Is there a link between cannibis,depression and anxiety?
When it comes to depression and anxiety there will always be the nature-nurture style debate. In other words, are you born depressed and anxious, or is this a condition that develops as you move through life.
As a holistic therapist who has now worked with many clients suffering with depression and anxiety, I am of the firm belief that there is always a cause, a trigger, or a reason why someone is depressed or anxious.
Commonly I find that childhood issues such as physical abuse, verbal abuse, neglect, or bullying, very often lead to depression and anxiety later in life. Very seldom do I treat clients for depression and anxiety when they have a not had some kind of negative life event. Some clients will go to the doctor and will be put on ant-depressants or anti-anxiety tablets to help them cope, but more and more often I see that clients are choosing to ‘self-medicate ‘.
I am sure many of you reading this will immediately know what I am talking about when I say ‘self-medicate ‘. It is a term I hear often in my consulting room. The term itself ‘self-medicate ‘ is a client’s justification to themselves that it is ok to do what they do to make themselves feel better, it is ok to sink ten pints, it is ok to drink alone, and it is ok to take drugs,whatever they may be.
In this blog today I am going to specifically discuss cannabis use as a ‘self-medication’.
In later blogs I will cover alcohol use and over the counter drugs.
Cannabis research is gaining pace, and there are now 25 states in America that have legalised cannabis use due to the positive outcomes that have been seen with cannabis oil.Up till now research has been divided as to the effects of recreational cannabis use or cannabis use to self-medicate. But there are some serious factors that cannabis users need to take into consideration when they light up.
Although Cannabinoids found in the oil can be responsible for positive emotional effects on the body’s nervous system, and has been proven to help many conditions, the counterproductive amounts of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) present in street bought cannabis, will outweigh any benefits gained from the Cannabinoids.
Dr Faizal Mohammed from Mersey Care NHS Trust’s addiction service has serious concerns about skunk due to the high levels of THC present, and he is also concerned about the link between cannabis,depression and anxiety, along with psychosis. It has long been know that drug dealers lace drugs with anything from rat poison, glass, strychnine, and pain killers, but an even bigger concern now is that drug dealers are lacing weed and skunk with highly addictive heroin, diazepam and methadone, causing smokers to become highly addicted.
In an effort to try and find research supporting the fact that weed may be able to help my clients with their fight against depression and anxiety, and that there is no link between cannibis,depression and anxiety, I actually discovered the opposite.
The weed, skunk, resin on the streets of the UK is not pure, and therefore smokers are ingesting unknown levels of what can potentially be very deadly toxins. Even small amounts of these toxins will lead to mental health problems at some point. So next time you light up, don’t take my word for it, do some real research and consider what you are really putting into your body.
Consider your own mental health and whether you feel that you are mentally and emotionally stable. If you are, and you don’t have work, relationship or mental health problems then you probably have nothing to worry about.
If you do have any of these problems you may want to sit down and seriously re-consider if that joint is as good for you as you think it is. Although research is ongoing, there is enough research to suggest that there is an indefensible negative link between cannibis,depression and anxiety.
I have included some links below with just some of the research I have sourced as well as an interesting newspaper article from the Liverpool Echo (2014).
If you would like help getting over your weed addiction, please contact me.
I will address the underlying issues that forced you to self-medicate in the first place, and then help you to get over the addiction using a combination of Cognitive Behavioural techniques and hypnotherapy.
Please see my prices page for block booking prices. Weed addiction is treated in the same way as cigarette addiction, one session is £195.00. Underlying issues are treated in four or more sessions depending on what the problems are. Please ring me on 01634 307030 or email me on enquiries@dohypnosiskent.co.uk to discuss how many sessions you are likely to require.
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/hooked-now-mersey-drug-dealers-6735907
Research papers
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3037578/
http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/healthadvice/problemsdisorders/cannabis.aspx
Please note results may vary from person to person. There are never guarantees when undergoing any form of therapy and for this reason we do not offer any guarantees for any of our hypnotherapy services. *