One of the most common of mood disorders, depression is the main cause of disability throughout the world, afflicting 322 million people globally, according to the World Health Organization. The hopeless sadness associated with depression can make daily life seem nearly impossible, making even common activities such as working, eating, and sleeping much more difficult than usual. People with depression are also more likely to suffer from anxiety disorders and/or to experience chronic pain.
Depression can strongly influence thoughts and feelings, creating a negative lens through which one views the world. Symptoms include feeling sad, low energy, lack of motivation, difficulty concentrating, and irritability. In most regions, women are twice as likely as men to be affected by depression.
Those afflicted with depression are commonly prescribed pharmaceutical medications, most often selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), such as Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Luvox, Celexa, and Lexapro. The range of their uses has expanded from depression to anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, eating disorders, and many other psychiatric conditions. Unfortunately, these drugs tend to come packaged with undesirable side effects and can be addictive in many cases.
For example, according to Harvard Medical School,1 some patients taking SSRIs develop insomnia, skin rashes, headaches, joint and muscle pain, stomach upset, nausea, or diarrhea. A more serious potential issue is reduced blood clotting capacity due to a decreased concentration of the neurotransmitter serotonin in platelets. For many patients, SSRIs diminish sexual interest, desire, performance, and/or satisfaction. In men, SSRIs can delay or inhibit ejaculation, and in women, delay or prevent orgasm.
More alarmingly, these Rx antidepressant drugs may incite violent or self-destructive actions. In 2004, the FDA first initiated a Black Box Warning on SSRIs—its strongest available measure short of withdrawing a drug from the market. The warning about risk of suicidal thoughts, hostility, and agitation in children, teens and young adults is still placed on package inserts for all antidepressants in common use.
Needless to say, given the many potential hazards of Rx meds for depression, people are increasingly seeking effective natural solutions, one of which is medicinal cannabis.
How can cannabis help alleviate depression naturally?
The efficacy of cannabis in treating mood disorders dates back to 1621 when it was suggested in a publication entitled The Anatomy of Melancholy. In recent years, a number of scientific studies have analyzed the effects of cannabis on depression, finding it to be a powerful antidote without the dangerous side effects of commonly prescribed drugs. The cannabinoids in cannabis; THC, CBD, and others, all have uplifting properties that work in the brain to stabilize mood and reduce symptoms of depression.
One of the ways cannabis effectively combats the blues is by increasing serotonin in the brain. a naturally occurring brain chemical, Serotonin is that controls mood, sleep and appetite. It’s the brain chemical that most antidepressant medications target.
As noted in a 2020 study in the medical journal Current Neuropharmacology, 2 “Mood disorders are the most prevalent mental conditions encountered in psychiatric practice. Numerous patients suffering from mood disorders present with treatment-resistant forms of depression, co-morbid anxiety, other psychiatric disorders and bipolar disorders.”
The study goes on to explain that “As endocannabinoids are suggested to play an important role in major depression, generalized anxiety and bipolar disorders, cannabis sativa was suggested for their treatment. The endocannabinoid system is widely distributed throughout the body including the brain, modulating many functions. It is involved in mood and related disorders, and its activity may be modified by exogenous cannabinoids.” In other words, we are biologically very receptive to the benefits of medical cannabis based on our natural brain receptors.
More neurological benefits of cannabinoids
As another medical study suggests, numerous physical, psychological, and emotional benefits have been attributed to marijuana since its first reported use in 2,600 BC in a Chinese pharmacopoeia. ). Through direct and indirect actions, endocannabinoids within our own brain and plant-based phytocannabinoids modulate and influence a variety of physiological systems.
With this study, researchers emphasized the “neuroprotective, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory benefits of phytocannabinoids and their applications in various clinical syndromes.”3
“First do no harm” was the original guiding force in medicine. Therefore, are 100 percent natural solutions with a valid track record of efficacy not preferable to synthetic drugs with dangerous side effects that literally require a suicide warming on the label?
In other words, you can reap huge benefits while choosing the level of body and mind relaxation you seek. A higher CBD (non-psychoactive) to THC (psychoactive) appears to be most effective overall for mood disorders such as anxiety and depression.
If you would like to try medical cannabis for these or other conditions, a good dispensary will have knowledgeable staff and in some cases a nurse available to help guide you to appropriate forms, such as tinctures, sublingual drops, tablets and edible products with varying ratios of CBD to THC. Here’s to feeling great─naturally!
References
1https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/what-are-the-real-risks-of-antidepressants
2Curr Neuropharmacol. 2020;18(2):87-96. doi: 10.2174/1570159X17666190903103923.
3Surg Neurol Int. 2018 Apr 26;9:91. doi: 10.4103/sni.sni_45_18. eCollection 2018.
