Healing Your Brain: Depression & CBD
Minutes of feeling stuck or sadness are part of our life, but the body naturally finds the strength to execute our feelings and recover. When sadness holds our life for long without signs of ending, depression hits us.
Depression is a common mental disorder that negatively affects how we feel, think, and act. Depression is harmful to both your mind and body. It is a serious mental disorder that requires medical attention. Depression causes loss of interest in activities you previously enjoyed, sudden mood swings, and a decrease in the ability to work both at home and work.
Symptoms of depression
Symptoms of depression vary from person to person. The common symptoms include:
- Loss of pleasure or interest in activities you previously enjoyed
- Feeling sad
- Trouble in sleeping or sleeping too much
- Lack of appetite
- Increased fatigue
- Feeling guilty or worthless accompanied by suicide thoughts
- Difficulty in focusing, thinking, and decision making
16.6% of US residents experience depression at some point in their life. Depression is not for aged people only. It can strike at any age, no matter your age or gender.
Risk factors for depression
- Personality – people with low self-esteem are likely to experience depression.
- Environmental factors – Exposure to poverty, abuse, neglect, and violence makes you more vulnerable to depression.
- Biochemistry – Some brain chemicals can cause depression.
- Genetics – If someone close to you is suffering from depression, you’re likely to be suffering too.
- Physical pain
- Emotional disorders
- Post-trauma
Treatment options for depression
Recovering from depression is possible. There are several approaches to dealing with depression. The traditional treatment options for depression include psychotherapy and antidepressants.
CBD and depression
Recently, the waves of CBD have hit the media headlines. CBD has multiple health benefits, including calming the negative symptoms of depression.
The legalization of weed in all the 50 states of the US has made more people struggling with depression to turn to CBD. There are plenty of positive testimonials of how CBD has helped depression patients.
Hippocampus – a specific part of the brain that is responsible for memory, emotions, and learning shrinks when you’re depressed. Hippocampus is capable of recovering through neurogenesis. Neurogenesis is the process in which new neurons start forming.
Antidepressants help alleviate the negative symptoms of depression by stimulating the development of new neurons. The reason as to why antidepressants take long before revealing their calming effects is because the new brain cells need time to grow and form connections with other neurons.
CBD effects on the brain include stimulation of neuron synthesis, protection, and healing of the damaged neurons. CBD prevents the shrinking of the hippocampus that is common in heavy THC consumers.
How CBD helps in dealing with depression
Using CBD increases the level of anandamide, which then stimulates the synthesis of new neurons. CBD increases the level of BDNF (Brain-driven Neurofic factor) that reduces the negative symptoms of depression. CBD prevents neurons from oxidation. In general, CBD prevents the hippocampus from shrinking … Read the rest
