Due to its relaxing effects, it is commonly assumed that cannabis is helpful for people with anxiety. While cannabis can induce a temporary reduction in anxiety, once the immediate effects wear off, people typically experience an increase in anxiety. In fact, regular cannabis use may slowly ramp up anxiety between each use. 

Cannabis is a depressant and is known to worsen depression. At Manlove Brain and Body Clinic, we have seen depression decrease and motivation increase for many patients when they stopped using cannabis. Marijuana also worsens many other mental health conditions such as ADHD, bipolar disorder, and any psychotic disorders, including schizophrenia. 

Marijuana and Stimulants

Using marijuana in combination with a stimulant such as Adderall can be dangerous. When you combine marijuana with a stimulant, the effects can cancel each other out and increase the need for both drugs to have the same effect. This can become a dangerous cycle, as marijuana can be mildly addictive. By taking higher doses, you may be at greater risk of developing an addiction. 

How often does marijuana addiction occur? The age at which you begin using marijuana can greatly affect your chances of becoming addicted. 1 in 6 people will become addicted to marijuana if consumption begins before the age of 18, while 1 in 10 people will become addicted if consumption begins as an adult (SAMHSA). 

Use Caution

Anyone who chooses to use marijuana should use caution, as it can have unpredictable consequences, including worsening anxiety, panic attacks, and paranoia.  Effects may vary greatly from person to person and between uses. Marijuana usage is linked to depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, and psychotic episodes (SAMHSA). 

Special Considerations for Marijuana Users

If you are currently taking stimulants or have been diagnosed with psychosis, you should refrain from marijuana use altogether. If you have another mental health disorder, it is best to avoid marijuana use. If you do choose to partake, keep consumption to occasional use only because regular use is likely to worsen your mental health condition(s). 

In addition to a heightened potential for addiction, marijuana can have serious long-term effects on the teenage brain. Since the brain does not finish developing until approximately the age of 25, marijuana use can affect normal brain development if used too early. Early marijuana use can lead to permanent problems with memory, learning, and judgment. 

If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction, please reach out to your family physician or a substance abuse specialist as soon as possible. View the South Dakota Department of Human Services’ list of local resources for drug and alcohol addiction. 

Our Practice

For sustained relief for depression, anxiety, PTSD, or other mental illness, your mental health provider will likely recommend terminating all marijuana usage. 

At Manlove Brain and Body Health, our professional standard is not to mix cannabis and certain medicines. Cannabis, even for medical use, can aggravate mental health conditions, such as ADHD, anxiety, and depression (as do alcohol and stimulants). An important part of what we do is manage medications for patients, which means choosing the best combinations for patient wellness. 

Our mental health providers work with you to maximize your whole body health. We work to get to the root of your psychiatric condition by incorporating holistic practices such as lifestyle modifications and vitamin/mineral supplements to ensure that your brain functions optimally. This also includes removing potential triggers and managing medications to ensure that you have an optimal combination that will provide the maximum benefit with the least amount of medications necessary. Covering up symptoms with medications or drugs will only result in a need to increase the amount of medication you are taking over time to have the same therapeutic effect. 

If you or someone you know is struggling with anxiety, depression, ADHD, PTSD, psychosis, or bipolar disorder, we can help. To schedule an introductory appointment or to learn more about how we can help, give us a call: 605-348-8000. 

 

In a recent blog, we outlined the differences between depression and sadness. For those with seasonal affective disorder (SAD), it can be even more challenging to determine if you have depression or if you are experiencing temporary sadness due to the temporary nature of SAD. Luckily, there are several remedies that can be easily implemented on your own that will help improve your overall health and can even help prevent clinical depression from developing. If you think you might have seasonal depression, give some of these recommendations a try. 

If you need additional support, don’t be afraid to reach out to a psychiatrist for a personalized treatment plan. 

What is Seasonal Depression?

Seasonal depression is depression caused by the changing seasons, typically beginning in late fall and lasting through early spring. SAD can affect anyone, but those who live in the northern regions of the United States may be at a higher risk. 

Symptoms of seasonal depression may include:

• Lack of energy
• Loss of interest in usual activities
• Difficulty sleeping or oversleeping
• Difficulty concentrating
• Feeling hopeless
• Mood swings
• Weight gain

SAD is more than being sad about the cold weather. If seasonal changes affect your ability to function as you normally would, this is a good indicator that you may have seasonal depression.

What Causes Seasonal Depression?

Seasonal depression is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain. In many cases, this is triggered by low serotonin levels, which is an important chemical in the brain that regulates your mood. In other cases, it could be caused by an overproduction of melatonin, which helps regulate your sleep cycles and makes you feel tired. Both serotonin and melatonin help maintain your body’s daily patterns that signal when it is day or night. Seasonal changes may cause your body to over or underproduce these chemicals making it difficult to function as you normally would.

How are these chemical imbalances related to seasonal changes? The lack of sunlight during the winter months can lead to vitamin D deficiency which can cause these imbalances in the brain. Vitamin D helps promote serotonin activity and is inversely connected to melatonin levels. When you are deficient in vitamin D, your serotonin levels drop and you may begin to overproduce melatonin. 

Ways to Combat Seasonal Depression

Increase Vitamin D Levels

Since seasonal depression is often triggered by a lack of vitamin D, it’s no surprise that the best way to combat seasonal depression is to address any vitamin D deficiencies you may have. Here are a few ways you can increase your vitamin D levels:

• Get outside for 10-15 minutes every day. Going for a daily walk outside will have incredible benefits for your overall health and will give you the much-needed sun exposure to help boost your vitamin D. Even if you are bundled up for the weather, getting some sun exposure on your face will have some benefits. 
• Incorporate vitamin D rich foods into your diet. 
  • Egg yolks
  • Orange juice fortified with vitamin D
  • Cow milk or plant based milk fortified with vitamin D
  • Wild caught salmon
  • Tuna
  • Swordfish
  • Mushrooms
  • Fortified cereal
• Take Vitamin D supplements. While the best way for your body to absorb vitamin D will be from sun exposure and vitamin D rich foods, your body will likely absorb at least some vitamin D from over the counter supplements.

Light Therapy

If you live in a northern or midwestern region, getting outside everyday is still very important, but you may need more light exposure than what you are able to get naturally. Consider purchasing a lamp for light therapy. You can find some relatively inexpensive lamps online that you can place on your desk, end table, or even set up on your bathroom vanity for when you get ready for your day. It is best to use the lamp for at least 30 minutes each day, ideally getting a minimum of 10 minutes within the first hour of waking. 

Light therapy helps signal to your body that it is day time. This will reduce the production of melatonin and increase your serotonin production.

Some individuals may begin to feel their mood lift within a few days of beginning light therapy and most will begin to feel a reduction in their depression symptoms within two weeks.

Ketamine for Seasonal Depression

Typically used for treatment resistant depression, ketamine therapy can be a good option for those who are severely affected by seasonal affective disorder. Ketamine can be administered as a nasal spray, shot, IV, or oral medication and can be used on an occasional basis which makes it a good option for treating SAD.

Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy, also known as talk therapy or simply “therapy”, is when an individual sits down with a mental health professional to pinpoint potential triggers of their depression and discuss coping strategies. This can be a good option for those with seasonal depression by recognizing unhealthy thought patterns and retraining the brain. This can be done on a seasonal basis for some extra help when you need it. However, for some, it may be best to participate in psychotherapy on an ongoing basis to help you prepare your thought process for the darkest months.

Improve Your Overall Health

At Manlove Brain and Body Health, we encourage our patients to improve their overall health in as many ways as possible. By improving the overall health of our patients, we have been able to improve their response to depression treatment. No matter how severe your seasonal depression is, you can improve your brain’s response to your treatment methods by eating a healthy diet, maintaining healthy social connections, getting at least 7 hours of sleep each night, limiting caffeine, meditating, and exercising for at least 150 minutes each week. 

By improving your overall health, you are improving your brain’s ability to function properly. This can help your brain adapt to seasonal changes and can prevent other brain diseases including clinical depression, anxiety, mood disorders, and dementia. 

If you experience seasonal depression, try increasing your vitamin D levels and consider purchasing a lamp for light therapy. If these home remedies are not enough, see a psychiatrist to explore ketamine, psychotherapy, or other treatment options for your seasonal affective disorder.