Anxiety and Marijuana- What can weed do for your anxiety?

Anxiety disorders are on the rise globally, with an average of 6-8% of the people in any country having been diagnosed with them. In many countries such as the United States, over 18% of the population is affected with anxiety-related disorders. Anyone who has dealt with or learned a bit about anxiety will have heard about the use of marijuana for alleviating anxiety and related symptoms.

Marijuana and Anxiety- It’s not a new finding!

In just America alone, over 44% of adults have reported trying it for alleviating anxiety and any related symptoms. That’s not all- physicians from many countries including India and nations in the Middle East and Africa have been using marijuana for relieving depression, pain, and stress for more than 400 years. The use of marijuana can be traced as far back as the 18th century when it was being used to treat rabies, tetanus, and even skin diseases.

While the American Medical Association may not accept the medicinal value of marijuana just yet, the debate against legalization and recent findings from the research are helping us realize otherwise. With that objective, let’s try to understand the scientific link between anxiety and marijuana.

Marijuana, THC, and anxiety

THC, which is the main compound in marijuana, is responsible for activating the amygdala area in our brain. This area is associated with fear conditioning and negative emotions. Stimulating the amygdala with specific strains of cannabis can work well to alleviate different types of anxiety. The type of anxiety and people it works on can vary- but it has shown promising results in helping to stimulate pleasure and euphoria in patients of many terminal diseases as well.

However, at the same time, it is also important to note that it can create more anxiety beyond a certain threshold. Every person has a threshold to the amount of marijuana that their body can tolerate, and this can be tricky to predict. Thus, as far as the use of marijuana for anxiety is concerned, keeping the dosage to a lower level is a safe way to go. Research is still ongoing on efficient methods to determine what’s the best way to derive at this threshold for different people.

So, what should you do?

While marijuana has shown promising results in alleviating anxiety, more research is still warranted here. Thus, it is important for you to not get carried away by myths and start slowly if you plan to use marijuana for curing anxiety. The recommendation is to use strains that have higher CBD content as compared to THC if you are just starting. Many medical professionals may not recommend marijuana just yet, but taking the advice of your doctor is still something that you must do.

Weed has been in use for centuries for curing anxiety and many mental health issues. As research progresses and the amount of available weed/ marijuana strain increases, finding the right type and dosage for any type of anxiety should now be easier as you gain the right knowledge.