Anxiety
Anxiety is an extremely prevalent condition within Australian society, and along with other mental health conditions, can create significantly dysfunction. Approximately 1 in 3 Australians has suffered from a diagnosed anxiety disorder at some stage in their life, meaning that likely a further compliment of people remain undiagnosed.
Anxiety symptoms range from mild to moderate to severe. They are different for everybody and can be constant or fluctuating and intermittent. Anxiety symptoms range from ruminating cyclic thoughts, fluctuating low mood, sleep disruption and insomnia, gut symptoms and social anxiety. Anxiety symptoms can impact leaving the house, social interactions relationships, work, and all other aspects of daily living. Ruminating thoughts can often crescendo with physiological adrenaline response, causing elevated heart rate and constriction of blood vessels, causing what we call a Panic Attack.
Treatment for mental health conditions, including anxiety, involve a multimodal approach. The initial approach involves sleep hygiene, diet and exercise, psychological strategies including both self-directed and psychologist directed and discussion with a doctor regarding medications. Common medications include St Johns Wort, Melatonin, B-Blockers, Antidepressants etc. Medicinal cannabis has been increasingly used as a treatment for stress, anxiety, mood disturbances, sleep disturbance and insomnia.
Medicinal Cannabis & Anxiety
Medicinal cannabis is rapidly gaining traction as an alternative treatment for anxiety and other mental health conditions. Anxiety can be a regular daily occurrence or a fluctuating intermittent set of symptoms in relation to acute psychosocial stressors.
Medicinal cannabis alone is often an effective treatment for anxiety symptoms. Alternatively, medicinal cannabis can be used as an adjunct or additional aspect of more traditional anxiety treatments.
There can be conflicting information and advice regarding medicinal cannabis as a treatment for anxiety. The two main active constituents of the cannabis plant, THC and CBD, both interact with Endocannabinoid receptors. THC is the main psychoactive ingredient and can lead to perceptual disturbance and cognitive slowdown. These effects lead to relaxation and slight perceptual changes toward specific psychosocial stressors. CBD also acts on Endocannabinoid receptors, however, works to inhibit the perceptual changes and ‘high’ produced by THC activity.
THC works differently for different people, with effects being dose-dependent. THC at high doses in some people can be anxiogenic, meaning that it promotes anxiety. At lower doses, THC is mainly anxiolytic, meaning that it reduces anxiety. For some people, finding the correct dose of THC to have the desired anti-anxiety effect can involve some trial and error. It is usually recommended that moderate to high doses of CBD are involved, to offset the potential anxiogenic effects of higher dose THC.
THC administered within each person’s correct therapeutic range for anxiety or other mental health conditions can have excellent effects on anxiety, stress, sleep, and panic attack prevention.
Commencing Treatment
Commencing medicinal cannabis treatment for mental health conditions, such as anxiety, can be daunting for people who have limited experience with this product. Effective treatment with THC and CBD doses can be very individual, and require tailoring for each person as treatment doses are often unique.
A recommended commencement strategy is a moderate to high dose CBD product with a lower dose THC. Dosing at night time with small doses, with a view to titrate this night time dose up until each person has an idea of the effects and benefits of the product at each specific dose. Once the effect has been worked out, doses can be added during the day, in the morning and the afternoon. If no effect on anxiety or mental health condition is established with this starting product, one with a higher dose of THC can be trialled, with the dose of THC increased until the desired outcome is reached.
By starting slow, the effect of THC and CBD concentrations can be established for each person without disrupting daily function or exacerbating anxiety.