How Can Cannabis Control Your Stress?
Stress and anxiety are common mental conditions affecting millions worldwide. Stress is defined as an immediate emotional response to external stimuli. According to medical experts, everyone goes through a couple of stressful experiences within a typical day. Everyday stressors include missing work deadlines, nursing divorce or relationship break-up, losing a loved one, etc. But stress could also be a symptom of an underlying medical condition, especially a chronic disease.
Anxiety, on the other hand, refers to feelings of excessive, irrational worry. Unlike feelings of stress which usually emanate from real stressors, you can develop an anxiety disorder even in the absence of stressors. Common anxiety disorders include generalized anxiety disorders (GAD), social anxiety disorder (SAD), panic disorder (PD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and mood disorders.
Both stress and anxiety produce similar symptoms. They include irritability, fatigue, anger, mood swings, sleep disorders, muscle pain, and high heart rate. In extreme cases, patients may also develop digestive disorders like constipation and diarrhea. Over the years, cannabis has been widely touted as an effective remedy for stress and anxiety. This post examines marijuana’s anxiolytic claims.
1. Cannabis May Calm You Down
Irritability is the most common symptom of stress and anxiety. Irritable people are generally restless and react disproportionately to stimuli. Now, cannabis is a powerful sedative and might help to calm down your nerves. By addressing irritability, marijuana helps to clear your mind of racing thoughts. That makes it easier to make sound decisions even during moments of intense anxiety.
Perhaps we should also mention that cannabis produces numerous strains, with each strain having its distinctive effects. For instance, you can enjoy the sedating effects of Blue Gelato if you wish to calm down your anxious mind.
2. Cannabis May Combat Cortisol
Cortisol is the quintessential stress hormone. Not only can high cortisol levels trigger anxiety. The hormone is also linked to elevated heart rate, digestive issues like nausea, and weight problems like rapid weight gain or loss. Various studies have found that marijuana might help to keep cortisol levels down. By reducing cortisol levels, cannabis may help to calm your nerves while also keeping your heart rate and weight in check.
3. Cannabis May Improve Serotonin Signaling
Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that plays a crucial role in mood stabilization. Low serotonin levels have been observed among people with stress, anxiety, and depression. Now, anxiety is conventionally treated using antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Fluoxetine (Prozac) and sertraline (Zoloft) are examples of SSRIs.
Although conventional stress medications are fairly effective, they’re infamous for inducing a host of side effects, including nausea, insomnia, and the very anxiety you’re trying to relieve. That explains why many medical marijuana doctors now recommend weed as a potential replacement for SSRIs.
Cannabis exerts its anxiolytic effects by mimicking the action of conventional SSRIs – improving serotonin signaling. But marijuana comes with an added benefit in that it presents fewer and milder side effects than regular anxiety medications.
4. Cannabis May Mediate Pain
Pain is another common side effect of stress and anxiety. Stress-induced pain mostly presents as muscle aches. Pain could also trigger anxiety. That’s especially true for people with chronic pain conditions like osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, and endometriosis. Fortunately, marijuana has proved effective against various forms of pain.
Cannabis extracts may relieve stress-induced pain in two ways.
The first is by boosting the functions of the vanilloid, a receptor noted for its role in transmitting pain signals. And second is by improving the body’s signaling of anandamide, a neurotransmitter that aids the body’s natural pain mediation processes.
5. Cannabis May Combat Fatigue
Stress has a way of throwing our physical and mental energy levels off balance. Anxiety can give you sudden bursts of energy. This is normal when in a fight or flight mode induced by panic attacks.
On the other end of the spectrum, stress could sap all the energy in your muscle cells, leaving you tired and lethargic. A dose of marijuana-infused supplements could make a world of difference in terms of combating stress-induced fatigue.
The primary psychoactive chemical in weed, known as tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), has been shown to induce euphoria. Feelings of euphoria are associated with high energy levels. That’s the reason people high on marijuana tend to engage more rigorously in thrill-inspiring activities, such as working out, eating, having sex, and traveling.
6. Cannabis May Boost Sleep
Insomnia, also known as sleeplessness, is arguably the worst side effect of stress and anxiety. Fortunately, insomnia is another medical issue that cannabis has been shown to remedy.
Remember what we mentioned about marijuana being a potent sedative? Consuming weed products before bedtime may help calm you down, thereby shortening your sleep latency. Sleep latency is the average time taken to drift from a complete state of wakefulness to sleep.
Besides making you fall asleep much sooner, cannabis might also increase your sleep duration. That’s due to the herb’s ability to eliminate or shorten rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. REM sleep is a sleep phase marked by elevated brain activity.
Final Words
Cannabis is not a magic pill for stress and anxiety. However, the herb might relieve some of the worst symptoms of anxiety. And there’s plenty of scientific research to back that up.
Martin B.
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