Cannabis and Mental Health

Cannabis has been shown to play a therapeutic role in treating mental disorders and illness. The main types of mental illnesses include dementia, schizophrenia, mood disorders, eating disorders, and anxiety disorders.

How Cannabis Help With These Mental Disorders:

Anxiety Disorders: Cannabis’s effect on anxiety depends on a person’s mental condition and the surroundings they are in when using it. According to a study published in the journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors, long-term use of the weed can create problems for the people suffering from anxiety. Long-term use of cannabis can make the anxiety-related symptoms worse and can lead to memory loss and cognition issues. According to some studies, individuals who take cannabis experience symptoms associated with depression and anxiety. Also, their brain responds slowly to the chemical dopamine. Medical experts opine that cannabis can relieve anxiety symptoms temporarily, but users should not indulge in cannabis excessively.

Bipolar Disorders: Bipolar disorder is a mental health disorder associated with unusual mood shifts. These shifts in mood lead to episodes of extreme lows and highs.  A 2016 study demonstrated that people suffering from bipolar disorder who didn’t use cannabis experienced mental impairment compared to their counterparts who used marijuana. Research shows that people with bipolar disorder experience a better mood after cannabis use.

Schizophrenia:Psychosis is an umbrella term for a spectrum of mental health conditions characterized by delusions, hallucinations, or becoming withdrawn. It can be caused by trauma, disease, substance abuse, and extreme stress.

Psychotic disorders, such as schizophrenia, are mental diseases involving psychosis that first strikes people in their early adulthood or late teens.

Individuals suffering from psychosis are more susceptible to use cannabis than healthy people resulting in an increase in the odds of psychotic symptoms. Individuals suffering from schizophrenia find it hard to memorize and learn new things. If people continue to use cannabis, they may experience hallucinations and deluded thinking.

Dementia: Dementia refers a cluster of symptoms that affect thinking, behavior. It is a neurodegenerative disease caused by the death of brain cells. According to a study, people who use marijuana have low blood flow in the hippocampus – the brain part that stores long-term memory, as compared to non-users. The continuous use of marijuana damages the brain areas responsible for memory and learning and obstruct activity in this part of the brain. Cannabis has been found to be effective in treating vascular dementia, a neurodegenerative disorder that occurs when there is an insufficient flow of blood to the brain. Stimulation of the CB2 receptors by using cannabidiol (CBD) helps restore the flow of blood to the brain.

Eating Disorder: Studies indicate that individuals suffering from eating disorder can benefit from CBD.

Researchers at the University of Salerno studied the role of the endocannabinoid system in regulating eating disorders. They found that the specialized system stimulates CB1 receptors and controls eating behaviors.

The CB1 receptor activation impacts the brain, liver, muscles, and gut. Another study reported in the journal Nature Neuroscience discovered that cannabinoids such as tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) can help treat anorexia. THC increases the pleasure of eating and the sensibility to smell and taste by activating the CB1 receptor.

If you want to purchase cannabis from a dispensary, you need to obtain consent from medical marijuana doctors. Also, you need to speak to your health care provider before using any drug because it can modify your brain chemicals leaving you predisposed to mental health problems.