Marijuana Benefits

Stress & Medical Marijuana

A Stressful reaction is a basic human survival mechanism. Stress causes bio-chemicals to be released in the brain that create an uncomfortable feeling. In an effort to feel better, the individual is then motivated to eliminate the cause.

In healthy individuals, once the threat is resolved, the uncomfortable feeling of stress evaporates.

However, there are many environmental, psychological and physiological factors that can overwhelm many individuals. Unresolved issues that cause chronic stress and defective neurochemistry lie at the core of this disorder. Excessive and unresolved stress can lead to psychological disorders, strokes, heart attacks, ulcers, and depression.

"If you ask what is the single most important key to longevity, I would have to say it is avoiding worry, stress and tension. And if you didn't ask me, I'd still have to say it."

-- George Burns, comedian, who lived to the age of 100.

People develop their own ways to cope with stress, good and bad. Some clean the house, others go for a run, have a cup of tea, watch sports or maybe read a romance novel. Others indulge in self-harming behavior such as drinking alcohol to excess, overeating or sabotage by blowing off steam that traumatizes innocents.

Good News - Medical Cannabis and Chronic Stress Cases

Cannabinoids, the active ingredients in Medical Marijuana, tend to have a balancing effect on neurotransmitters which affect mood and reduces self-harming coping behavioral "strategies", in many cases.

For centuries, Cannabis was indicated for many maladies, particularly for mental conditions and symptoms, including stress. Scientists now know that Marijuana works. Cannabis main psychoactive ingredient, THC, affects brain receptors, which slow the secretion of molecules that create the stressful response.

By reducing the stress response, fear is greatly diminished, allowing patients to function better; their mental state is more balanced, sleep is better, and overall energy levels improve, allowing them to better deal with life, including the source of stress.

“We must have a pie. Stress cannot exist in the presence of a pie.”

-- David Mamet, Boston Marriage

The Science of Medical Marijuana and Stress

In response to stress, glucocorticoids are secreted as part of a chain of events that creates the condition of stress. In chronic cases, the volume dial and switch (metabolic pathways) that turns on the production of glucocorticoids is set too high. Adrenaline is released, which in turn provides the energy meant to deal with stress. If the energy released is not used to resolve the threat at hand, there are negative consequences, which include insomnia, mental outbursts, internalized anger and other negative mental disorders.

When the Mind is Overwhelmed with Stress

Post traumatic stress disorder or PTSD is a prime example of a condition where gross psychological trauma exceeds the normal human's stress threshold. A deeply disturbing perception from the past; war, rape, abuse, that caused great physical and / or mental harm remains in the mind and creates an ongoing, inappropriate psycho-physiological response. Without treatment, these conditions can be mentally and physically damaging; as seen in divorce, alcoholism and heart attack.

"We have discovered a connection between the quantity of Cannabinoid receptors in the human brain, known as CB1 receptors, and post-traumatic stress disorder, the chronic, disabling condition that can plague trauma victims with flashbacks, nightmares and emotional instability."

-- Langone Medical Center, 2013

New Medical Cannabis Strains - Reduce Stress without a High

Many patient surveys, animal models and human studies that attest to the efficacy of Medical Cannabis and their Cannabinoid constituents in the treatment of stress. Recently, new Cannabis strains and extracts afford high amounts of non-psychoactive Cannabidiol, or CBD, which greatly reduces stress, without a "pothead" effect.

"The discovery may help explain why marijuana users say they take the drug mainly to reduce anxiety"

-- Sachin Patel, M.D., Ph.D.