Before I begin, please note that I made this switch with a doctor knowing about it. Always consult your doctor before deciding to stop taking your prescriptions. Also, no one knows what is best for you but you. Everyone’s anxiety and depression is different. Some people need prescriptions to function and that’s okay. <3

Did you know your body creates its own endocannabinoids? Endocannabinoids are neurotransmitters that bind to the cannabinoid receptors which are in your central and peripheral nervous system. If that all sounds like gibberish to you, just know that we need to produce endocannabinoids because they help regulate fertility, appetite, pain-sensation, mood, and memory. They also regulate the effects of cannabis usage. When we are dealing with chronic stress, our body stops making as much endocannabinoids, which then leads to symptoms of depression. Treating these symptoms with cannabis may help relieve them. And while numerous studies are being done on this, they are on-going and currently only being done on animals.

So why would you want to use cannabis instead in lieu of prescriptions to help with anxiety and depression? For me, the main reason were the side-effects – they were noticeably changing my quality of life. I was spaced-out, couldn’t remember anything, had no sex drive, and felt like a total blob. Don’t get me wrong — cannabis has side effects too, but they work better for me in my life. I also like that if I smoke a type of weed that makes me feel a side-effect I may not be a fan of (super lazy, hungry, whatever), I can go ahead and try a different strain to feel something different.

You also don’t have to smoke weed to get its benefits. I personally very rarely smoke weed and get high. I do, however, take a CBD oil every day which helps with my anxiety and depression without THC – the psychoactive chemical compound in cannabis that makes you feel high. I take half a dropper of the oil in the morning and it helps me feel present and focused. My anxiety and depression has never been so good. If you do enjoy smoking rather than taking a CBD oil, there are tons of strains that would work wonders on your mood and stress. Pineapple Express is known to make you feel super happy, Cannatonic is known to fight chronic pain and fatigue, and Lavender will help you feel less stressed out.

As I mentioned before, treating your anxiety and depression with cannabis isn’t better than prescriptions per se, but it is another option. Every single person experiences the symptoms of anxiety and depression differently, so it’s important that we have options for treatment. There have been tons of studies done, proving that cannabis can treat PTSD, chronic pain, and anxiety, so it is a very legitimate option for treating your mood disorder or mental illness. Speak to your doctor if you’re interested in seeing how cannabis or CBD can help your symptoms of anxiety and depression.

If you’ve had experience treating mental illness with cannabis, let me know in the comments.