Best Marijuana Strains for Stress

Marijuana is used for many purposes, both therapeutic and recreational. One of the more significant and impactful uses is helping people combat personal stress and stress disorders. With the use of marijuana, many have found that they can return to a normal life or start feeling like themselves once again.

Of course, different strains of marijuana are cultivated to produce different effects. Just as some strains are cultivated for pain reduction properties and others are known to boost energy or provide restful sleep, some marijuana strains are considered more effective at helping to manage stress. If you’re in need of a marijuana strain to help you combat stress in your life, this guide can help you choose the right one.

How Stress Affects Your Body and Mind

Stress is commonly experienced by people going through significant life changes or experiencing an uncomfortable situation. For example, you may experience stress about money, politics, your family, your job, an unforeseen catastrophe, and much more. Although stress is common, it can cause havoc on your body by putting all your bodily systems under intense physical strain. This can make you sick or lead to physical side effects you might not even have realized are a result of high stress levels. If stress is not managed properly, it often lingers, leading to serious mental and physical conditions, such as insomnia, recurring headaches, eating disorders, a weakened immune system, high blood pressure, heart disease, and much more.^[1]Khan, S., & Kahn, R. (2017). Chronic stress leads to anxiety and depression. Ann Psychiatry Ment Health 5(1): 1091. Retrieved March 29, 2022, from … Continue reading

Simply hoping that stress goes away with time is not always a possibility. In many cases, the cause of your stress could be out of your control. When the brain receives unpleasant stimuli, the cerebral cortex will label the triggering stimulus as a stressor. The hypothalamus receives this stimulus and transitions into a fight or flight response.

Your body will then produce catecholamine, which gives your body the adrenaline it needs in particularly stressful situations. The physical and chemical conditions your body endures under this fight or flight response include sweating, high blood pressure, constriction of blood vessels, and heart palpitations. When the body goes into this mode too often, these conditions can force the body to develop negative conditions down the line.

Ignoring your stress can permanently damage your health and decrease your longevity. By helping prevent your body from getting as easily triggered into this fight or flight response, marijuana could help relieve you of your stress and its damaging effects. If you’re amidst a stressful situation, marijuana could help you achieve a quick calm.

Marijuana as a Stress Reliever

Marijuana has been used to help alleviate stress and anxiety and bring about a relaxing, meditative experience since the earliest civilizations. The first known use of marijuana to treat medical conditions within patients was cited in China in the third millennium BCE. Marijuana continued to be used for multiple medical purposes up until the 20th century, when the United States, as well as multiple European countries, put a ban on marijuana imports. As a result, it became illegal for doctors to continue to prescribe it for pain or as therapy for stress disorders.^[2]Tambaro, S., & Bortolato, M. (2012). Cannabinoid-related agents in the treatment of anxiety disorders: current knowledge and future perspectives. Recent patents on CNS drug discovery, 7(1), … Continue reading

Despite becoming the most widely used recreational drug in the United States, it wasn’t until the end of the 20th century that marijuana once again became widely recognized for its therapeutic properties. Today, people all around the country are using marijuana to treat everything from stress to insomnia, anxiety, seizures and more. In many states, physicians are free to recommend the medicinal use of marijuana to their patients, and the results have been more than promising.

Patients have reported that marijuana helps their anxiety, provides relaxation, and helps achieve stress relief. Although the federal government still classifies marijuana as a class one substance, along with drugs such as heroin and LSD, research has demonstrated that the use of marijuana for treating stress provides little risk to patients. Unlike drugs such as opiates, alcohol, caffeine, nicotine, and even aspirin, there have been zero reported deaths of anyone overdosing on marijuana. In fact, marijuana is of such a low toxicity that the upper limit for THC in the human body has not yet been approached, making marijuana one of the safest substances used by humans for therapeutic reasons.^[3]Aggarwal, S. K., Kyashna-Tocha, M., & Carter, G. T. (2007). Dosing medical marijuana: rational guidelines on trial in Washington State. MedGenMed : Medscape general medicine, 9(3), 52.Retrieved … Continue reading

How Is Marijuana Different From Illicit Drugs?

Illicit drugs like opioids can negatively affect the parts of the brain that control breathing, heart rate, or body temperature. Marijuana is processed in the higher brain, the part of the brain where our ability to reason, think about the future, make informed decisions, and express other forms of logical thinking takes place. Ultimately, this is where our consciousness resides.

Marijuana is a consciousness altering substance, meaning that the cannabinoids found in THC are primarily utilized in the hippocampus, a part of our higher brain. Since marijuana is acting in our higher brain, it can alter your current mood by affecting your perception on how hungry you are, whether you are in pain, and your control over your muscles.^[4]NIDA. (2021). How does marijuana produce its effects? Retrieved March 29, 2022, from https://nida.nih.gov/publications/research-reports/marijuana/how-does-marijuana-produce-its-effects For most marijuana users, this change in their perception is pleasurable, making marijuana an effective substance for reducing pain and stress.

How Can Marijuana Reduce Stress?

Many scientists attribute anxiety disorders to a lack of endocannabinoids (cannabinoid neurotransmitter chemicals produced within the body) and a reduction in active endocannabinoid receptors. Interactions between endocannabinoids and receptors help to regulate mood, memory, appetite, and even sleep. By using marijuana, you are introducing cannabinoids like THC into your brain, where it can provide the endocannabinoid receptor interactions absent with chronic stress and anxiety. Low to moderate levels of strains that are targeted specifically for stress reduction can give your body this brain chemical needed to better manage your stress.^[5]Stoner SA. Effects of marijuana on mental health: Anxiety disorders. Alcohol & Drug Abuse Institute, University of Washington. Retrieved March 29, 2022, from … Continue reading

What Is a Strain of Marijuana?

When someone says they have a favorite strain of marijuana, they are referring to the genetic variant that has been cultivated from the mother plant. Each strain can be categorized based on several factors, including appearance, botanical lineage, chemical makeup, and the effects it produces for the user. Strain names are often used as descriptors for some of the most defining traits of that particular variety of marijuana. For example, the Blue Dream strain is named after its distinguishable blueberry taste, as well as its properties for promoting a user’s happiness and putting them in a dream-like state.

There are three major umbrellas under which other derivatives of marijuana strains fall: sativa, hybrid and indica. While today’s strains have been carefully cultivated to produce the desired traits—meaning that “pure” sativas and indicas are rare—it is still useful to pay attention to whether a strain is indica- or sativa-heavy.

Best Marijuana Strains to Treat Stress

Whether the idea of different strains of marijuana is new to you or you are an experienced marijuana user, this list can help you get to know some of the most popular strains for reducing stress levels.

Studies Show Cannabis Can Help Reduce Stress

Marijuana is used in many contexts, including for medicinal and recreational purposes. With the more recent widespread legalization of cannabis across the US more research is underway. Several studies and consumer reports indicate marijuana has proven effective at reducing stress and combating stress disorders. Many cannabis users who struggle with stress report that they can resume their normal daily lives or recapture a sense of self with the right strain for their needs.

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