Marijuana has caused a lot of controversy around the world over the years, and many people don’t know what benefits it offers because it was illegal for the better part of a century. However, since legalization in 2012, and for medical use before that, many scientists are now focusing their efforts on trying to understand just how marijuana interacts with the body and the mind. Since then many consumption methods have been created or used more frequently like dry herb vaporizers, glass bongs which are easily available at sites like molinoglass.com, edibles, dab rigs, and many more.
While a lot of research still needs to be conducted, there are a few benefits that marijuana definitely provides, and if you are a busy person, or someone that would like to find out what marijuana can do for you, here are a few benefits that the plant offers.
Treats ADHD
ADHD, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is defined as a chronic condition that often begins in childhood, with symptoms such as impulsiveness, trouble multitasking, poor planning, trouble focusing, restlessness, disorganization, trouble with time management, and more. Unfortunately for those that suffer from ADHD, there is no cure, however, there are a few treatments available, including marijuana.
One of the reasons marijuana is thought to help ADHD is because it releases dopamine, which counteracts some of the symptoms such as restlessness, anxiety, agitation, and more. More research is needed to provide conclusive proof, but as of right now studies have been mixed and none have monitored calculated doses over a long period.
Helps With Sleep
Many people don’t truly understand the importance of sleep and the role it plays in mental health. Not getting enough sleep can lead to trouble concentrating, depression, inability to focus, heart disease, diabetes, and more. According to statistics, the majority of adults worldwide aren’t getting the recommended amount of sleep each night.
Marijuana has shown promising results in helping people to sleep, and this can be attributed to CBD within the marijuana plant. CBD has a calming effect, and marijuana has shown to help people fall asleep much more easily. One study showed an improvement of 65% when participants used 25mg of CBD daily.
Treats Anxiety
Anxiety is said to be one of the most common forms of mental illness and affects around 4% of the global population, which is about 275 million people, and 18.1% of the adult population, 40 million people, in the US alone. The biggest issue with anxiety is that many people don’t treat it, or even know they suffer from it.
One benefit of consuming marijuana is that it can help treat anxiety, as well as PTSD. There are a few reasons for this, such as the way that marijuana interacts with the amygdala, the region in the brain that is responsible for the response to fear. In addition to that, marijuana, and CBD, have been shown to help treat social anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, PTSD, panic disorder, and OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder).
Mental Protection
Over the years a lot of discovery has been made about how exactly the brain works, and how age affects neural processes. One term that you might have seen is neuroplasticity, which essentially means the brain’s ability to reorganize, grow, change and form synaptic connections which help in the process of learning something new. In other words, the more malleable your brain is, the better.
As we get older, our brains become less malleable, and we lose neuroplasticity, making it difficult to learn new things, and making the brain more susceptible to mental conditions such as Alzheimer’s for example. Marijuana can help the brain maintain neuroplasticity associated with aging, as evidenced by a single dose of THC given to rodents.
Helps With Depression
Depression is more common than people might think and affects around 17.3 million adults every year in the US alone. Many medications are effective at treating depression, however, they also come with a variety of side effects such as increased anxiety, dizziness, nausea, headaches, insomnia, and more. Marijuana on the other hand shows very few side effects and is proving to be just as effective at treating depression.
This is possible due to the antidepressant effects and how the way marijuana interacts with serotonin receptors. Depression seems to be linked to low serotonin levels and marijuana changes the way that the brain responds to serotonin that the body is already creating.