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Forget Lexapro, Take Cannabis Instead -New Study Proves Weed Is Effective For Treating Depression And Reduces Suicidal Thoughts
Oftentimes, when depression is left untreated or becomes too extreme, suicidal ideations may occur.
Suicidal ideations refer to circumstances when one thinks about and plans taking their own life. It can vary from long hours of perusing and planning, to fleeting thoughts that may occur throughout the day. Either way, as soon as one thinks about suicide, it’s already a serious mental health problem.
Suicidal thoughts are usually linked to extreme cases of depression and anxiety. It can also happen alongside other mental health problems, including bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, borderline personality disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder. In addition, individuals who have gone through trauma, assault, and abuse of different kinds may also play with suicidal thoughts.
And even then, the very medications that are used to treat anxiety and depression can cause suicidal thoughts as a side effect. Lexapro, one of the popular antidepressant pharmaceutical drugs, has been known to increase the risk of suicidal thoughts.
However, medical marijuana has been shown to be helpful in treating depression as well as suicidal thoughts.
A new study by Drug Science, a research organization from the United Kingdom, analyzed 4,000 patients to determine any patterns of suicidal ideation among those who consumed cannabis products. After 3 months, data was available for 2,112 patients and then 777 after a year. Around 25% of the population acknowledged that they had suicidal ideations at the start of the study; they also suffered from depression, and experienced other symptoms including difficulty sleeping, poor health, and low quality of life.
That said, the researchers noticed improvements after three months of treating them with medical marijuana. Rates of suicidal ideation dropped to 17.6% and they saw improvements in depression scores as well. Because of this, the researchers concluded that medical marijuana could be a valuable tool in the treatment of depression and suicidal ideation, which are extremely difficult to treat.
Cannabis Saves Lives – Don’t Believe Prohibitionist Propaganda
Prohibitionists use several different types of ludicrous arguments to claim that cannabis causes mental health disorders, which in turn cause crime, suicide, homicide, and other ills of society. Of course, these are not true. In fact, the opposite is true: cannabis use can help promote safer cities, reduce the risk of crime, and even suicide!
In a study from 2012, which was published by the American Public Journal of Health, researchers assessed suicide rates for every 10,000 people in states that legalized medical marijuana from 1990 through 2007. The investigators pored through 17 years worth of data to identify patterns and look for clues that may link crime, suicide, and marijuana use. They used statistics taken from states that didn’t legalize marijuana as the control.
They found that in states that legalized medical marijuana, suicide rates dropped up to 10.9% for males aged 20 to 29, and for 9.4% for men that were 30 to 39 years old. A limitation of the study was that they found their statistics for females to be less accurate, so the researchers concluded it required more studies.
The investigators stated that “opponents of legalizing medical marijuana point to the large number of studies showing that marijuana use is positively associated with depression, the onset of panic attacks, psychosis, schizophrenia, and suicidal ideation.”
They argue, though, that “the association between marijuana use and outcomes such as these could be attributed to difficult-to-measure (extraneous variables) such as personality,” said the researchers. “The negative relationship between legalization and suicides among young men is consistent with the hypothesis that marijuana can be sued to cope with stressful life events,” they concluded.
A Complex Relationship, Albeit Positive
As of now, we can say that the relationship between medical marijuana and suicide rates is still quite complex. There are many factors that we still need to understand better, but we can hypothesize why there has been a positive association observed between the two.
For one, cannabis legalization provides a much safer and healthier alternative to alcohol. Individuals can cope with stress using better tactics, such as weed, instead of drinking – which has been known to cause an increase in suicide risk because of its severely depressing properties on the human body. Furthermore, alcohol reduces inhibitions, sometimes severely, which can make individuals feel more confident to commit suicide when in an intoxicated state. Substituting cannabis for booze can greatly reduce the rates of suicide.
In addition, many studies have shown that legalization of cannabis has improved the mental health and quality of life for many people. An improved mood certainly reduces suicide risk. Likewise, cannabis use can also reduce crime rates, as it has proven to multiple times in past studies.
Conclusion
The risk of suicide is far too great for society. As it all boils down to mental health, legalizing cannabis is more important than ever.
After all, cannabis is proven to be a safe and natural way to treat a range of mental health disorders, including those that are notoriously difficult to treat. Reducing suicide rates can only benefit our families and communities as a whole, but the government can play a role by enabling the regulation of marijuana. Let’s do away with prescription drugs that have done so much more harm than good, whereas cannabis has been a safe alternative with no deadly side effects.
Lastly, with legalization, we can also help normalize cannabis use and reduce the stigma that has been associated with cannabis for several decades.