Top 5 Mental Conditions Treated With Marijuana

Sufferers of many different types of ailments have found relief with the use of medical marijuana, but most particularly those afflicted with mental conditions. When paired with a good psychiatrist, with an accredited psychology degree, medical marijuana is a very effective and natural remedy. Below you will find the top five mental conditions which have proven to be treatable with medical marijuana.

1. Insomnia

Those suffering from insomnia should consider ingesting medical marijuana. A cookie or brownie can be taken before bed with a glass of milk, and should ensure good sleep throughout the night. Users should be aware that the effects of medical marijuana will not be felt for up to an hour. Medical marijuana is a desirable alternative to addictive drugs such as Xanax, and is not habit forming. Many users report feeling clear-minded and relaxed, sleeping through the night, and having more pleasant dreams.

2. Migraines

Migraines can also be treated with medical marijuana, sometimes better than actual migraine medication. When consumed or smoked, retrograde inhibition will help to slow the rate of neurotransmitters in the brain. This is wonderful news for people who suffer from migraines–all too often, these horrific headaches are due to an overload of neural stimulation. Retrograde inhibition also relieves the pain and other symptoms which attend a full-blown migraine, including nausea and sensitivity to lights. Additionally, migraine medication has been flagged for dangerous side effects, including increased blood pressure. Migraine medication can also be rather debilitating to take, as it makes the user feel very tired and only want to sleep. Medical marijuana can make some users feel slightly sleepy but the doze can be adjusted so that the migraine sufferer will still experience relief from pain, nausea, and hyper-sensitivity, while not becoming as drowsy as they would with the alternative.

3. Anxiety

Mild anxiety is sometimes a side-effect for users, but some people experience mood-elevating effects, as well as a relaxing experience, allowing anxiety sufferers to have a normal life. Medical marijuana can also cause a desirable “slowing” down of thought processes, which can help to break up some of the upsetting cyclical thought patterns which plague anxiety sufferers.

4. Depression

Those who use marijuana once or more weekly have long reported fewer episodes of depression than the rest of the populace, but medical marijuana can also be smoked or ingested to elevate the mood and relieve those who specifically suffer from depression. As in anxiety sufferers, the lasting effects of medical marijuana help to break characteristic unproductive or negative thought cycles which so often spiral out of control for the sufferer until they hit “rock bottom.” Marijuana is not a miracle cure for depression or anxiety — it would not be healthy to mask the root problem instead of treating it — however, it can help one to live a happier, more fulfilling life while the patient works with a therapist to treat the root of their symptoms.

5. Bipolar Disorder

The friends and family of those with Bipolar Disorder will welcome this news as much as the sufferer — medical marijuana can significantly calm the mood swings exhibited by those with Bipolar Disorder. Cannabis works as a mood stabilizer for sufferers. Lithium, which has traditionally been diagnosed for sufferers, takes several weeks to begin working and also causes damage to the heart, kidneys, and thyroid gland. Often sufferers do not like to take their lithium, as it reins their emotions in to an unpleasant, deadening degree, an unpleasant effect not experienced by those who use marijuana instead. The marijuana smokers report feeling a pleasant effect long after the “high” itself has dissipated — this is the mood stabilizing effect of the drug.

In conclusion, medical marijuana should be of note to all those who are suffering from mental disorders, particularly the above mentioned five. Medical marijuana provides us with a safe, natural alternative to dangerous, habit-forming drugs. Many medicines traditionally prescribed by doctors actually damage the body and mind with long term use. Additionally, most people suffering from one health condition or another take more than one medication, and all too often these medications interfere with each other, exacerbating health problems, especially when the patient’s physicians are not in good contact with one another. Of course, when considering any sort of medication, be it marijuana or otherwise, you should be sure to consult with your physician first.

Marijuana deserves a second look for its medical applications. When used in conjunction with a good psychology program, medical marijuana is a natural, more affordable, and safer way to treat many mental health conditions.

Courtesy of the Medical Marijuana Blog

Study Says Medical Marijuana Most Used For Pain And Muscle Spasms

Patients in California with a physician’s recommendation are predominantly using cannabis to treat symptoms of pain, insomnia, and anxiety, according to population data published in the present issue of the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs.

Researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz analyzed data from 1,746 consecutive admissions to nine medical marijuana assessment clinics operating throughout California.

Authors reported, “[R]elief of pain, spasms, headache, and anxiety, as well as to improve sleep and relaxation were the most common reasons patients cited for using medical marijuana.” Patients typically reported that cannabis provided them with more than one therapeutic benefit, and four in five (79.3 percent) reported having first tried other medications prescribed by their physicians, almost half of which were opiates.

Of those sampled, three-fourths of the patients were male and three-fifths were Caucasian. Compared to the US Census of California, the patients in this sample were on average “somewhat younger, report[ed] slightly more years of formal education, and [were] more often employed.” Two-fifths of patients in the sample “had not been using marijuana recreationally prior to trying it for medicinal purposes.”

Investigators also reported that patients’ use of tobacco was “somewhat higher than in the general population, but [that their] prevalence of alcohol use was significantly lower” than that of the general population. Patients use of other illicit substances, including cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin was also lower than that of the general population.

Over 80 percent of the patients in the sample reported consuming cannabis via inhalation (86.1 percent). Twenty-five percent of patients sampled consumed cannabis orally. Twenty-two percent vaporized cannabis and approximately three percent said that they used the substance topically.

Most patients (40.1 percent) reported consuming up to three grams of cannabis per week. Thirty-six percent of patients reported using four to seven grams of cannabis, and 23.3 percent said they consumed more than seven grams of marijuana per week. A majority of respondents (56.1 percent) said they used cannabis prior to sleep.

Authors concluded: “Compared to earlier studies of medical marijuana patients, these data suggest that the patient population has evolved from mostly HIV/AIDS and cancer patients to a significantly more diverse array. … This suggests that the patient population is likely to continue evolving as new patients and physicians discover the therapeutic uses of cannabis.”

For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director, at: paul@norml.org. Full text of the study, “Who are medical marijuana patients? Population characteristics from nine California assessment clinics,” appears in The Journal of Psychoactive Drugs.