowly build yourself back up, said Warner. Recovery isnt easy, even for a guy like me who had resources, a support system, and no really bad consequences, like losing my job or going to jail.
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Increased Risk Of Mental Health Problems
According to Dr. Mitchell, “Some studies have shown a correlation between smoking marijuana and developing mental health problems.This is believed to be because of the active ingredient in marijuana, THC, which can negatively impact the brain. THC has been shown to change how the brain processes information, leading to memory, learning, and decision-making problems. Additionally, THC can interfere with how the brain regulates stress and anxiety, exacerbating existing mental health conditions or causing new ones to develop. For these reasons, it’s essential to be aware of the risks associated with smoking marijuana, especially if you are already struggling with mental health issues.”
Increased Risk Of Heart Attack
Dr. Mitchell states, “Marijuana smoking has been shown to have similar effects on the cardiovascular system as tobacco smoking. Both marijuana and tobacco smoke contain harmful chemicals that can damage the lining of the blood vessels, leading to inflammation and an increased risk of heart disease. In addition, marijuana smokers tend to inhale more deeply and hold their breath for longer than tobacco smokers, which increases the number of harmful chemicals that reach the lungs. Several studies have found that marijuana smoking increases the risk of heart attacks and other cardiovascular problems. Therefore, it is important to be aware of the potential cardiovascular risks of marijuana use, especially if you have a history of heart disease in your family.”
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Regular Marijuana Use May Also Be Connected To An Increased Risk Of Social Anxiety
Researchers think it’s possible that CBD might be a useful treatment for anxiety disorders, and that’s something that several institutions are currently trying to study.
The recent report suggested that evidence of a link between marijuana and an increased risk of most anxiety disorders was limited.
However, the authors wrote that there is moderate evidence that regular marijuana use is connected to an increased risk of social anxiety. As in other cases, it’s hard to know whether marijuana use causes that increase or people use marijuana because of an increased risk of social anxiety.
Pain Relief Could Include The Discomfort Of Arthritis
One of the ways scientists think marijuana may help with pain is by reducing inflammation, a component of illnesses like rheumatoid arthritis.
A preliminary 2005 study of 58 patients with RA, roughly half of whom were given a placebo and roughly half of whom were given a cannabis-based medicine called Sativex, found “statistically significant improvements in pain on movement, pain at rest, quality of sleep” for patients on Sativex.
Other studies testing other cannabinoid products and inhaled marijuana have shown similar pain-relieving effects, according to the report.
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The Trickiness Of Self
So how do we explain the fact that so many people report mood benefits from consuming marijuana? For one, THC causes euphoria, just like other drugs of abuse. Second, its possible that some of these people are confusing mood improvement with alleviation of withdrawal symptoms. Just like other addictive substances, cannabis use is habit-forming. Frequent heavy use will change the brain over time such that withdrawal symptoms set in upon reduction or cessation of use. Symptoms of cannabis withdrawal include irritability, anxiety, poor sleep, loss of appetite, restlessness, depression, and these may start within a week of cessation. In people who frequently use marijuana, use relieves these symptoms which can trick them into thinking its helping their mood.
Can The Use Of Marijuana Help With Depression
Despite all the anecdotal evidence of people using marijuana to control their symptoms of depression, clinical research is still in its early stages. However, it doesnt mean that we have no insight. One of the more important studies published in the Journal of Affective Disorders in 2018 gives some insight into the effects of marijuana on depression and anxiety disorder.
In the study, the researchers tracked the perceived changes in the symptoms of depression, anxiety, and chronic stress in medical marijuana users. The patients were all using different doses and different strains of marijuana, which gave the researchers further insight into how the cannabinoids THC and CBD affected these changes.
The results revealed that cannabis use significantly decreased the symptoms of depression, anxiety, and chronic stress. But thats not all, as they also discovered that cannabis strains that were high in CBD and low in THC were better for reducing the symptoms of depression, while strains high in THC and low in CBD were better for reducing the symptoms of chronic stress.
Still, it should be noted that theres not enough information on the long-term use of marijuana on depression and that individuals prone to psychosis are advised to avoid using marijuana.
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How Medical Marijuana Can Help
Medical marijuana has many different benefits that can help to calm down the mental turmoil that you face day to day. One way is by providing you with a sense of deep calm and relaxation. Many people who smoke marijuana or use CBD oil have found that it gives them a sense of tranquility that is difficult to get from prescription drugs and supplements. By reducing your stress and level of panic, you will find that you feel better and experience fewer episodes of uneasiness. For individuals with a medical marijuana card, you can visit here to learn more about an online on-demand delivery service available to you.
What Causes Postpartum Depression How Do I Know If I Have Ppd
Fluctuations of the female hormones are most likely to blame. Estrogen and progesterone levels, at the highest they will ever be during pregnancy, drop to pre-pregnancy levels less than 24 hours after giving birth. That hormonal plunge is thought to trigger postpartum depression.
Government health agencies estimate that one in nine new mothers struggles with postpartum depression. The list of postpartum depression symptoms overlaps with the warning signs of more common depression, with some particular mental torments specific to postpartum affliction:
- Feeling restless or moody
- Having thoughts of hurting the baby
- Having thoughts of hurting yourself
- Not having any interest in the baby
- Not feeling connected to the baby
- Feeling as if your baby is someone elses baby
- Feeling worthless, guilty, or like a bad mother
If these conditions persist for more than two weeks, its time to make use of all the help that is available. Postpartum depression is a real, valid experience which you should acknowledge and address as soon as you are able to do so.
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Your Age And Your Mood Can Affect Your High Too
Your brain changes as you age, and so does your endocannabinoid system, says Gerdeman. For instance, receptor density gets lower as you get age.
If somebody smoked robustly in their 20s and picked it back up in their 30s, their brains endocannabinoid system may not be at the same set point, says Gerdeman. Thats why you may notice getting paranoid when you smoke now, whereas pot may have mellowed you out when you were in college.
Its not just you, thoughtheres another way time affects your high. Over the past several decades, marijuana has been bred to have way higher levels of THC than it did in the good old days, says Kinsey.
According to Gerdeman, experts say that the percentage of THC in cannabis was about 7 percent in the 70s, while its often about 20 percent these days and often much higher. However, Gerdeman stresses that these estimates arent necessarily that accurate because the old data may not be reliable as whats out there now.
Even so, if you think youre smoking the same amount that you used tosay, you always cut yourself off after one joint shared between a handful of buddiesthe THC may be off the charts compared to what you used to buy.
Setting is also important, too, Gerdeman adds: If youre already super paranoid about where you are or having your wife walk in when youre smoking up, for example, you may be more likely to feel more paranoid when youre actually high.
Johns Hopkins: New Study Backs Claims That Cannabis Can Reduce Anxiety And Depression
Cannabis is becoming universally known as a mood enhancer and anxiety-reducing substance.
However, the plant notoriously lacks clinical research to inform its safe and correct use in specific psychiatric disorders like anxiety and depression.
A new study published last month is shedding light on the plants therapeutic potential.
While a bipartisan group of federal lawmakers only recently introduced a bill to remove federal barriers for conducting research on marijuana, researchers have come up with creative ways to study the plants effects on the general population by conducting observational studies.
The paper, published in the peer-reviewed journal, Frontiers In Psychiatry, found that medicinal cannabis use was associated with lower self-reported depression as well as decreased anxiety in adults. The research was conducted by Johns Hopkins University in association with the Realm of Caring Foundation.
An Observational Study On The Effects Of Cannabis In Anxiety And Depression
The research team conducted an observational study in which 538 participants over the age of 18 completed a series of surveys around their cannabis use and associated symptoms.
All participants included in the study had reported having anxiety or depression disorders, including major depressive disorder, postpartum depression, dysthymia, premenstrual dysphoric disorder, seasonal affective disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, social anxiety disorder or agoraphobia.
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Cannabis May Make Psychiatric Symptoms Worse
We have known for a while that heavy cannabis use increases the risk of getting a psychotic disorder, especially in adolescents. It also can impair attention and memory, and trigger panic attacks. Most importantly, though, for the depression question, two large-scale, rigorous meta-analyses have found that extremely heavy use increases depression. One study determined that heavy cannabis use increases the odds of developing depressive symptoms later on. Another concluded that cannabis consumption in adolescence increases the risk of developing major depression and suicidality in young adulthood. Several expert panels now oppose the use of cannabis for major depressive disorder treatment.