The United States is slowly but surely becoming more aware of the importance of mental health and how it affects people. Now that the baby boomers are slowly dying off, we can begin to see more compassionate and sensical people take the reins in addressing important issues like mental health in our country today. The great thing about the addition of medical marijuana programs in various states is that it allows for better treatment of certain mental health disorders.
Mental health disorders are in the rise in the United States, and marijuana has become a great means of alternative treatment. Many studies and clinical research suggest the effectiveness of cannabis for treating things like stress, anxiety, depression, PTSD, and more. Moreover, medical marijuana can begin to replace more traditional, and potentially harmful, methods of treating these conditions like prescription medications.
While some prescription medications do help treat anxiety and depression, many synthetic medications do more harm than good in the long run. Of course, the most effective treatment for any mental health disorder is therapy, but therapy often works best in conjunction with other forms of medication. Why shouldn’t it be medical marijuana? If you want to read and learn more about this subject, make sure that you keep on reading. Today I wanted to talk about seasonal affective disorder and how it can be treated with some good old fashioned marijuana.
So what is seasonal affective disorder? Well, it is actually a form of depression and is a clinical condition listed in the Diagnostic Manual of Mental Disorders. Not everyone believes that seasonal affective disorder is a real thing, but in many ways, it affects millions of people in the United States each year. People that have been diagnosed with seasonal affective disorder often struggle with a few select symptoms, including but not limited to insomnia, headaches, body aches, mood volatility, and low energy. Depression can also cause one to lose or gain more of an appetite, causing further weight loss or gain. Anyway you slice it, depression is no joke.
Oftentimes, seasonal affective disorder occurs during the winter, especially in more northern states that spend longer days in the dark and see the sun much less. However, this type of depression can occur for anyone during any season. The sad thing about seasonal affective disorder is that not many people actually seek treatment or even realize that they are depressed. They simply go on with their lives hoping to find some hope of joy in the future. People with this type of depression can go long periods of time without treatment or support, and this is a really sad reality that too many people are facing each year. So what can marijuana do to treat this type of disorder? Well, I’ll tell you right now!
If you have never used marijuana before, you may have a lot of concerns about using it to treat a disorder like depression. How does it actually work? Does it have side effects? What if my depression gets worse? Do I have to be stoned out of my mind each night for it to work? While I understand that it can be overwhelming to look into using medical marijuana for the first time, I hope that I can clear a few things up in this post. When using medical marijuana, getting super high is not the goal. You want to work with your healthcare provider to find a dosage, strain, and product type that works best for you and allows you to manage your symptoms without inhibiting your way of life. After all, isn’t that the purpose of using drugs and medications?
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