According to the WHO, depression will soon be the most common disease in the world. It affects over 350 million people and most often affects people aged 20-40. Each year, over 800,000 depressed people commit suicide. Medical cannabis is an increasingly popular treatment option. treatment of depression or are used as a support for other therapeutic methods.

How is depression diagnosed?

The diagnostic criteria for depression were developed by the American Psychiatric Association and are found in the Classification Mental Disorders (current version is DSM-5) which is used by psychiatrists.

According to the DSM-5, clinical depression can be diagnosed if a person exhibits at least five of the following symptoms, with at least one of the first two symptoms present:

depressed mood,
decreased interest/pleasure,
sleep disorders,
change in body weight,
difficulty thinking,
difficulty concentrating,
difficulty making choices and decisions,
agitation or slowness of movement,
lack of energy,
feeling of constant fatigue,
significantly lowered self-esteem,
excessive or inappropriate feelings of guilt,
suicidal thoughts and attempts,
thoughts about death that do not boil down to just the fear of death.

The basis for a diagnosis of depression is a depressive episode, a set of symptoms that persists for at least 14 days. Depressive episodes are divided into mild, moderate, and severe based on the intensity of symptoms. The ICD-10 classification of diseases also distinguishes between a depressive episode and recurrent depression, although neither can be related to a significant loss, such as bereavement, bankruptcy, or illness.

Assessing the severity of symptoms in the context of the patient's previous life is the responsibility of a psychiatrist and clinical psychologist. These specialists also consider the cultural context, family patterns, health and life situation, and the patient's personality. Each patient has their own lifestyle and history—what may be a disturbing symptom for one person may be normal functioning for another.

Treatment of depression

The standard way help for people with depression is a combination of psychotherapy and treatment pharmacological.

Antidepressants

Many antidepressant medications are available, and further research is ongoing into substances that have the potential to help people with depression. Combination therapy is common: patients take two or three different medications, whose actions complement each other and provide optimal results.

Sometimes, medications fail to improve a person suffering from depression. In such cases, doctors may decide to increase the dose, change the medication, or introduce another substance that may help achieve a therapeutic effect.

Psychotherapy for depression

Psychotherapy plays an important role in depression, the patient, with the support of the therapist:

experiences emotions and learns to express them in a healthy way,
works on beliefs that may be inappropriate and harmful,
learns healthy ways to respond to everyday situations.

CBD and depression

How does CBD affect the body of a depressed person?

Cannabinoids bind to receptors in the endocannabinoid system and, through it, regulate many physiological processes in the body, including the secretion of neurotransmitters. These, in turn, influence our mood and well-being.

Studies conducted in the 2000s show that patients with depression often have a deficiency of endocannabinoids, i.e. substances naturally produced by the body. produced by the body, which stimulate the endocannabinoid system.

Therefore, the goal of treatment may be to regulate the functioning of the endocannabinoid system, which in turn, when it is functioning properly, will regulate the functioning of other systems in the body, for example, by stimulating the secretion of appropriate amounts of neurotransmitters that regulate mood.

Preclinical studies have shown that the endocannabinoid system can optimize the secretion and function of neurotransmitters, which may translate into antidepressant and anxiolytic effects. The mechanism of action is similar to that of antidepressants: enhancing the endocannabinoid system can increase the secretion of serotonin and norepinephrine.

In a study conducted on rats, a similar relationship between endocannabinoid levels and stress was observed: the endocannabinoid levels in rats that were exposed to stress were significantly lower than in the group that did not experience high stress.

Using CBD for depression

Endocannabinoids, which are too low in depressed patients, bind to the same ESC receptors as CBD and THC, and therefore hemp cannabinoids can regulate mood instead.

CBD and depression – a patient study

The results of questionnaire studies with the participation of patients show that people undergoing therapy cannabis observed a lower intensity of symptoms immediately after taking the drug.

Scientists point out that according to the participants studies of dried hemp with lower THC concentration and higher CBD concentration was a more effective antidepressant substance.

However, no long-term antidepressant effect was observed after treatment discontinuation. Similar findings can be found in reports from other studies.

Scientists point to the need for further, controlled studies aimed at further exploring ways to achieve long-term therapeutic effects in cannabis therapy.

If you think you have depression, taking CBD oil is NOT enough. Only a psychiatrist can make a diagnosis, and your doctor can recommend specific treatments. medical cannabis treatment it must be in the right form, dose and concentration for you, therefore it requires consultation with a psychiatrist.

You can find helpline numbers for people suffering from depression here.