Cannabis and Anxiety

It is no secret that we are experiencing more and more mental health crises in our nation today. A big part of this is related to anxiety. Trying to get through life with anxiety can be a really difficult thing to do, especially when one does not have the proper treatment options or coping mechanisms to work with. The other thing about anxiety is that it looks different for everybody. Some people struggle with anxiety depending on various situations going on in their life, and the anxiety will eventually go away once certain stressors are worked out or minimized.

Other people, however, struggle with anxiety on a more chronic scale. Anxiety disorders are becoming more and more common in the United States. Many states are now including anxiety as an accepted condition for receiving a medical marijuana card. If you are having a hard time getting through the day dealing with anxiety, it may be time to go see a doctor about getting your medical marijauana card. Anxiety disorders also have a way of manifesting themselves physically, and some people even experience awful physical side effects as a part of their chronic anxiety.

With all that being said, some states do not list anxiety as one of the qualifying conditions for applying for a medical marijauna card. In those states, people with mental health problems are petitioning and lobbying for a change of legislature that allows for more cannabis related anxiety treatment. More than 40 million adults in the United States have been diagnosed with some clinical form of anxiety, and that is a huge increase in the last few decades. Anothe report also shows that there have been as many as 5 million suicide deaths worldwide caused by unmanaged anxiety dissorders. So where does cannabis come into the conversation? Well, I firmly believe that cannabis can be used as an effective means of treating and managing chronic stress and anxiety disorders. 

Cannabis strains fall into two categories: sativa and indica. Indica is the strain of marijuana that is most commonly used to treat symptoms of stress and anxiety disorders, because it has a natural calming effect and helps people relax and be able to sleep at night. Have you ever been so worried about something that you have not been able to sleep? Some cases of anxiety can even lead to chronic insomnia, since people are dealing with so much mental unrest that they are not able to stay asleep at night. Cannabis can be a great option for dealing with this. The indica strain of marijuana is great for helping people fall asleep and relax at night when dealing with chronic anxiety disorders. After all, we all know that not getting enough sleep at night is a great way to find yourself dealing with more stress and anxiety the next day.

The other thing that I will say is that generic prescription medications for treating anxiety and stress can be dangerous and have harmful side effects. Some of the most common medications used to treat mental health conditions are harmful in the way that they affect the brain and body in the long term. Not to mention, we are dealing with a serious opioid and prescription medication crisis in our country today. Why not turn to a more natural approach like marijuana? Especially because it is not addictive and does not have near the same amount of side effects as other commonly used prescriptions. 

Anxiety is becoming a problem for many adults in America. It is also found in several studies that women are almost twice as likely to develop some sort of clinical anxiety as men are. Cannabis may be a great solution for treating and managing anxiety.

CBD vs Marijuana for Anxiety? Which one is Better?

One of the things that a lot of people struggle with is anxiety. The pandemic ended up making things worse as well. Thankfully, more attention has started to turn towards mental health in America, and people that struggle with certain mental health disorders are able to get more resources available to them. It is estimated that almost 1 in 3 Americans have experienced a mental health or anxiety disorder at some point in their lifetime. 

While there are of course normal levels of anxiety that everyone experiences from time to time, anxiety disorders are a totally different animal. Most people don’t really have a good way to identify with people that have anxiety because they simply do not understand it. For people that actually struggle with something like anxiety, it can make trying to do normal things and just get through the day an extremely difficult task.

Treatment for anxiety can vary in effectiveness depending on the patient - some things work for some people, while others do not see them as effective. Currently, the normal treatment options for anxiety disorders include things like therapy and prescription medications. However, there are some concerns for people who use these prescriptions, as they can sometimes make conditions worse and have some negative side effects as well. As an alternative to these medications, it is becoming increasingly popular for people to use medical marijuana for treating anxiety disorders and that sort of thing. Today, we are going to talk about if using CBD and marijuana can be an effective way to manage anxiety symptoms.

So when it comes to CBD and marijuana, which one is better for treating anxiety? Well, the unfortunate part of the medical marijuana industry is that there are not a whole lot of clinical studies and trials that have been done. Since cannabis has been illegal for so long in the United States, there is no a whole lot of data available that can make it easy to distinguish which one is necessarily better for treating anxiety (that is, CBD or marijuana). 

However, there are a few things to consider when picking between the two. We do have limited research and some testimonials from people who have used these things for anxiety. One of the more notable side effects of using THC is actually that it can cause anxiety. This does not happen for everyone, but it is pretty well known that using certain THC strains can cause anxiety instead of having the calming effect that we are going for.

However, certain strains of cannabis can be very effective at reducing symptoms of anxiety, especially when one is using an indica dominant strain. CBD is also used to treat anxiety, and some studies suggest that the cannabinoid content found in cannabis can lower feelings of depression, anxiety, and stress in certain patients. 

This is a huge win for people that struggle with anxiety from day to day. One thing to keep in mind when picking whether you want to use CBD or marijuana to treat your anxiety is the state that you live in. As many of you are already aware of, medical marijuana is not legal in all places around the United States. Some people do not have the option to try using certain THC strains because of the laws that are in place in their state. 

However, CBD has been federally legalized for quite some time because it is considered to be a hemp-derived product by the United States government. If you are someone that has been struggling with an anxiety disorder of some kind, make sure that you about trying marijuana as a treatment option.