Can Cannabis Help or Cause Anxiety?

You wake up in the morning, your heart is pounding; you are under tremendous pressure at work, the bills are piling up. Or, perhaps you are caregiver for a loved one and have all the responsibilities that go along with that; or maybe you live in a state of chronic pain or have a disorder that you are living with. Cannabis can be an aid with these issues as a form of medical treatment. Once you and your doctor know where your anxiety is coming from, then you can determine what type of cannabis and the dosing you need.

Can Cannabis Help or Cause Anxiety?

You wake up in the morning, your heart is pounding; you are under tremendous pressure at work, the bills are piling up. Or, perhaps you are caregiver for a loved one and have all the responsibilities that go along with that; or maybe you live in a state of chronic pain or have a disorder that you are living with. Cannabis can be an aid with these issues as a form of medical treatment. Once you and your doctor know where your anxiety is coming from, then you can determine what type of cannabis and the dosing you need.

I don’t believe that cannabis is a one trick pony. An individual’s pain can vary from patient to patient. Therefore, in future articles, I will be sharing the skills you want to develop in order to help you overcome a state of panic or anxiety in tandem to the cannabis prescribed by your doctor. You will also learn how to more effectively relate to your stressors to create a better quality of life.

For now, let’s return to ‘What You Need to Know About Anxiety and Cannabis’. There are physiological experiences the body goes through along with the psychological and emotional aspects of anxiety. This is known as the bodies ‘Fight or Flight Response’.

When the body perceives there is danger, it will prepare itself to either confront the danger (fight) or run away from the danger (flight). When your body perceives a threat, whether consciously or unconsciously, your body has to adapt to that threat. Supporting your endocannabinoid system with cannabis when your body is in a chronic state of stress can assist the body in decreasing the hyper-arousal response that comes with chronic stress. For people who live with sensory processing disorders or traumatic stress, the anxiety can come from the body being in a chronic hyper- vigilant mode (fight) throughout the day and over an extended period of time. The right type of cannabis can help an individual’s processing, but the wrong type can be problematic.

First: you and your doctor need to know if your anxiety is coming from a situational stressor, anxiety from a sensory processing problem, unresolved trauma, or anxiety from a medical condition.

Second: you need to understand how you are regulating your system or looking to relax the body. The promotion of rest or sleep are examples of body relaxation we go through on a daily basis.

In terms of regulation: we have found with our patients, cannabis CBD with low levels of THC between 1-2.5 mg of THC several times a day can be helpful in managing chronic and ongoing symptoms of anxiety. The adding of additional plant extracts can enhance the cannabis in addressing the underling medical or neurological issues behind the anxiety.

With resting and sleeping we have found people tend to use higher levels of THC to treat anxiety and help the body to achieve sleep. However, having formulas that are either a balance of CBD/THC or having higher levels of THC need to be use with caution.

In some people, cannabis can cause the heart to race. This can happen if you do not start a low dosage and slowly increase the amount. This is also why you need to have your physician guide and monitor your process and progress. If you are going to use THC formulations, request that your physicians carefully guide you in starting with low dosages and going at an optimal slow pace as you increase to a dosage that best suits your body.