By: Madeleine Balestrier
Cannabis for anxiety and depression looks like it’s here to stay, especially now that the self-care movement has taken off.
Consuming CBD and THC through smoking, creams and pills, correlates to positive health and wellness benefits, including its positive impact on how to deal with anxiety and depression.
According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA), General Anxiety Disorder (GAD) affects 6.8 million adults in the United States alone. GAD often occurs in conjunction with depression.
And did you know, Major Depression Disorder (MDD) affects more than 16.1 million American adults?!
“Many people with an anxiety disorder also have a co-occurring disorder or physical illness, which can make their symptoms worse and recovery more difficult,” the ADAA has found. “It’s essential to be treated for both disorders.”
To make sure this is just like every other helplessly sad news alert, I’ll make sure to add that both disorders occur more often in women. Plus the National Survey on Drug Use and Health found, “the rate of individuals reporting symptoms consistent with major depression over the past year increased 52 percent in teens and 63 percent in young adults over a decade. Girls were more vulnerable than boys. By 2017, one out of every five teenage girls had experienced major depression in the last year.”
Clearly for the sake of our health and youth, we need more memes and less social media trolls.
But stay with me, I promise it gets better!
Cannabis treatments for mental health disorders have been on the rise in the medical community for patients seeking alternatives to pharmaceuticals because of research like this:
A study found in the US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health that THC not only interacts with the endocannabinoid system and “emotional content,” but the endocannabinoid system also possibly plays a role in abnormal emotional processing, such as mental health disorders.
About a year ago, data from the Strainprint app was used to analyze the impact of marijuana on depression, anxiety and stress. This app tracks self-reported changes in medical cannabis users.
The data came from close to 12,000 entries (that’s a huge sample size!). And here were some of the results, according to ScienceDirect:
“Medical cannabis users perceived a 50% reduction in depression and a 58% reduction in anxiety and stress following cannabis use. Two puffs were sufficient to reduce ratings of depression and anxiety, while 10+ puffs produced the greatest perceived reductions in stress.”
Higher doses of CBD paired with lower doses of THC were linked to reduced symptoms in depression, while the higher doses of THC and lower doses of CBD were better for stress on average.
Although to be transparent, the self-reported data also found extended uses of cannabis led to increased depression over time.
I know, I know I just threw a lot of jargon out there. So what does this all mean?
It means cannabis is a personalized experience, and has the potential to make waves across the health and wellness community and the world. How? By pairing the right strain to your needs.
And that’s where POW comes in.
Travelers looking for accommodations have Trivago, and Expedia
Backpackers have Hostelworld.
Weekend warriors have Hotels.com.
And now, the cannabis community has POW.
POW is a new kid on the block (then again, who isn’t), and it’s like a one-stop-shop for cannabis.
I reached out to Mary-Lisa from POW on LinkedIn, and the message was simple. POW is here to make it easy and educational to “compare thousands of cannabis strains prices and brands in one place.”
Their goal? Empower consumers to compare thousands of marijuana strains and brands in one place, and make it the easiest way to find and compare cannabis before you buy.
It sounds ambitious, but I dig their mission. After all, it seems to follow the same model as Trivago, AirBnB, etc that we all use every day.
So who is POW? They sum it up as “We believe every experience matters. So together, we help recreational and medical cannabis consumers find smart and easy ways to create their desired experience from thousands of marijuana strains, dispensaries and retailers in one place.”
Their catch phrase? “That’s Pu-pow!”
Yeah that’s right, they’re so serious about your cannabis needs they even have a catch phrase.
I found POW21.com somewhat addicting, especially as I played with the Cannabis Converter. I can compare the price of my favorite weed strain near nearby, but also check to see if I got a good deal at my local dispensary, or where to go next time. What caught my eye is that it gives me something practical and useful that serves a purposeful problem.
I can even check the site before a night out with the girls to find the best strain to tailor to our mood for movie night.
Just like with Skyscanner for flight alerts, POW can alert you when the price changes on your favorite strains nearby. The more that someone (or something) can make my life easier, I’m all in.
What kind of sorcery is this, you ask?
Looks more like data-driven intel as they claim to have over 2,700 known strains, and 3,500 dispensaries The “I Feel Like “ feature was one of my favorites. Type in how you’re feeling or how you want to feel and get the recommended strains to match your desired mood.
Feeling some Saturday night vibes?
Getting anxious about climate change?
Sick of the little red army stomping around in your uterus?
- So here’s what I did. I can customize marijuana strains to find the ideal positive effects (ex. I want to get creative), then exclude certain negative effects (no more dry mouth!), find that flavor (yum, strawberry!) and even find cannabis strains known to potentially help with medical symptoms and conditions.! Just type in what you’re looking for.
I even tried strains for depression and coffee flavor. Weird mix right, but 20 strains came up and they were all reviewed!
POW can help you find almost any strain you need. Their cannabis data even helps you find those strains for cramps based on public opinion, or cannabis for stress if you’re only half way through the work week.
I’m sure you can relate, since there are so many different marijuana strains to choose from, it’s easy to choose the wrong one for what you need. As cannabis use for anxiety, ailments, pain, mental health disorders and other medical conditions continues to rise, finding the perfect strain is crucial, or conditions, especially disorders like depression and anxiety, can grow worse instead of better.
Don’t fret though, POW is dedicated to helping those new and seasoned in the cannabis community to put educational information at their fingertips to find their ideal cannabis strain, whether it be for alternative therapies, relaxation or fun with your friends!
So here’s what I did this week on POW….
I chose the Phantom Cookies strain purely because of the name, but to be honest a phantom cookie doesn’t sound like much of a cookie at all.
Anyways, here’s all the goodies POW gave me:
- 194 reviews
- Makes you feel uplifted, happy, relaxed, talkative, focused
- Tastes like berry, flowery, coffee
- Different positive attributes and negative side effects
- Positive medical and health effects, like for depression, fatigue and stress
It’s more detailed than your Tinder profile, and most definitely better for your health.
So as these guys grow with the cannabis boom, just think of the potential for matching medical symptoms like anxiety disorders to suitable recommended strains and products. Also according to the ADAA, “it’s not uncommon for someone with an anxiety disorder to also suffer from depression or vice versa. Nearly one-half of those diagnosed with depression are also diagnosed with an anxiety disorder.”
Now imagine what POW’s personalized and private cannabis experience will do for those not only suffering from disorders like anxiety and depression, but how it can help other people more safely use and appreciate the benefits of smoking weed.
Madeleine Balestrier is a writer who covers cannabis culture and new trends in the cannabis community.
-Created in partnership with POW.