Life got you feeling low? Cannabis can help.
Whether you have a medical marijuana recommendation or not, many people self medicate their depression with cannabis — which makes sense. Depression can be connected to the balance of your body’s endocannabinoid system, which regulates physiological functions like pain, appetite, sleep, and mood.
Unlike pharmaceutical antidepressants, which need to build up in your system overtime in order to be effective, cannabis can offer immediate relief. While not every strain of weed will do the trick, if you put in the effort, you’ll find there are a number of ways to use cannabis effectively to treat depression.
Know your dose
Cannabis is known to have a biphasic effect, meaning that very high doses of weed can have the opposite effect as low doses. If half a joint gets you feeling relaxed or euphoric, finishing the entire thing could induce anxiety or paranoia. Start low and go slow, as experts say, so you can regulate your reaction to the weed along the way.
Start off smoking or vaping
These methods offer more control than edibles. Unless you know your body’s reaction to a particular product well enough before you consume, you’re better off regulating your dose by counting how many hits you need to feel good.
Eat (something healthy) beforehand
The reason for this is twofold: If your depression is at all tied into disordered eating, then you may be less likely to fill up on junk food munchies if you’re already feeling nutritionally satisfied. Another reason to eat before you smoke is that cannabis could lower blood sugar levels, which could make you nervous or shaky. Therefore, avoid this by prepping with a healthy snack or meal.
Decide on the best time of day to consume
For some people, cannabis helps them unwind at the end of the day, alleviating the stress and anxiety weighing them down and contributing to their depression. Smoking in the evening can help you put things in perspective and literally “at the end of the day” make peace with the circumstances surrounding your life. Especially if you find it hard to be productive done when you’re high, smoking after you’ve finished your day’s work would be preferable to getting high in the morning, lest you risk staying motivated. That said, for many other people, cannabis is the perfect morning pick-me-up to help juice your creative energies and get productive. Perhaps you need that refreshed perspective at the beginning of the day to give the rest of your activities a renewed aura. If you are a morning cannabis consumer, consider a microdose like Kiva’s Petra mints.
Before you consume, decide what you’ll use your high for
If you’re dealing with an issue in your life, get high and get journaling, or go for a jog or do yoga. There are any number of therapeutic activities, which cannabis can enhance, that could help lift you out of depression. Be sure you’re using cannabis as a tool and not as a crutch, in working through life’s ups and downs.
Consider a daily CBD supplement
Unlike THC-heavy cannabis, CBD-only products won’t have an immediate effect. If you want to take CBD for wellness, take it every day as you would a multivitamin, and overtime, you’ll notice you’re feeling more relaxed and rejuvenated.
