Coping With Anxiety Using Cannabis
I’m sure we have all experienced anxiety at one point or more in our lives and if not, we are at the very least familiar with it. Anxiety and stress are some of the prime reasons that people take cannabis.
Anxiety, back in the day, was protective. It served as a necessary emotion to help with survival when placed in dangerous situations. Nowadays, we are not necessarily being hunted by wild animals so continued stress and anxiety serve us no benefit and cause issues for us in everyday life including chronic disease and interruption of our rest and relaxation.
Don't get me wrong, however. There are definitely things in life that cause us to be anxious such as living and working in a pandemic, police brutality, mass shootings, etc. Coping skills and Cannabis can help us get through this thing called life.
More Than Just a Cover Up
To properly reap the benefits of cannabis, we need to work holistically—mind, body, and spirit—so that we are not just covering up symptoms, but actually helping to restore balance. So taking cannabis as well as committing to learning about ourselves and actively working on healing can help with this balance.
Understanding How It All Works
Cannabis is known to have a biphasic effect—lower doses can help with anxiety while higher doses can CAUSE anxiety— and depends upon dose as mentioned, the strain used, and the mindset of the patient. It’s important to note that when I say cannabis, I am including CBD lol. It is much better in patients with anxiety to utilize CBD but you can also use low doses of THC especially if you are not new to cannabis which is one factor to consider when choosing a product.
THC-naïve patients are much more likely to experience anxiety than patients who have never puff puff passed if you know what I mean. For this reason, high-CBD products with very low doses of THC are recommended to start off with.
The terpene profile is also very important to understand. If a person is anxious with little to no energy, terpenes that are more stimulating such as pinene, linalool, and citrusy ones like limonene are beneficial. Plants with terpenes high in myrcene are more sedating and grounding if you're someone who is "high strung" and needs some assistance with relaxing.
How to Reap the Benefits
Doses of CBD are said to be beneficial at 2.5 to 5 mg while increasing to the desired effect up to 50 mg over the course of a few weeks. THC can be added at low doses from about 1 mg to 3 mg. More is not better in this special case. The lowest effective dose should always be used to avoid tolerance. I hope this helps!
References:
Sweet, Tammi. The Wholistic Healing Guide to Cannabis: Understanding the Endocannabinoid System, Addressing Specific Ailments & Conditions, Making Cannabis-Based Remedies. Storey Publishing, 2020.
Backes, Michael. Cannabis Pharmacy: the Practical Guide to Medical Marijuana. Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, 2017.