Some people use medical marijuana to help with their anxiety. Yet others claim that cannabis can actually cause anxiety.
What's the truth about cannabis and anxiety?
Please Note: Buds which were incorrectly harvested or cured are more likely to cause anxiety
Buds that were harvested too early or which were not dried/cured properly can sometimes make me feel paranoid, but properly grown buds are always relaxing for me. That's part of why I started growing my own medical marijuana.
I'm definitely not a medical professional, but here's my take from my experience and what I've seen among other patients.
With using medical marijuana for anxiety, there's a lot to take account of. Oftentimes anxiety stems more from what's going on in your life than anything else. If you've got a story or string of thoughts repeating over and over in your head, and these thoughts make you feel anxious on a regular basis, then medical marijuana probably can't help you with that. It's not going to stop the anxiety-provoking thoughts by itself.
Some people find that medical marijuana helps breaks their old negative thought patterns, gives them new perspective, or temporarily relieves the overwhelming depth of deep depression. The main idea is it makes it easier for some people to break the anxiety pattern in their head and replace it with something more useful.
Yet even in these cases, it's important that you're actively working to build new pathways in your brain that are more healthy and enjoyable. You have to take an active role to reduce anxiety long-term.
Anxiety will continue to grow until you direct that mental energy towards something positive. It doesn't just disappear.
If you just 'medicate' with marijuana and let your mind wander, chances are you may soon fall back into your regular mental patterns. Your regular anxiety-inducing thought patterns can be even more crippling when you're also feeling differently due to the effects of marijuana.
I believe medical marijuana is most effective for relieving anxiety when combined with another time-tested approach that involves you actively doing something different to break down old patterns. Exercise, dance, explore, draw something, talk to a trusted friend, start a journal, learn a new instrument, plant a garden, read a book, take an astronomy class, etc. These types of activities can give your brain new scaffolding to create more positive mental patterns. Using medical marijuana responsibly can help open your mind to new possibilities during these times. Yet it's not for everyone.
And if your anxiety is really affecting your life, don't be afraid to ask for help. Talking to a pro can help you see new possibilities that are impossible to see when you're crippled by anxiety or depression.
