Cannabis and stress

Can Cannabis cure stress?

The EC system and Cannabis have been implicated in two specific pathways involving the human stress response: the Cortico-Limbic Circuit and Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA axis). Endocannabinoids regulate the HPA axis response to stress. This is further proof of the controlling role of Cannabis over our hormonal system. [75]  (Lovallo, 2006).

Stress affects the brain in a number of ways, including memory and learning abilities, cognitive deficits (brain damage, impaired functioning) as well as mood alterations. Serious biological damage is caused at cellular level when the body is under stress. This affects how cells communicate and send and receive messages affecting all of the body’s systems, not only the brain.

Even the heart is affected; as we know, many people have stress-related heart attacks. Stress causes physical pain and we all know that Cannabis is the best pain killer. Cannabis and especially THC, devours stress because it can literally stop the production of the stress hormones.

In times of increased stress and anxiety I usually tell my patients to “double their dose” of Cannabis medicine to compensate for this unnatural reduction of our own Endocannabinoids. Stress makes you Cannabinoid deficient. By administering Cannabis to lab rats, scientists found, for example, that symptoms of anxiety and depression were alleviated. It’s exactly the same with humans; if you give a depressed person a little bit of Cannabis and they will definitely start to feel better. This is because patients who gain relief from their stress and anxiety symptoms, by consuming Cannabis, are really just supplementing a deficiency in their EC system. [76] (Tambaro and Bortolato 2012)

Scientists acknowledge that chronic stress blocks many of our receptors, including our Cannabinoid receptors. The body’s production of Endocannabinoids directly affects our cognition, emotion and behaviour. In tests carried out on rats, researchers found that chronic stress reduced the production of Endocannabinoids and Endocannabinoid receptors. When the body works to protect against stress, our natural THC, Anandamide, is depleted. This decline in Anandamide immediately activates the stress response in the body and brain, by releasing toxic stress hormones into the blood stream. When stress levels are high, Anandamide levels will be low, and it is this depletion of our natural THC, which is what makes people feel more anxious in times of stress. This is how Cannabis can help us to overcome a lot of daily stresses.