You are not alone in feeling stressed and anxious. There are many factors in modern society that cause us to feel stress and anxiety, like our ability to be connected all. the. time. The news media is ever present. Our phones are constantly buzzing telling us we should be doing something or responding to someone. We encounter loneliness, grief, financial obligations, relationship woes, change, all at rapid speeds.
According to the Mayo Clinic, stress is “a normal psychological and physical reaction to the demands of life. A small amount of stress can be good, motivating you to perform well. But multiple challenges daily can push you beyond your ability to cope.” External stress and anxiety activate a flight-or-fight response that was the essential survival mechanism for prehistoric humans facing life-threatening conditions. The hormonal changes produce a natural distress signal in the brain to fight off predators or flee to safety. In today’s world, we produce these same signals, which can be both motivating and debilitating. When stress and anxiety are debilitating, it can affect your mood and cause increased health risks.
Acute stress and chronic stress are two of the primary types of stress. Acute stress can be triggered in the moment, such as pulling your child out of the way of an oncoming car or gearing up for a big presentation. Chronic stress develops over time with the accumulation of prolonged experiences of acute stress leading to a more constant fear or feeling of being overwhelmed that can cause more severe health problems that result in regular long term treatments from a medical doctor.
For anyone experiencing stress and anxiety, there are natural remedies to help alleviate these feelings of stress. Meditation, breathing exercises, social support, physical activity are commonly accepted techniques for stress and anxiety reduction. In addition, cannabis can be used for stress and anxiety reduction. According to a study of 628 self-selected cannabis users in Canada, the primary reasons for using marijuana were anxiolytic and sedation. Cannabis contains compounds in it that can mimic the effects of natural remedies. Cannabis can invoke relaxation or can produce endorphins (or the “runners high”) that we experience when we engage in physical activity. Cannabidiol, or CBD, in particular has been studied to demonstrate the anxiolytic effects on humans and animals. According to a study done on mice subjected to chronic unpredictable stress (CUD), the results demonstrate that the “therapeutic potential of non-psychoactive cannabinoids in anxiety and depression, and in particular the anxiolytic effect of CBD, opens the door for their use to manage psychiatric symptoms in disorders such as ageing, stress and neuroinflammation, in which the neurogenic niche is affected.”1 Another study specifically evaluated the effects of CBD on patients with social anxiety disorder when subjected to a simulated public speaking test. The preliminary results of the study revealed that one dose of CBD can reduce anxiety that is typically provoked by public speaking in patients with this type of anxiety disorder, thereby effectively treating one of the main symptoms (fear of public speaking) of this disorder.((Bergamaschi MM, Queiroz RH, Chagas MH, de Oliveira DC, De Martinis BS, Kapczinski F, Quevedo J, Roesler R, Schröder N, Nardi AE, Martín-Santos R, Hallak JE, Zuardi AW, Crippa JA. Cannabidiol reduces the anxiety induced by simulated public speaking in treatment-naïve social phobia patients. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2011 May;36(6):1219-26. doi: 10.1038/npp.2011.6. Epub 2011 Feb 9. PMID: 21307846; PMCID: PMC3079847.))
If you are looking to reduce stress with cannabis, one thing to note is that high THC can increase anxiety. It is recommended that you use low levels of THC (2mg) with higher levels of CBD (up to 5mg). Some recommended flowers for stress and anxiety are typically purple strains high in CBD, including Bubba Kush, OG Kush, Girl Scout Cookies, Cannatonic, and Sour Tsunami. In addition to cannabis flower for stress and anxiety, there are a variety of other methods of consumption available. Cannabis oils (or tinctures) for stress and anxiety are a popular method for this benefit. As well as single dose cannabis tablets.
In addition to the proper balance of THC and CBD, the terpene linalool (also found in lavender) has shown promising results against anxiety and stress. A few animal studies have been conducted to see how linalool can change our reactions to stress and anxiety inducing situations.2 Findings from these studies confirm what many ancient civilizations knew to be true hundreds of years ago: linalool is a powerful plant compound essential to relieving stress and anxiety.
Calming treatments can be taken day or night, however you may find that one product is perfect for nighttime consumption while another is better for your daytime relief. The commonly stated recommendation for any cannabis treatment is, “start low and go slow”, meaning limit your dose to begin with. Through experimentation you will be able to determine your perfect threshold for your own personal oasis of calm.
- Alline C. Campos, Zaira Ortega, Javier Palazuelos, Manoela V. Fogaça, Daniele C. Aguiar, Javier Díaz-Alonso, Silvia Ortega-Gutiérrez, Henar Vázquez-Villa, Fabricio A. Moreira, Manuel Guzmán, Ismael Galve-Roperh, Francisco S. Guimarães, The anxiolytic effect of cannabidiol on chronically stressed mice depends on hippocampal neurogenesis: involvement of the endocannabinoid system, International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology, Volume 16, Issue 6, July 2013, Pages 1407–1419, https://doi.org/10.1017/S1461145712001502 [↩]
- Linck, Vd M., et al. “Effects of inhaled Linalool in anxiety, social interaction and aggressive behavior in mice.” Phytomedicine 17.8-9 (2010): 679-683. [↩]