- Depression can present with a wide variety of symptoms, from occasional mood downturns to chronic disinterest in everyday life.
- The compounds found in the cannabis plant (primarily cannabinoids and terpenes) interact with the endocannabinoid system (ECS) to impact both the symptoms of the condition and its long-term presence in patients’ lives.
- Getting medical marijuana in Louisiana is relatively simple, and online medical card services like TeleLeaf make it even easier to access the holistic depression care you deserve.
Depression looks different for everyone—and whether you’re in the thick of your first seasonal blues episode or slogging through your tenth year with depressive symptoms, there’s no denying that depression is one of the most challenging mental health conditions out there.
But there are resources out there that can help you: one of them is medical marijuana.
While it might sound counterintuitive to use cannabis as a depression treatment (because the media associates cannabis use with laziness and lethargy), there’s more to medical marijuana than meets the eye. Medical cannabis can actually boost your mood and activity level (depending on the strain) and help you achieve long-term remission from depression.
Plus, if you live in Louisiana, medical cannabis is more accessible than ever before. Let’s dive into how people with depression in Louisiana can reap the healing benefits of the cannabis plant and gain access to this holistic tool.
A Short Introduction to Depression
Depression is a mental health condition with a variety of possible causes (from unresolved trauma to brain chemistry changes). It’s technically classified as a “mood disorder”—a condition that impacts how you feel and act in your everyday life.
There are a few different kinds of depression that mental healthcare providers recognize:
- Major depression can happen to anyone, and symptoms are typically present for two weeks or more.
- Perinatal (or postpartum) depression typically occurs after giving birth, but prenatal depression can develop during pregnancy.
- Seasonal affective disorder can come and go with the seasons. While you might have heard this condition referred to as “winter blues,” patients can experience seasonal affective disorder during all four seasons.
- Depression with psychosis presents with typical depression symptoms (low energy, executive dysfunction, and decreased interest in activities) with additional symptoms of psychosis—hallucinations and delusions, for instance.
However, just because you don’t fit the specific mold (or diagnostic criteria) for one of the above conditions, your depressive symptoms are valid. You know your body and mind better than anyone, and if you have noticed persistent changes in your activity level, mood, productivity, or relationships, you may be experiencing depression.
Medical Cannabis: An Overview
With the above in mind, let’s dive into medical cannabis—a plant-based medicine with the power to treat depression.
Cannabis Compounds
The Cannabis sativa plant contains many plant compounds: chemicals that have the potential to impact our biological and psychological systems.
Three of the most prevalent compounds include:
- Cannabinoids – Cannabinoids are compounds that can interact with your body’s endocannabinoid system (ECS). We’ll explore the ECS in more detail in the next section. While there are hundreds of cannabinoids in the cannabis plant, you’ve likely heard of the two “major cannabinoids”: tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD).
- Terpenes – Terpenes are compounds that impact the aroma and taste of cannabis—but they can also work in tandem with cannabinoids to enhance their effects (a phenomenon called the entourage effect, which you can read more about here).
- Flavonoids – Like terpenes, flavonoids can impact the flavor and scent of cannabis; they, too, can contribute to the entourage effect.
While researchers are still working to understand how terpenes and flavonoids impact mental health challenges like depression, there is a lot of clinical and anecdotal data about cannabinoids—let’s zoom in on these and explore how they interact with the body.
The Endocannabinoid System
Cannabinoids are impactful depression fighters because they interact with the endocannabinoid system (ECS): a built-in network of receptors and compounds that impact several biological functions.
Here’s a quick overview of how the ECS works:
- Endocannabinoids (cannabinoids made inside your body) bind to and interact with two ECS receptors: CB1 and CB2.
- CB1 and CB2 receptors are found throughout the body, and they send nerve signals that impact functions like sleep, memory, mood, hunger, immunity, and inflammation.
- Cannabinoids found in the cannabis plant interact with the ECS—just like endocannabinoids do. So, cannabinoids have the potential to impact the body functions in which the ECS plays a role.
So, when you introduce cannabinoids to the body (by ingesting or inhaling marijuana), these cannabinoids can impact your body via the ECS.
Medical Marijuana for Depression: Why This Treatment Works
Cannabinoids in the marijuana plant interact with the ECS; but how does this impact depression symptoms and the overall presentation of the condition?
Treating the Symptoms
There is ample scientific literature documenting the antidepressant impacts of CB1 receptor activity. When endocannabinoids (and cannabinoids) activate CB1, these receptors send signals that impact both the production and reuptake of neurotransmitters—including serotonin.
Serotonin is often called the “happy hormone.” When our bodies either produce too little serotonin or reabsorb too much of it before it can boost our mood, this can lead to chronic depression symptoms like:
- Persistent sadness
- Low energy
- Disinterest in activities
- Detachment from relationships
By activating CB1 receptors with cannabinoids (i.e., using cannabis), we can impact our body’s serotonin management. These changes to serotonin processing can, over time, relieve depression symptoms and help restore our neurotransmission to baseline levels.
However, marijuana is a complex medicine—there are numerous subtypes of the cannabis plant (these are called strains), and each strain has a unique cannabinoid profile. It might take time to find the strain that produces the unique effects you need to fight depressive symptoms and restore your quality of life. (Don’t worry, we have a guide for that, too.)
Unlocking Long-Term Healing
Cannabis can support overall symptom management for people living with depression. However, it can also support long-term recovery or remission from depression. How?
- Finding the root cause – For many patients, depression has root causes in the past—unprocessed formative experiences can change how we see the world, respond to stimuli, and self-regulate. Many strains of the cannabis plant provoke introspection and creativity; in other words, cannabis can help you create a safe mental space to explore events in your past.
- Slowing down your internal monologue – When you try to do self-work (like unearthing and processing events from your past), you might find yourself brushing off memories or sensations that are too painful—or that don’t seem significant. Cannabis can slow down your train of thought, giving you more time to acknowledge, address, and process these experiences and emotions that could be playing a role in your perception, emotions, and behaviors.
- Improving comfort in triggering situations – Some specific stimuli or activities might trigger depressive symptoms: trying to participate in social settings, for instance. Many patients find that, by using certain strains of cannabis before a triggering event, they can stave off the trigger response and be more present in these situations. By reintroducing your body to previously uncomfortable stimuli without sparking a trigger response, you can gradually improve your responses to these scenarios.
How to Get Medical Marijuana for Depression in Louisiana
So, cannabis can help you both relieve depression symptoms and (over time) recover from the root causes of depression. But how can people in Louisiana get access to this medicine? It’s easy.
- Find a healthcare provider – In Louisiana, any licensed physician, nurse practitioner, or medical psychologist can recommend a patient for medical cannabis treatment. Plus, Louisiana doesn’t have an approved list of “qualifying conditions.” Instead, providers can recommend cannabis treatment for any condition they think it could benefit. So, all you have to do to get started is find a healthcare provider who can offer a recommendation.
- Head to a pharmacy – Once your provider recommends you for medical cannabis treatment, you’ll get instant access to a marijuana pharmacy in your area. They’ll send your recommendation straight to the pharmacy; all you need to do is head to the pharmacy and show your ID to explore your product options.
- Choose a product and start your journey – At the pharmacy, you can browse medical cannabis products, ask questions, and get recommendations from the “budtender”—the pro-working behind the counter. Once you choose a product, you can get started as soon as you get home.
You don’t even have to visit a provider in person to get a recommendation for medical cannabis: services like Teleleaf offer virtual visits for prospective medical cannabis patients.
TeleLeaf: Your Medical Cannabis Healing Partner
Whether you’re struggling with depression, chronic pain, or another condition, medical cannabis could revolutionize your healing journey. And, when you’re looking for a medical cannabis healthcare provider you can count on (and care from the comfort of your home), turn to TeleLeaf: the network of providers simplifying medical cannabis access.
Make an appointment with a provider to start your medical cannabis treatment as early as today.
Sources:
National Institute of Mental Health. Depression.
https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/depression
NORML. Marijuana: A Primer.
https://norml.org/marijuana/library/marijuana-a-primer/
Healthline. Cannabis 101: What’s the Deal with Terpenes?
https://www.healthline.com/health/cannabis-terpenes
American Chemical Society. Flavonoids in Cannabis sativa: Biosynthesis, Bioactivities, and Biotechnology.
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsomega.1c00318
Harvard Medical School. The Endocannabinoid System: Essential and Mysterious.
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/the-endocannabinoid-system-essential-and-mysterious-202108112569
Frontiers in Pharmacology. Reviewing the Role of the Endocannabinoid System in the Pathophysiology of Depression.
https://www.frontiersin.org/
Neurochemistry International. Presynaptic CB1 Cannabinoid Receptors Control Frontocortical Serotonin and Glutamate Release – Species Differences.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
Louisiana Department of Health. Medical Marijuana Regulation.
https://ldh.la.gov/page/medical-marijuana
Dr. Chance Miller 
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