Depression is one of the most widespread, yet most misunderstood, conditions in the world. How can something so frequent be a subject of so much debate and ignorance and the same time?
The answer to this conundrum lies in the fact that depression is an individual malady. Everyone can experience it in a different way, with a different degree of severity. It’s equally confusing both to those who suffer from it and to their loved ones.
Often times, depressed individuals find themselves in an enchanted circle – they have no will to try to get better and they don’t get better because they don’t have the will to do so. In an attempt to break this circle, many people choose to take medications. These drugs are strong and detrimental, and often create more problems than they treat.
Where to go then? In an attempt to find the best cure for depression, we have reached the shores of natural medicine. From then, we will sail into the waters of cannabis indica and cannabis sativa. Let’s take a look at this natural medicine and explore how it’s helping to eradicate the symptoms of depression.
From what perspective to look at depression?
Mental issues are always the hardest to assess, as it takes a lot of patience and objectivity when observing the development of one’s mind. Because everyone knows himself the best, it’s almost impossible to correctly assess how depressed someone is. Through unified knowledge about this facet of our health, we observe depression as one of two types – unipolar or bipolar.
Unipolar depression is manifested through a constant flux of negativity and a lack of will. Bipolar depression is a little bit different, as it is characterized by episodes of the so-called depressed mood. One moment, a person could feel fine and the other – boom, everything “sinks”.
Everyone has their own reason and root of depression. It can be genetic, chemically induced or due to other outside factors. Stress, disappointment, isolation and bad events all lead to depression.
What’s wrong with existing medication for depression?
In order to “treat” depression “correctly” psychiatrists give patients drugs from the antidepressant family. Sometimes the patient’s condition may dictate the use of an antidepressant in sync with other drugs. This is often seen in cases of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or due to chronic pain which can lead to depression.
These drugs affect the production and reuptake of serotonin and norepinephrine, two crucial hormones that directly affect our mood. A sad reality is that they often cause more problems than they solve and can treat severe addiction and personality issues. Here are just some of the issues which often arise due to antidepressants:
- Bad interactions with others drugs and even some kinds of food and drinks
- They can often create maniacal episodes when people have bipolar disorder as well
- They don’t solve the problem, they mask it and cause the person to become addicted to the feeling of being artificially well
- In some cases, they nullify the effects of birth control pills
- They affect other hormones and even cause a loss of libido in some cases
How does cannabis help in such cases?
The main pitch when it comes to providing depression care through cannabis is the nature of the plant. In other words, it contains no artificial ingredients. There are no adverse effects whatsoever. In many cases, when someone takes antidepressants for a long time, they stop functioning without them; a lifetime of use is often required to maintain the level of health achieved.
Cannabis also decreases the chance of serotonin toxicity – which is an overabundance of this hormone, and can lead to some unpleasant consequences for the body. By binding itself to the serotonin receptors, cannabis and THC in it control the production rate of this hormone.
Cannabis also increases appetite. Eating more means a larger amount of nutrients in the body, which in turns helps the organism and mind function better, resulting in higher self-esteem. Also, cannabis doesn’t create the dreaded emotional bluntness that antidepressants do so often. Patients often report genuine happiness and improved mood, which does not diminish if use is discontinued.
One, sometimes forgotten, benefit is the social part of using cannabis. Smoking it with friends strengthens social bonds, as the mind is much more relaxed under the effects of cannabis. This promotes spontaneous behavior, honesty, and relaxed-ness.
Another useful property of cannabis is the amazing plethora of different varieties and sorts. Suffering from depression? You can get to choose the sort that suits you. Some of them promote better sleep, while others affect creativity. Others smell sweet, while some are more sour. Genetic cross-breeding has created tens of thousands of different strains – this allows patients to safely experiment in finding the correct dosage to self-heal.
What to watch out for?
Like with every medication, there can be too much cannabis. Smoking excessive amounts can affect the way your brain processes information. You can get anxious or scared if you overwhelm your brain with copious amounts of THC. But, because cannabis is so devoid of any life threatening danger, you can experiment until you see how much you need.
