Cannabis has been proven to help treat at least a hundred and seventy three different elements and in this post, the one we're going to talk about is anxiety now I've been working with my own anxiety for quite some time now and I have been able to have great success using cannabis to help treat it.
So today I'm going to share with you four tips that I found to be extremely helpful for using cannabis to help treat anxiety, so let's dive in and let's try this.
So if you suffer from anxiety know that you're not alone 40 million adults age 18 and up suffer from anxiety and it's the most common mental illness in the United States and according to the journal of brain and behavior women are twice as likely to deal with anxiety over men.
Now what people don't realize is that there are many different types of anxiety, there's general anxiety but then there's also social anxiety and panic disorders phobia disorders, there's no OCD, which is obsessive compulsive disorder and PTSD which is post-traumatic stress disorder among Others, and the symptoms can start to show up for people as irritability feelings of dread and insomnia,fatigue you can have shortness of breath in these frequent feelings of fear and hopelessness and many people anxiety they try to be tough and just kind of muscle through it or blow it off but when it's left untreated you're at greater risk for developing chronic health conditions like heart disease and gastrointestinal problems and respiratory ailments.
But the thing is there are some good news because you're endocannabinoid system is believed to naturally regulate anxiety and stress levels so some doctors and scientists believe that people who struggle with anxiety can have an imbalance in there endocannabinoid system and of course cannabis has the main purpose of interacting with your endocannabinoids system to bring you into this state of homeostasis or of a balanced now this is why people have been using cannabis to help treat inviting for over 400 years as a healthy alternative to the many potentially damaging and addictive pharmaceutical pills that some doctors like to prescribe.
So cannabis can be a great tool for helping to treat anxiety, however, there are some factors that you want to make sure that you get right in yourself treatment plan otherwise cannabis could end up creating more anxiety than when you actually start it.
So here are the four tips for experimenting with using cannabis to help treat anxiety so number one is strain selection is important when it comes to cannabinoids studies have shown that doses that have a lower amount of THC can have an anti-anxiety of that however too much THC can cause paranoia and people who have anxiety because the
THC activates the Magdala which is the part of the brain that's responsible for fear, however strains that are high in CBD can counteract some of these mind-altering effects from the THC so what that tells us that when it comes to anxiety the strange you want to pick or the ones that are high and DVD that have low amount of THC and then when it comes to turbines in your strength selection little ol is great for alleviating anxiety and many of these purple variety streams like granddaddy purple or purple urkle or Mendo purpose or great day for lavender they often have elevated levels of this turkey, so this can be a good variety to look for when it comes to, you know selecting strains are going to help you with anxiety and as a little side note is actually a natural turkey that's found in lavender and greats as well so that's why you see that reflected in some of the strains.
Now ultimately every strain is going to respond differently with your body so the best thing to do is to consume cannabis where you know what the THC and CBD content is and what the primary terpenes are.
And then pay close attention to help each strain makes you feel and you know keep track of this in a journal so that you can learn what strains are going to work best for you and your body type when it comes specifically to anxiety.
And know that if you do stumble upon a strain that ends up having a little bit too much THC for you and causes more anxiety than actually helping you can counteract the THC with straight CBD what I've experienced myself is that a high CBD strain or straight CD pills or teachers will bring down some of those unwanted effects from experiencing too much THC in your system so it can be a good idea to always have a little straight CBD somewhere on hand for whenever that need comes up.
So number two is that the method matters so remember that less is more when it comes to using cannabis to treat anxiety in fact, most people mention that they actually feel the benefits of cannabis that work best for anxiety at much lower doses than people that consumed regularly.Many people also experienced these effects actually lingering a couple days after consuming and so they find that they end up not needing to consume on a daily basis and in a general sense you should probably stay away from edibles and concentrates as these methods, they often tend to have a more concentrated amount of THC in them and it can be easy to take a little bit too much. So what I would recommend is what I do which sticking to vaporizing or teachers when you're trying to treat for anxiety that you can regulate your dose more Easily.
Now number three is understanding the experience so it's important to understand the difference between consuming cannabis for recreational use versus to help treat anxiety so what you're looking for when you are consuming cannabis for anxiety is a slight perspective shift so that your mind is not locked into this you know, anxious thought pattern you're also looking to feel a subtle relaxing the way it feels when you take a warm towel out of the dryer wrap yourself up in it.
You're looking for some energetic and emotional weight, feeling lifted off your shoulders, which is going to alleviate the fear and the worry that you feel and you should also experienced this slight slowing down of time that allows you to be present in this moment and not caught up thinking about past experiences or possible future outcomes.
Now if you've consumed too much cannabis you most likely progress past these effects which ideally helping anxiety and instead you'll notice other effects which are highly psychoactive activity feeling like you're on a different plane feeling relaxed to the point of a couch lock or getting caught up for periods of time being self reflective or lost in conversations or sometimes even forgetting what you were talking about.
Now this level of THC consumption content increases some people's anxiety, but not all it just depends on the person so that's why I found that it's best to start off with a small dose and then work your way up noticing the different effects that you feel at these different dosage amounts.
And then number four is to watch your mind so for people have anxiety their minds will constantly be looking for any little sign that something is not okay and when used with consciousness cannabis can be a great tool for helping you to work with this tendency in a different way if you notice that mind is getting concerned with a thought take a minute just get quiet to go inward to see if you can separate yourself from the thought. It is possible to have the thought and feel the emotion associated with it and to not let it take you over let it live someplace separate inside of you, don't let the thought mean anything about you don't give it any more energy just let it be
Life is full of opposing sides there can't be light without dark, so if part of you is feeling in this example, let's say fearful there is another part of you that can still be feeling safe and grounded and if you look for that opposing side you will find it might be faint you might be small but it's there and as you focus on it the feelings that you desire will start to grow and expand,if you consume cannabis and you feel like your mind just starts to play tricks on you, see if you can use the power of cannabis to work with your anxiety in a different way and if this doesn't make clear sense to you right now just come back and read this part again when you're in this situation and I promise you it will make perfect sense in that situation.
So the thing that I want to leave you with is that life is short, so the quality of it is so important don't settle for a life full of worry and fear and stress and anxiety because you deserve better than that. Find whatever combination of healthy tools will work best for you and start using them today whether that's cannabis or therapy or yoga, meditation or something else no one method is likely going to be the whole big and all solution but a combination of a few of these will most likely help you make a noticeable progress.
And it's also important to listen to your body because each person's mental and medical state is different and at any time if you feel like you need additional support, make sure that you reach out to a doctor for personalized assistance you know the tips here are just meant to give you some general guidance and ideas of what's possible for anyone who is looking to find ways to try and help themselves by using cannabis for their Anxiety
Thank you so much for the reading.