Does Medical Marijuana Help with Neurosis?
Neurosis can be defined as a mental disorder that includes symptoms of emotional distress and anxiety that impair function.
With issues of this nature becoming more common, it may be important to explore: Can medical marijuana help with neurosis?
History of Neurosis
In order to understand what medical marijuana and neurosis can do for each other, we must understand what we mean by the word “nuerosis”.
The term neurosis was introduced in the 18th century by Scottish physician William Cullen and means “nerve disorder”. It was used to describe a condition that exists in the mind with no apparent physical cause.
Once a diagnosable condition, the American Psychiatric Association actually removed the term from its diagnostic manual in 1980. However there are some professionals who still use the term, typically to distinguish mental illnesses from ones that are associated with psychosis.
Not to be confused with neuroticism, which is a personality trait and doesn’t have as adverse an effect on function, neurosis is usually diagnosed as a depressive or anxiety disorder these days.
Categories of Neurosis
There are several major categories of neurosis, some of the more well known ones include:
- Depressive neurosis: extreme feelings of sadness and despair, inability to find pleasure in things that were once enjoyable.
- Anxiety neurosis: excessive feelings of worry and stress, panic attacks, and physical symptoms including sweating, nausea, and tremors.
- Obsessive-compulsive neurosis: repetitive behaviors and compulsions, persistent and recurring intrusive thoughts.
- Post-traumatic stress disorder: also called combat neurosis, occurs after witnessing or experiencing a traumatic event or a series of events, causes severe stress and even disability.
Causes of Neurosis
A notable psychologist, Dr. Arthur Janov, theorized that neurosis is caused by needs not being met early in life. He explains that while the basic human needs are not excessive or unreasonable, if they are not adequately met neurosis or neurotic behavior can manifest.
- To be fed
- To be warm and dry
- To be held and caressed
- To be stimulated
An example of this phenomenon might be an individual feeling an unusually strong need for attention because of the way they were ignored and dismissed as a child.
A more scientific explanation from a 1996 study states that people with neurosis have an abnormality that results in insufficient amounts of transporter protein in our nervous system. This transporter protein ensures serotonin, our happiness chemical, travels through your brain’s synaptic regions efficiently and to the correct area. When there is insufficient protein the serotonin actually stimulates nerve cells in the wrong regions resulting in neurosis and neurotic behavior.
Can Medical Marijuana Help Neurosis?
What we know about people with neuroses is that they can feel stress and its impacts more than they would otherwise.
While it is still early in the stages of research, there is evidence in animal-based studies that prolonged stress can have an impact on the brain’s endocannabinoid production and lead to depression-like behavior. It is possible that medical marijuana may be able to help restore function of this type of neurosis: it may help symptoms of depression.
However, it is also important to look at the other side of the coin. A 2014 study demonstrated an association between heavy marijuana use and increased risk for developing depression.
Medical Marijuana and Other Nueroses
Where we seem to have more definitive (and positive) conclusions is when we take a look at medical marijuana and combat neurosis (PTSD).
Interestingly, a recent study suggests that sufferers of PTSD who used medical marijuana are 2.57 times more likely to recover from PTSD than their counterparts who didn’t. This conclusion is supported by many cases of anecdotal evidence as well.
Medical marijuana also appears to have a positive impact on obsessive-compulsive neurosis. It was reported in 2020 that the symptoms of people with OCD were reduced by 50% within four hours of using marijuana. It also reduced compulsions by 60%, intrusive thoughts by 49%, and anxiety by 52%.
Always Speak With Your Doctor
If you are considering taking medical marijuana for neurosis and any reason, it is always best to consult with your physician first. If you don’t have a primary care physician, consider booking an appointment with on of our physician’s.
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