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Angela Sandoval

Health 1050

Tricia Bishop

08 December 2020

There have been many people who have used Medical Marijuana to help them with

anxiety. Social anxiety is one of the categories of anxiety. Social anxiety is classified as when

someone has a fear of people's opinions, social events, and being judged. Social anxiety can

either occur when a person is at an event and starts to think people are judging them or are

showing physical signs of anxiety-like blushing or stubbing on their own words. Social anxiety

can also occur during the days leading up to the social event they are supposed to attend. Even

the thought of having to go to the event even though it hasn’t occurred yet could have someone

feeling anxious. When someone is in a consistent state of panic because of the fear of having to

socialize or go to a social event it can consume a majority of their lives. Many people around the

world have these kinds of problems depending on their cultural stresses. Many people have

turned to the use of marijuana to calm themselves.

Marijuana has had many negative cogitations attached to it in history, but it is slowly

changing. Marijuana is now legal in a few states here in the United States, and many other

countries like Uruguay, Canada, and Amsterdam. Marijuana is now being used to help with

illnesses like anorexia, migraines, and arthritis to name a few. Marijuana has been shown to help

with pain, block serotonin, and anxiety.

There was a study that was conducted that researched the effect of marijuana on

individuals with a social anxiety disorder. The study was conducted with one hundred and
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seventy adults, about twenty-six percent of the people were officially diagnosed with a social

anxiety disorder and the rest showed the same symptoms for the disorder. About eighty-three

percent were Caucasian, while the other a mix of other races. During interviews for the study,

anxiety and mood disorders were discovered in the patients. During the study it was discovered

that people with a social anxiety disorder are more likely to use Marijuana to help with their

symptoms, it was described, “Individuals with SAD were more likely to endorse the following

marijuana expectancies: cognitive/behavioral impairment and global negative expectancies”

(Buckner, p 866). Using marijuana helps to calm down people’s nerves when having to face a

situation that is causing them anxiety.

Another way marijuana could be used to treat medical conditions such as chronic pain.

Chronic pain can be a part of many diseases like arthritis, chemotherapy treatment, and many

other diseases. There were twenty-four trials conducted to view how effective marijuana would

be when helping pain due to illnesses. The trial included three hundred twenty-five patients

which viewed chronic pain, another six trials have three hundred ninety-six patients that had

neuropathic pain, and the last twelve trials had sixteen hundred patients that had multiple

sclerosis. Many of the trials had positive results, marijuana helped eliminate the pain the patients

were feeling. Every patient experiences a different type of pain relief.

Another illness that medical marijuana has been able to help with is Post Traumatic

Stress Disorder (PTSD). Post Traumatic Stress Disorder can occur after many events in a

person’s life, but we most commonly see PTSD in soldiers in the military. The highest treatment

right now being prescribed to people with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder are antidepressants.

Antidepressants show low remission rates and usually only work in one to nine users. Marijuana

has been now evaluated as an alternative treatment for PTSD. Five studies researched the use of
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marijuana on patients diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. There was a study

conducted in Israel, with ten patients that were diagnosed with chronic PTSD. Patients were told

to only use five milligrams of marijuana to start. Two patients stated that they experienced

complete remission of their nightmares. Out of the ten patients, four of them reported side effects

of dry mouth, headache, and dizziness. The next four studies were conducted in the United

States, there were two hundred and two patients involved in the study, both people who had

PTSD and who did not have PTSD. This study had patients first describe situations where their

PSTD would be triggered, they recorded them and after one month they placed that same

recording to them. The study showed that more than fifty percent of the patients had lower

symptoms when triggered. They also reported no differences in the patient’s baseline

characteristics and personality. Many patients have to go through four different steps to see if

their Post Traumatic Stress Disorder can be helped by medical marijuana. The first step would

consider using marijuana, during this step is where people usually do some research or consult

with a doctor. The second step is initiation, this step begins once they decide to start using

medical marijuana. The third step is usage, which is once medical marijuana is being used for a

certain amount of time to see if the usage helps when used for a long period. Lastly,

discontinuation is the fourth step which is used to identify if medical marijuana was helping the

patient or not. Many people have described their use of medical marijuana to treat their PTSD as

helpful. They don’t see as many triggering moments in their lives and can slowly conduct their

lives normally.

Medical Marijuana can be used for many different types of illness, from physical illness

like arthritis to mental health illness, like anxiety. While many studies show that marijuana did
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not help the patients symptoms, other studies show great results. I think it depends on every

person and what symptoms they have. Many people turn to marijuana because they do not want

to take lab-created medications. Medical marijuana had been able to help with pain for people to

live a comfortable life. Medical marijuana has recently been expanding throughout the world and

the United States, hopefully, more studies will be done down the line for more information.

Reference:

Buckner, Julia D, and Norman B Schmidt. “Social Anxiety Disorder and Marijuana Use
Problems: the Mediating Role of Marijuana Effect Expectancies.” Depression and Anxiety,
U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2009,
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2773507/.

Buckner, Julia D, and Norman B Schmidt. “Social Anxiety Disorder and Marijuana Use
Problems: the Mediating Role of Marijuana Effect Expectancies.” Depression and Anxiety,
U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2009,
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2773507/.

Kevin P. Hill, MD. Medical Marijuana for Treatment of Chronic Pain and Other Problems. 23
June 2015, jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2338266.

Kogan, Natalya M, and Raphael Mechoulam. “Cannabinoids in Health and Disease.” Dialogues
in Clinical Neuroscience, Les Laboratoires Servier, 2007,
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3202504/.

Krediet, Erwin, et al. “Experiences with Medical Cannabis in the Treatment of Veterans with
PTSD: Results from a Focus Group Discussion.” European Neuropsychopharmacology,
Elsevier, 20 June 2020, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0924977X20301280.

Shishko, Ilona, et al. “A Review of Medical Marijuana for the Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress
Disorder: Real Symptom Re-Leaf or Just High Hopes?” Mental Health Clinician, Allen
Press, 1 Mar. 2018, meridian.allenpress.com/mhc/article/8/2/86/37251/A-review-
ofmedical-marijuana-for-the-treatment-of.