Which Marijuana Strains Should I Order for Anxiety?

Anxiety disorders are mental conditions that make people worry intensely about future events and become terrified about current issues. This condition can be so severe that it prevents people from carrying out daily activities and leading a healthy life.

Whether anxiety is in the form of panic attacks that make the person sweat and have irregular heartbeats or social phobias that make them avoid group situations, certain marijuana strains can effectively treat anxiety.

Why Is Marijuana Effective for Treating Anxiety?

Conventional medicine uses several different kinds of drugs to treat anxiety disorders, including serotonin reuptake inhibitors like Zoloft and tranquilizers like Valium. However, many patients don’t respond well to these medications.

One of the non-psychoactive cannabinoids found in marijuana that is commonly used to treat anxiety is cannabidiol (CBD). Various scientists and researchers have experimented with both animals and humans to test the effectiveness of CBD for anxiety treatment. They have found that CBD has a calming effect on the mind and can be used to treat a variety of anxiety-related ailments, including:

• Depression
• Generalized anxiety disorder
• Post-traumatic stress disorder
• Social phobia
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder
• Panic disorder

How CBD Helps Treat Anxiety

Taking CBD can relieve frequently reported anxiety symptoms such as fear, worry and acute stress.

In a double-blind study conducted by researchers in Brazil, participants showed a significant reduction in anxiety after taking CBD. To validate the subjective reports of participants, the scientists took some brain scans showing cerebral blood circulation patterns that had an anti-anxiety effect.

In another study to observe the effect of taking CBD on social anxiety disorder, the participants did a public speaking mock test. The reduced anxiety during the test was confirmed by anxiety indicators such as blood pressure and heart rate.

The scientists conducting the study concluded that taking CBD brought about a decrease in anxiety, discomfort in speech and cognitive impairment.

Which Are the Best Cannabis Strains to Treat Anxiety?

Marijuana produces different reactions in people with regards to anxiety relief. For some people, a little puff can give instant relief from worry and other symptoms of anxiety. But others report the exact opposite. So, what’s the cause of these different reactions?

Indica vs Sativa For Anxiety

The most obvious reason is the strain a patient uses to treat anxiety. As noted in our earlier mention of studies related to CBD use for treating anxiety, the concentration of CBD in the strain will influence how the user feels after taking it. While patients should experiment with different strains, the following have already been tested and approved of by others with anxiety.

Anxiety is among the top reasons medical cannabis consumers take interest in the herb.

Calming and euphoric, the plant can make it easy to leave stresses and worries behind and focus on the present.

Or it can help you troubleshoot the problems giving you anxiety in the first place.

In fact, a 2017 survey found that 13 percent of medical cannabis patients preferred the flower to benzodiazepine medications.

The survey included 271 participants, of which a whopping 63 percent reported that they chose the herb over pharmaceutical drugs in general.

However, the relationship between cannabis and anxiety is a complicated one.

Some types of cannabis may worsen or induce anxiety, while others have the opposite effect.

Research has also shown that some people may have a genetic predisposition that causes them to experience more anxiety with cannabis than others.

Further research still has found that low to moderate doses of cannabis may relieve stress, while higher doses tend to be more stress-inducing.

So, how do you find cannabis strains for anxiety?

To help you sort through the data and put science to use, here’s how to find the best strains for anxiety.

Cannabis strains for anxiety

Finding the right strains to fit your individual needs can take some trial and error.

Every person responds differently to the herb and what works for one person may feel disastrous for another.

Unfortunately, the lack of formal research on cannabis in human test subjects means that there is no sure-fire way to tell whether or not an individual strain will be helpful for anxiety.

However, based on the available clinical and preclinical research thus far, it is possible to make an educated guess as to which strains may be most beneficial.

For those searching for the right flower, here are the best cannabis strains for anxiety:

1. Pennywise