May is Mental Health Awareness Month, a time in which organizations seek to amplify conversations around mental health, work to fight the negative stigma associated with mental health conditions, and provide support and resources for those affected by mental illness. As a top-rated cannabis marketing and SEO agency with an emphasis on advocacy, we’d accordingly be remiss not to discuss the potential good cannabis can do in the realm of mental health.
Research and successful treatments of various mental illnesses have shown medical cannabis to be extremely effective in helping individuals who suffer from mental health issues seek a natural approach. Consider recent cannabis-centered studies and trials that demonstrate inhaling cannabis is more likely to bring relaxation than paranoia, long-term cannabis use leads to reduced PTSD symptoms, and that CBD reduces anxiety-related tremors in Parkinson’s disease, to name but a few.
Cannabis in all forms has been shown to help individuals with mental health issues in some capacity or another, although cannabis treatment may not be right for everyone. We don’t recommend beginning cannabis treatment without consulting your primary care physician and/or personal wellness expert. With that said, cannabis has shown promise in treating or aiding in the improvement of:
- Anxiety
- PTSD
- Bipolar Disorder
- Schizophrenia
- Depression
- And more
During Mental Health Awareness Month — and indeed any month — it’s important to recognize cannabis deserves consideration in the array of various possible mental health treatments.
Mental Health Professionals Just Don’t Get It
Cannabis has been used medicinally for millennia and in the treatment of mental health conditions for more than a century. Yet in the modern age, individuals often run into a roadblock with mental health professionals who often purport the sentiments that cannabis either cannot help treat mental illness in general and/or that it is not safe. Instead, patients are often prescribed pharmaceutical solutions, which are often precisely what the patient is seeking to avoid.
To play the devil’s advocate, it is worth acknowledging that mental health professionals often know little to nothing about medical cannabis. There is still a bottomless amount of research to be done concerning such medical cannabis topics as poor medication interactions and any data gathering requiring large, diverse study groups. While undoubtedly there is room for scientific improvement, the same is true of in a counselor’s office: Mental health professionals owe it to cannabis-curious patients to self-educate and learn all they can about any potential healing opportunities for those patients.
Keep The Conversation Alive
Cannabis use and mental health are both wildly stigmatized topics, so perhaps the solution to reducing those stigmas begins with something as simple as a conversation.
It may take years to chip away at the stigma of using cannabis treatments to mitigate mental illnesses, but it certainly won’t happen in a vacuum. It’s imperative to keep amplifying conversations around mental health, working to fight the negative stigma associated with mental health conditions, and providing support and resources for those affected by mental illness.
NisonCo provides pro bono cannabis or psychedelic SEO, marketing and public relations services to advocacy groups and individuals engaged in activism, as well as companies that are advancing socially responsible and ethical practices in innovative, impactful, and systemic ways. In this way and many others, we seek to be not just a company that operates for profit, but a company that cares. If you’re interested in having a conversation around crafting a communication, landing an interview, or a bevy of other marketing services, click here to contact us.
