Depression is a very debilitating disease. Those who suffer from depression will often mask their symptoms so that friends and family barely notice, if at all. Signs of depression can be isolating oneself, not taking part in the activities that you used to take a part in. Being depressed may cause you to wear pajamas all day and not shower for several days. Depression can make you feel like you can’t get out of bed, it can make you feel exhausted and barely able to function. Depression can even cause physical symptoms of pain and aches, from joint pains to headaches.

Depression can lead to suicide, which has become one of our far too common tragedies in America. Suicide is likely the result of people not thinking in the right way and being out of control of their feelings and their thoughts. If someone was honestly thinking with a level head and without feelings of extreme depression, they would not wish to end their life. Sometimes suicide is the result of a lot of pressure and anxiety, that is the result of or can lead to depression. Regardless of how it starts or why, depression does kill, and it makes people miserable. The families who go on without loved ones will suffer for the rest of their lives with unanswered questions and feelings of guilt for not knowing.

When people with depression seek help, they are typically treated with anti-depressants and will sometimes be referred to a therapist. A psychiatrist will generally make the diagnosis and prescribe medications, but most psychiatrists in the United States only see their patient for about fifteen minutes before pulling out a pad and writing a prescription. People are not really given any individual treatment early on and the medications can be problematic on their own too.

Healthcare in the United States often lets those with mental health issues, which is the classification for depression, fall through the cracks. Many healthcare plans do not cover mental health at all and the ones that do simply have high deductibles or don’t cover the treatment plans that would be most effective the individual. Sadly, insurance companies most often dictate who gets care and what type of care they get, not the doctors.

There are many reasons to avoid traditional care and there are reasons that people must avoid it because they don’t have access to it. CBD oil for depression has become popular because of the way it works to block negative thought patterns that most often lead to depression.

Why CBD for Depression Works

CBD works within the neural pathways to help block signals that the body sends to the brain to request help. A wound causes the nerves in that area to signal the brain that there is an issue, it hurts and that white blood cells should be sent to help prevent infection. CBD doesn’t block important messages, but it is able to block repetitive messages, such as negative thoughts, chronic pain, etc.  In fact, CBD for depression has shown incredible promise with the studies that have been done so far. Research needs to continue to thoroughly gather data to be conclusive. Additional benefits may be found with further research as well.

CBD and depression are definitely big research right now and there is not doubt that scientists around the world will find more evidence of the impact of CBD oil for depression in the coming months and years. With CBD oil depression can be curtailed and this could help future generations to never know the deep pain of chronic depression that overtakes your life.

CBD oil and antidepressants are completely different in the way in which they work, and this is particularly important as well. Many of the antidepressants that are prescribed have disturbing side-effects and do long term damage to the body. There are many reasons besides this to use CBD oil. Let’s look at the top ten reasons to use CBD oil for depression.

10 Reasons to Use CBD for Depression:

• Speed of recovery – CBD begins to work almost immediately on depression. The prescribed medications will sometimes take weeks, up to three months sometimes, to have an impact on the body. For someone who is very depressed, this is simply not an option.
• Safe – CBD oil is safe and has no long-term side-effects that people need to fear. CBD will not harm your internal organs. CBD is non-addictive and will not cause withdrawals if you stop use. Children who accidentally get into CBD should visit the doctor but will likely be fine. Pets can use CBD products and so can children, but the dose should be regulated, hence visiting the doctor to be on the safe side.
• Less Anxiety – Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that controls anxiety. Serotonin also happens to interact with CBD, thanks to the endocannabinoid system (ECS) in the body. Serotonin and dopamine are symbiotic. In other words, when one is decreased, the other increases and vice versa. The problem with this is that if dopamine levels drop in the body, serotonin is increased, and this causes anxiety, stress, and lower energy levels. CBD can help stop this process, and over time, CBD can help bring back equilibrium and balance to this system which will help alleviate your anxiety.
• No liver damage – The drugs that are so often prescribed for depression can cause liver damage, as can over-the-counter drugs that are used for years, such as Tylenol and ibuprofen. The body has a hard time processing mass amounts of drugs over an extended period. If you wonder whether your prescriptions can cause liver damage, do some homework and find out. If your doctor likes to do regular bloodwork on you, there is a sign that he is checking to make sure that your liver and kidneys are still functioning properly, and this means you are at risk. CBD will not damage your internal organs. There is no risk of liver damage when you choose to use CBD. CBD and antidepressants are apples and oranges and there is no reason to put yourself at risk when CBD works better and faster.
• Energy levels increased – CBD will help give your body so much more of what it needs and help it function more normally that you will feel an increase in energy as your ‘engine’ is firing on all its pistons again. Many drugs that prescribed for depression tend to make you tired and drained. This causes you to hit a wall in the afternoon and have issues functioning at normal levels at work. CBD use will not cause this wall affect. In fact, you might find that you feel better than ever.
• Libido enhancement – Taking antidepressants can have a detrimental affect on libido. Many people report having a lack of desire for sex when they start taking medication for depression. This obviously takes a toll on marriages and relationships in general. The tension that is caused by this issue has an opposite effect when it comes to making you feel better. CBD will not interfere with your sex life and in some cases, people report that it seems to enhance their sexual experiences, so go ahead and use CBD without any concerns about harming your intimate relationship with your partner. Sex life is a huge issue for many people and there are often issues with people stopping their prescription medications because of the unhappy side-effects on their sex life, which leads to the depression coming back. You will not have any of these issues when using CBD oil for depression.
• Motivation – When you use CBD, with or without depression, one of the happy effects is that motivation and clarity are improved. If you’ve had a ‘to do list’ for quite some time that has been getting ignored, the odds are in your favor that CBD will help motivate you to get that list done. CBD can uplift moods, increase clarity of thoughts, enhance focus and this causes people to become more naturally productive.
• Pain management – CBD helps block the messages to the brain that cause pain to be recognized. Pain is often a symptom of depression. The body thinks it is in pain, tells the brain it is in pain, and pain manifests in this way. If you have ever heard that depression can cause physical pain, this is how, and this is true. CBD can manage this pain effectively and it works to elevate your mood and block the pain signals at the same time. CBD works like an army in your body, multi-tasking to make you feel functional very quickly.
• Lower risk of cancer – It is a known fact that cancer is a depression causing illness. The two seem to go hand in hand and even after people become cancer-free, depression can cling onto them and this is a real problem because this depression is so severe that some have turned to suicide after tackling something as difficult to beat as cancer. Battling depression and cancer at the same time is horrible and tragic. CBD has been shown to slow and sometimes stop the growth of tumors in lab rats. CBD is also full of omega fatty acids that are full of antioxidants that help to combat the free-radicals in the blood that are known to cause cancer. Taking CBD can lower your chances of getting cancer or the slow the spread of it, if you have been diagnosed with it already.
• Increase appetite – Appetite is something that isn’t always good with depression. It’s hard to feel good when you are not eating right, and CBD can help stimulate your appetite when you need it. Strangely enough, CBD also can prevent overeating, which is also a problem for some who feed their emotions. CBD can help you maintain a more balanced appetite and help you eat when you need to and more nutritiously when you do too.

CBD Is Safe and Effective

CBD is totally safe, and it has been used for centuries. The Chinese are the first documented users of hemp, which is the plant that CBD comes from, with written accounts of the plant used for medicinal purposes.

The process by which CBD oil is extracted from the hemp plants is usually very safe but it is highly recommended that you make sure your CBD is sourced from the United States. Our regulations on the soil and the way in which the plants are farmed is better. CBD coming in from China has been shown to have toxins such as lead. If you are making sure to buy American, or possibly from Canada, you should be fine.

CBD can be purchased in many forms and you have several options available to you for using it. If you want to take your CBD as needed, and it is necessary that it takes effect in your system quickly, you may want to consider vaping your CBD oil for depression, especially if anxiety is something that typically accompanies your depression symptoms.

If you have COPD, this is not a viable option for you though, as vaping has been shown to cause a lot of problems for those who have breathing difficulty and should not be done. Other options for quick absorption are taking your CBD on an empty stomach and using sublingual drops. When you use the drops under your tongue, they are absorbed directly into the blood stream via the capillaries that are so close to the surface of the skin, underneath the tongue.

Other options include CBD edibles, capsules, adding drops to drinks, coffees already infused with CBD, topical creams and lotions, shampoos with CBD oil in them, CBD tinctures that can be added to cocktails or other foods, CBD oil added to other oils in salad dressings, CBD candies that are made for children and adults, and virtually any way that you can create to add your oil to.

In addition to those with COPD not vaping their CBD oil, it is also not advisable for anyone who is taking anticoagulants to take CBD because it can cause issues. CBD also tends to thin the blood and can interact with these medications. See your doctor for further advice.

An Additional Word About Depression

If you feel that you might be depressed, seek help. The more that we learn about depression and educate about the warning signs, the fewer people we will lose to it. Depressed people seldom reach out for help. This is the nature of depression but if we can teach and pound it into people that when they feel this way, they must seek help, then we can potentially save lives.

Long-term depression robs people of the time with family while they are alive, and it sometimes robs people of their lives by choosing to end their cycle by taking their life. There are many organizations that exist to help you and all emergency rooms are now trained to help you if you walk in and tell them that you are feeling like you might take your own life and you are depressed.

Your family wants you around, even if you have thoughts right now that they don’t. Now is not the time to listen to irrational thoughts. A good piece of advice is that ‘the thoughts you are having are real, but they might not be right’. Your emotions are valid and real, and you do feel terrible, but there is help and things do can get better. Right now, you just need some help to remember that.

If you are unable to seek help actively, reach out and talk to someone. The suicide prevention hotline is a good place to call. Dial 1-800-273-TALK and a trained person is there and they are ready to listen to you. Sometimes talking to a stranger is easier than talking to someone that you know.

If you feel yourself a little depressed, know that it can spiral and CBD for depression might be a quick way to stop it before it gets out of hand. CBD can be purchased over-the-counter at a shop or on the internet with a lot of privacy. None of your family or friends need to know unless you choose to tell them. It’s hard to let the world in when you aren’t feeling comfortable. Depression will make you isolated. Using CBD is an option that won’t require you to let the entire world know what you are going through if you’re not ready for that.

CBD may help you get to a point that you do want to talk and that is good too. CBD may make you feel so good that it doesn’t seem to matter anymore. Regardless of what works for you, just make the steps to find your way back from depression because it is an unnecessary torture. You deserve to live your best life and CBD may be what helps you be able to do that.