According to the WHO, depression will soon be the most common disease in the world. More than 350 million people suffer from it and it most often affects people in the 20-40 age range. Each year, more than 800,000 depressed people commit suicide. Medical cannabis is increasingly the method of choice treatments for depression or are used in support of other therapeutic methods.
How is depression diagnosed?
Diagnostic criteria for depression were developed by the American Psychiatric Association and can be found in the Classification of Mental Disorders (the current version is DSM-5), which psychiatrists use.
According to the DSM-5, clinical depression can be said to exist if a person exhibits min. 5 of the following symptoms, whereby at least one of the first two symptoms must be present:
lowered mood,
Decrease in interest/experience of pleasure,
sleep disorders,
weight change,
thinking difficulties,
concentration difficulties,
difficulty in making choices and decisions,
Motor agitation or slowing down,
lack of energy,
A sense of constant fatigue,
significantly lowered self-esteem,
Excessive or inadequate guilt,
suicidal thoughts and attempts,
thoughts about death that are not reduced to the fear of death itself.
The basis for a diagnosis of depression is a depressive episode, a set of symptoms that persists for a minimum of 14 days. Depressive episodes are divided in terms of the severity of symptoms into mild, moderate and severe. The ICD-10 classification of diseases also distinguishes between a depressive episode and recurrent depression, neither of which can be associated with a severe life loss, such as bereavement, bankruptcy or illness.
Evaluation the intensity of the symptoms in the context of the patient's/your previous life is the responsibility of the psychiatrist and clinical psychologist. These specialists also take into account cultural context, the forms of functioning adopted in the family, the health and life situation or the personality of the patient(s). Each patient and patient has his or her own way of life and his or her own history - what is a disturbing symptom for one person will be ordinary functioning for another.
Treatment of depression
The standard way help for depressed people is a combination of psychotherapy and treatment pharmacological.
Antidepressants
Many medications with antidepressant effects are available, and more research is constantly being conducted on substances that have the potential to help people with depression. A common practice is combination treatment: the patient(s) take two or three different medications whose effects complement each other and produce an optimal effect.
Sometimes medications do not improve the mood of a person suffering from depression. In such a situation, doctors may decide to increase the dosage, change the drug or include another substance that can help achieve a therapeutic effect.
Psychotherapy in depression
Psychotherapy in depression plays an important role, the patient/s with the support of the therapist:
experiences emotions and learns to express them in a way that is healthy for them,
works on beliefs that may be inadequate and harmful,
learns healthy ways to react in everyday situations.
CBD and depression
How does CBD affect the body of a depressed person?
Cannabinoids bind to the receptors of the endocannabinoid system and, through it, regulate many physiological processes occurring in the body, including the secretion of neurotransmitters. These, in turn, affect our mood and well-being.
Studies conducted in the 2000s show that a deficiency of endocannabinoids, a substance that naturally produced by the body, which stimulate the endocannabinoid system.
Thus, the goal of treatment may be to regulate the endocannabinoid system, which in turn, once functioning properly, will regulate other systems in the body, such as stimulating the secretion of the right amount of mood-regulating neurotransmitters.
In preclinical studies, it has been observed that the endocannabinoid system can optimize neurotransmitter secretion and function, which may translate into antidepressant and anti-anxiety effects. Mechanism of action is similar to the effects of antidepressants: enhancing the work of the endocannabinoid system can increase the secretion of serotonin and norepinephrine.
In a study conducted on rats observed a similar relationship between endocannabinoid levels and stress: endocannabinoid levels in rats that were exposed to stress were significantly lower than in the group that did not experience much stress.
Use of CBD in depression
Endocannabinoids, which are in short supply in depressed patients/s, bind to the same ESC system receptors as CBD and THC, and therefore hemp cannabinoids can regulate mood in their stead.
CBD and depression - a study with patients
The results of questionnaire studies with patient/s show that those undergoing treatment cannabis observed in themselves a lower intensity of symptoms immediately after taking the drug.
Researchers point out that, according to participants research dried hemp with a lower concentration of THC and a higher concentration of CBD was a more effective antidepressant.
However, no long-lasting antidepressant effect was observed, persisting after the end of therapy. Similar findings can be found in reports from other studies.
Researchers point to the need for further controlled studies to further explore ways to achieve long-term therapeutic effects in cannabis therapy.
If you think you are depressed, do NOT just take CBD oil. Only a psychiatrist can make a diagnosis, and the doctor can prescribe specific treatments. Also medical cannabis treatment must have the right form, dosage and concentration for you, so it requires consultation with a psychiatrist.
You can find hotline numbers for depressed people. here.
