Marijuana and Mental Health: How to Treat Postnatal Depression
The birth of a child for many new parents causes celebration and happy moments throughout their lives. Mothers can’t believe how lucky they are to hold their child for the first time and the fact that they start a new life (motherhood).
However, that may not be the case for some mothers because they may go through postnatal depression and some experience ‘baby blues’. The good thing about baby blues is that its symptoms disappear after a few weeks after childbirth.
What is postnatal (postpartum) depression?
It is a mood disorder that linked with childbirth, where a mother feels that she is not a good mother, and she can hurt the baby. A study reveals that postpartum depression is amongst major depressive disorders, and it affects at least 15% of mothers.
Although the condition impacts an individual differently, it can disrupt your everyday life to a great extent. Some of the postnatal depression symptoms include the following:
- Suicidal thoughts.
- Panic and anxiety attacks.
- Lose of interest in the things you like.
- Severe mood swings.
- The thoughts of hurting your baby or hurting yourself.
- Sadness and loss of energy.
- Pains that do not lessen even after treatment.
- Restlessness or irritability.
- Concentration issues.
- A loss of appetite or hunger issues.
Marijuana and postnatal depression
Does marijuana help treat this mental condition? It is a question that many people ask. To answer this, here are the ways cannabis can combat postnatal depression:
- Marijuana helps you relax and have a quality sleep
Postpartum depression can make a mother lose focus and hard to function as usual. This affects parenting because she will not be in a moment with her kid as she will be thinking of various things she has to do and worrying if things go wrong.
Thus, the use of marijuana helps you treat insomnia issues for quality sleep. Therefore, a mother struggling with postpartum depression will wake up energized to handle her tasks all day long.
Marijuana use also helps you relax, more content, and help you with your creative work. Hence, it helps a mother with postnatal depression to just be in the moment with her newborn. She will be able to feel the connection and love for her baby.
- CBD helps fight anxiety and stress
Anxiety and stress are amongst the main symptoms that affect a mother who suffers from postnatal depression. Hence, the elimination of such harmful symptoms helps a mother concentrate on her newborn and love him or her. She will not let out her stress on the child, making motherhood fun and enjoyable.
However, any treatment using marijuana products needs a consultation with your doctor. It helps you use the ideal CBD product and dosage for your health issue.
You can also check out some helpful blogs on trans4mind related to mental health.
- Marijuana helps restore normal endocannabinoid function
Chronic stress can decrease the production of endocannabinoid, which leads to depression. Endocannabinoids are neurotransmitters that are naturally present in your nervous system. They help with pain sensitivity, control mood, as well as other various crucial bodily processes.
These neurotransmitters are also present in marijuana. Thus, using marijuana products having these compounds might help restore your normal endocannabinoid function to ease depression and stabilize moods.
Mothers with postnatal depression can use marijuana as an effective product to cope with the symptoms. Luckily, various cannabis-infused products are available, including edibles, concentrates, and supplements. You can get everything you need at Top Dispensary which is especially for marijuana products.
- Marijuana prevents the breakdown of your natural anandamide and interacts with receptors
Many people use marijuana for its antidepressant properties, but mothers should avoid using cannabis strains that have a high amount of THC. CBD provides antidepressant, anti-anxiety, and antipsychotic medication.
After childbirth, estrogen and progesterone levels may fall, and this can make a mother experience mood swings like when she is on her periods. Typically, low levels of estrogen mean that a mother has decreased anandamide (the bliss molecule).
The bliss molecule is an endocannabinoid responsible for regulating your mood and appetite. However, new mothers often have inadequate levels of anandamide, which may lead to postnatal depression.
THC, a popular marijuana compound, shares a chemical structure resembling the structure of anandamide. Also, THC interacts with some receptors in your body.
CBD might help prevent the breakdown of your natural anandamide. Although CBD products do not produce the high feeling, a combination of THC and CBD may work to fight postnatal depression.
A study shows that CBD provides long-lasting antidepressant-like properties and has anxiolytic effects. You can try a product that has both THC and CBD to realize these benefits.
Fortunately, hybrid cannabis strain possesses both the effects of CBD and THC, and you can ask the dispensary for such a product. Remember that there is a hybrid that has a high amount of THC, while another has a high amount of CBD.
- CBD help increase the levels of serotonin
Serotonin “the happy hormone” is a chemical that boosts your happiness. Through raising your serotonin levels, CBD helps combat the sadness of a mother with postnatal depression. She will be happy and can handle her child better.
Conclusion
Marijuana is gaining popularity each day because of its use for many health issues, including postnatal depression. Thus, many people are also opting to grow marijuana.
Growing marijuana can be a challenging task, mainly if you are a beginner. However, it is not impossible because you need to know a few things and you will be good to start. Amongst the crucial problem is which strain of cannabis to choose. You need to buy quality indoor or outdoor marijuana seeds so that you can harvest cannabis that produces needed effects.
