Can Cannabis Improve Your Mental Health?

In the past few years, there was a sharp increase in consumer interest using cannabis to treat mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression, PTSD, and ADHD.

The hype about the mental health benefits of cannabis from cannabinoids, CBD, and THC, has gone beyond the realms of science and needs to be refocused. This may be in part to celebrities like Jennifer Aniston, Olivia Wilde, and Kristian Bell who all turned to CBD for their symptoms of anxiety and depression and they were successful at that.



The truth, scientists and researchers are still finding a cure for mental health disorders using cannabis. The clinical trials are small in size and low quality, it cannot be proven that cannabinoids improved any type of mental disorder.

It is best to consult with your doctor for the treatment of any mental health condition with cannabis and avoid self-medication.

Difference between Medical and Recreational Marijuana

You’ve probably heard some states approved the use of medical marijuana and others legalize marijuana use for both its therapeutic and recreational benefits. Let us walk you through the differences between the two applications.

Medical Marijuana

Patients have to visit the doctor to apply for a medical marijuana ID card, over 18 years old, and a qualifying medical condition. Once you have the card, you can purchase your medication at a medical marijuana dispensary.

Medical marijuana is used for its therapeutic benefits to help with health conditions that include pain, inflammation, mental disorder, epilepsy, nausea, and vomiting among others. It has a high CBD content and low THC.

You can read some inspiring stories from medical marijuana patients on wheresweed.

Recreational Marijuana

A consumer uses this for recreational or adult-use purposes and does not need a medical marijuana card. Users prefer a high THC content for the psychoactive or the high effect. If you’re over 21 years old, you can walk in a marijuana dispensary near you with your driver’s license and buy it.

Cannabis and Mental Health

Cannabis holds much promise in treating many ailments. However, there is a gap between hype and evidence from clinical research to back the hype. Most are anecdotal, clinical researches with patients treated with cannabis are small and cannot be used to provide a logical and satisfactory conclusion.

This is particularly true with mental health, the therapeutic effects of cannabis are hyped to treat mental disorders like depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, psychosis, and drug addiction.

The results of researches regarding the use of cannabis for the treatment of depression look promising, but these are based on theories. A clinical study was applied to rats, those under stress had a low production of endocannabinoids which leads to depression. The application of cannabis into the system restores the normal level of endocannabinoids reducing the symptoms of depression.



There are many types of anxiety disorder, the application of cannabis for treatment might affect each disorder differently. Those who tried cannabis for their anxiety disorder experienced a calming effect and a brief relief from the symptoms. There are few clinical types of research and trials in this area. It is premature to say that cannabis Is effective.

Talk to your marijuana doctor about the use of cannabis for your mental disorder. They will educate you on the subject and point you in the right direction.

Benefits of Cannabis on Mental Health

The cannabis plant contains natural chemicals and the ratios of these impacts the mental and physical health in different ways. It is widely known to have positive effects such as a relaxant , euphoric, and induces appetite and downsides being it can trigger dizziness, disorientation, nausea, fatigue, and impairing mental function.



While clinical research and trials are evolving the results show CBD may be effective for reducing social anxiety and positive evidence as an additive for remedy in schizophrenia. Case studies indicate that cannabis therapies may be useful for improving sleep in insomnia and PTSD patients, and a study has shown some potential effectiveness in ADHD.

Further, there was no evidence of benefit for depression for mixtures with high amounts of THC while CBD was not effective in bipolar disorder.

However, the overall evidence of the usefulness of cannabis as a treatment for these conditions is currently weak.

Fortunately, there are doctors who consider medical cannabis for mental illnesses. And if the treatment is legal and right for you, start low and go slow.

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Ian Baker handles the content marketing at Happy Leaf Collective. There are 5 years that he is deeply involved in the cannabis field. He had 3 years of experience as a Budtender and thanks to its desire to achieve more, he has a career move.

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