Depression refers to a mood disorder that’s characterized by persistent feelings of sadness and apathy in pleasurable activities. Many people tend to associate every mood fluctuation with depression. However, the two are quite different from each other.
While mood swings are part of our everyday routines, they’re not necessarily medical conditions. When a person is considered depressed, they experience extended periods of sadness, anxiety, and apathy.
Causes Of Depression
Most cases of depression emanate from various life events that bring us grief, sadness, or fear. Examples of such situations include grief, divorce, and the loss of one’s job. But as we’ve just mentioned, there must be an element of persistence. For instance, you’ll not be diagnosed with depression if you experience grief only for a week.
Depression manifests in a wide variety of signs and symptoms.
Some of the typical symptoms to watch out for include;
- Foul moods
- Apathy, or reduced interest in the activities that were once enjoyed such as sex, eating, and working out
- Unexplained weight loss or weight gain
- Anxiety is characterized by agitation and irritability
- Suicidal tendencies and recurrent thoughts of death
- Feelings of guilt or worthlessness
- Sleeping problems
- Difficulty thinking or concentrating
- Fatigue
- Speech anomalies
Treatment Of Depression
Depression is mostly treated through psychotherapy and drug therapy. Your doctor might even recommend a combination of antidepressants or psychotherapy sessions.
Over the past few years, medical experts have recommended cannabis for the treatment of depression. But before you buy cannabis from any marijuana dispensary and begin using it for depression, it’s prudent to know how you can benefit from it.
Here are some of the top benefits of using cannabis for depression.
Stimulates Neural Regeneration
One of the benefits of using cannabis for depression is that the compounds from the plant, such as cannabidiol (CBD), stimulate neural regeneration, particularly in the hippocampus. The hippocampus is the brain is most affected when you’re depressed.
According to studies, CBD can reduce both the death and atrophy of neurons in the hippocampus. Essentially, the best CBD gummies for anxiety facilitate hippocampal neurogenesis by interacting with various body chemicals and proteins responsible for neural regeneration.
For instance, cannabidiol has been shown to improve anandamide signaling. Anandamide is one of the body’s endogenous cannabinoids, and increased levels of this chemical in the hippocampus might stimulate neuron regeneration.
Other studies conducted on rats have identified positive effects of CBD on the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). This protein is known for its ability to protect existing neurons while also encouraging the regeneration of new ones.
Relieves Mood Fluctuations
One primary neurotransmitter responsible for mood regulation is known as serotonin. Low levels of serotonin have links to stress, anxiety, and depression. Thankfully, cannabis extracts like CBD help increase serotonin levels.
CBD doesn’t act on this neurotransmitter directly. Instead, it activates certain serotonin receptors, such as 5-HT1A. An increase in the amount of serotonin flowing through your brain is directly related to elevated moods.
In terms of mood elevation, CBD has proven to be just as useful as conventional selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).
Relieves Fatigue and Apathy
Feelings of lethargy not only make it challenging to undertake physical tasks. Such feelings also weigh on your willpower, which reflects adversely on your overall productivity.
Fortunately, fatigue and apathy are other significant symptoms of depression that you can relieve using cannabis. Psychoactive cannabis compounds like tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) are known for their stimulating effects, even in low doses.
When you’re in a state of euphoria, you’ll naturally enjoy the things that make you happy. Most importantly, a THC-containing product ensures that you get the bursts of energy required to accomplish your daily tasks.
There are numerous benefits to accrue by using cannabis for depression. What makes cannabis even more attractive as an effective treatment against depression is that it doesn’t present any severe side effects.
