What Is Anxiety?

People often dismiss anxiety as something fleeting or temporary, something you should not be worried about. In reality, anxiety is a very complex emotion, the sum of fear and worry as well as many other unpleasant emotions. It is usually felt before the occurrence of an overwhelming event, such as an examination, important life event or some change that may have a large impact on the inner world of the person. Anxiety may also be felt when making an important decision in life. Anxiety may also occur when faced with situations as simple as, say, bumping into your crush, or speaking in front of a crowd.

When an anxiety goes out of hand and becomes detrimental to the well-being of a person, it becomes a disorder, so the person cannot control the emotions. Anxiety disorders are not something that can be swept under the rug. As this could be debilitating to the emotional, social, and even physical capacity of a person, these disorders require serious attention. 

Anxiety disorders are prevalent in the United States, affecting 18% of its adult population, in any given year. A survey from statistics showed that 12% of Canadians, accounting to about 3.7 million people, suffer from anxiety disorder.

There are different types of anxiety disorders, namely social anxiety, panic anxiety disorder and general anxiety disorder.

Social anxiety — this is a condition when you afraid of different social situations and become extremely apprehensive.

Panic anxiety disorder — this is when panic attacks occur suddenly. This type of disorder can be fatal as it could lead to heart attacks.

General anxiety disorder — is the state of being worried about mundane, day to day situations.

There are various ways to treat an anxiety disorder. The treatment could be through medication management, dialectical behavior therapy, cognitive behavior therapy, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing dialectal behavior therapy, and exposure therapy. 

There are many who claim and support the use of medical marijuana, cannabis as well as cannabis oil for anxiety treating.

What Is Cannabis? 

Cannabis is an herb, a flowering one, which can cause a cerebral effect to the user when smoked. Its original use was not as a drug, but in making various things such as papers, oils, among others. The dried flowers of the cannabis plant are known in local parlance as marijuana. Another popular by-product of the cannabis plant is hemp, — the fibers of the stem woven together. Cannabis oils are extracted from the seeds.

The scientific term for cannabis is cannabis sativa, a species that come from the Cannabaceae family. It is known colloquially as pot, reefer, weed, hashish, and marijuana.

The chemical THC or delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol said to be the one responsible for most of the cannabis’ psychoactive effects. These psychoactive effects vary from person to person and are dependent on the method of administration, the mood state of the person, concurrent drug use, dosage and the social environment where the drug was administered.

Cannabis could produce an alteration in the state of consciousness of the user. It could give a feeling of being happy, or even euphoric. The user may also suddenly become sociable and relaxed. 

Medical Marijuana for Anxiety

Marijuana is a Mexican word, originally spelled as marihuana. It is the dried flowers of the cannabis plant. It is widely popular all over the world because of the euphoric state that you get when you smoke it. It is also known in the streets as “weed”. 

Medical marijuana is defined as the use of cannabis, along with its chemical compounds and by-product in treating diseases and improving symptoms of a variety of illness. Although there are states in the United States where marijuana is legal and can be used freely, there are a lot of countries who strongly oppose its use, whether medical or recreational. 

There are studies that claim that marijuana can actually be used in treating anxiety, especially those with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A research done in Canada concluded that almost half of the patients who were given medical marijuana to treat their anxiety disorder stopped using the original medication prescribed to them in favor of marijuana. 

It is said that the presence of the chemical compound Cannabidiol facilitates the efficacy of medical marijuana in treating anxiety disorders. Cannabidiol has anxiety-reducing effects. The good thing about it is that it is not psychoactive and does not come with the side effect of paranoia.

Cannabis Oil for Anxiety

Another treatment for anxiety disorder that is generating a buzz is the use of Cannabis Oil. Patients often resort to this when they do not see any improvement in their condition even after taking mainstream medicines, or when they cannot endure the side effects.

Cannabidiol (CBD) is the non-intoxicating by-product of cannabis. CBD produces a reaction in the brain that calms the nerves and soothes anxiety. In effect, CBD has an antidepressant property.

Cannabis for Anxiety and Depression

There are many available strains of Cannabis that can be used in curbing anxiety.   Each of these strains is composed of cannabinoids and terpenes, compounds offering many therapeutic benefits.  Most of the strains are also an anti-depressant.

An example of this is the Lavender strain, which gives a delicate balance of physical relaxation and cerebral bliss, together with an aroma of sweet lavender.  Sour Tsunami is also a great choice for individuals that are prone to anxiety and depression.

Proceed with caution

Those who use cannabis, cannabis oil, and medical marijuana, should be wary that they do not go overboard in taking these alternative treatments. Studies show that taking it in high dosage for a prolonged period of time may not actually lessen anxiety disorder and depression, but instead aggravate its intensity.

So, cannabis is really considered to be a great treatment for anxiety-related disorders. Taking it in the right dosage and for a short period of time, it’s a good alternative to currently available pharmaceutics.