Does Cannabis Help With Burnout?

With the many stresses of life, it's not unusual for customers who come into dispensaries to ask “Does cannabis help with burnout?”.

The pressures of work, social schedules and family life take a toll. Burnout is considered a disease of the 21^st century. A recent study by Deloitte found that 84% of millennials have had at least one burnout episode in their current jobs.

What do you do when you’re burnt-out? Can cannabis get you back on track?

Join us as we explore the characteristics of cannabis and how they can impact your burnout.

What Is Burnout?

The World Health Organization (WHO) recognized burnout as a modern day disease with effects on people worldwide.

Burnout is typically described as a state of mental, physical and emotional exhaustion caused by prolonged excessive stress.

Though limited stress is important, especially when we are facing danger, prolonged anxiety and stress are very detrimental. The three major stress hormones are adrenaline, cortisol and noradrenaline are. When we sense danger, these hormones elevate our level of alertness and preparedness by increasing our heart rates and preparing our muscles to move.

If the body continues to stay in an alert state for a long period of time, the consequences could be devastating.

When a person experiences constant stress without having a coping mechanism, their overall health will eventually be affected. This is because the constant presence of the stress hormones has effects that will end up affecting their major organs. It is estimated that up to 60% of all human disease and illnesses are caused by stress. These include heart disease, strokes and heart attacks.

What Are The Symptoms of Burnout?

How do you know you are suffering from burnout? 

Burnout is not a condition that develops overnight. It usually progresses over a period of time. What might start mildly as your inability to make decisions or having the energy to get out of bed could progress to a nervous compulsion to go on despite feeling depleted and blown up into something more serious. Let’s look at some early signs that could be your body warning you.

You might experience some of the below physical symptoms:

• A drastic change in your eating and sleeping habits
• A general feeling of exhaustion and lack of energy
• Constant illness due to decreased immunity
• Persistent aches in your head and muscles

Emotionally, you might experience this if you are having a burnout:

•  Lack of motivation
•  Feelings of entrapment, helplessness and defeat
•  An outlook that is increasingly negative and cynical
•  Feeling like you are a failure and doubting yourself
•  Detached and lonely
•  Feeling constantly unaccomplished and dissatisfied
•  Experiencing detachment issues

Behavioral symptoms of a burnout are:

• Reporting late to work, leaving early or finding reasons not to go at all
• Isolating yourself
• Procrastinating or taking a long time to do things that ordinarily you would do immediately
• Abusing alcohol, food or drugs in order to cope with stressful situations
• Shirking your responsibilities
• Lashing out at the innocent around you

The good news is cannabis can help relieve the symptoms of burnout and relax your body long enough for you to get some relief.

What Does Cannabis Contain?

The three cannabis sub-groups are Cannabis indica, Cannabis sativa, and Cannabis ruderalis.

Cannabis is popular for its calming and relaxing effects. In some states in the U.S., it can be prescribed to help with medical conditions such as stress, chronic pain, poor appetite and glaucoma.

Cannabis contains more than 150 substances called cannabinoids. The most studied cannabinoids are tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD).

Both these compounds can have a positive effect on burnout:

• This cannabinoid is non-euphoric and non-intoxicating and non-euphoric, which means it will not give you a high. It’s properties include relaxation, reduction in pain inflammation, reduction in anxiety, nausea and seizures.
• This is what gives cannabis its psychoactive properties. THC causes the high most people associate with cannabis.
• Terpenes are aromatic compounds found in the cannabis plant that have numerous benefits, some of them therapeutic. Some terpenes like linalool which smell like lavender are known to relieve stress and others have potent relaxation properties

What Symptoms Of Burnout Can Cannabis Treat?

The endocannabinoid system is a dynamic system that regulates the different functions of the body. These functions range from appetite, mood and other functions. The terpenes and cannabinoids found in cannabis can interact with the cannabinoid system to result in positive benefits.

Some symptoms of burnout that cannabis can treat are:

• Anxiety
• Stress
• Head and muscle aches
• Feelings of hopelessness

How Exactly Will Cannabis Help To Manage Burnouts?

Cannabis contains potent qualities that can combat burnout. Some of them are:

• THC-dense strains have the effect of reducing stress and anxiety.
• The psychoactive properties of high THC strains can also help you improve your outlook on life and brighten your mood, leaving you in high spirits.
• The sense of calmness that you will feel after smoking most strains of cannabis will also slow down your system long enough for your body to reset to a relaxed state.
• As discussed earlier, a prominent symptom of burnout is headaches and general malaise. The CBD strains contain anti-inflammatory properties which will melt away the pain and give you relief from these.
• The CBD in marijuana is also very effective in managing different muscle and joint aches that are associated with burnout.
• Cannabis assists in the regulation of appetite, improvement of sleep quality and reduction of inflammation which will bring back he focus and productivity lost in burnout.

Though a magic elixir for burnout does not exist, cannabis will certainly help you get back on the path of recovery.

That said, ensure you incorporate self-care habits into your day alongside your marijuana consumption to ensure long term coping skills and the reduction of incidences of burnout.

How To Use Cannabis To Combat Burnout

Available science suggests that cannabis can be of great benefit to your burnout, but you have to do it right:

• Cannabis Dosing: Start low and be slow. The exact same type of cannabis can have very different effects on different people. The effects vary depending on age, gender, weight, time of consumption and many other factors. It is therefore important that you monitor the effects a particular strain has on you and monitor what quantity is enough to do the job. It’s advisable to start with 5-10 milligrams and take it from there.
• Environment: Ensure you consume your weed in an environment that is comfortable for you. That could be in front of your TV or in a warm bubble bath
• Method: In recent times, people are generally moving from smoking cannabis to using extracts and concentrates. Low dose tinctures are becoming popular for relaxation alongside bath bombs and topicals. Find a method that suits you.
• Type of cannabis: Generally, if you are not a seasoned user, opt for strains that are high in CBD and lower in THC as you are starting out. With time, you can pick what suits you best. It is also advisable to go for indica-dominant rather than sativa-dominant strains to combat burnout. If you find that sativa-dominant strains cause you anxiety, CBD will mellow the buzz.

Other Health Impacts of Burnout and How Cannabis Helps

If you recall, we earlier mentioned how the overproduction of stress hormones such as cortisol have long-term ill effects on the body?

Tp recap quickly, when the body experiences constant stress, its adrenaline glands up the production of cortisol, which keeps the body in a constant state of high-alert with a fast heart rate and on point reflexes.

How will cannabis help with this?

When cortisol is over produced, this means that the body is constantly in panic mode and is likely to eventually suffer from adrenal fatigue. This interferes with other functions the body is supposed to be carrying out like digestion, sleep and detoxification.

The calming and restorative effects of cannabis effectively bring these hormones to a place of balance while eliminating anxiety and stress, which exacerbate the situation.

The end result is a rejuvenated body that no longer considers itself to be in panic mode. This gives the person suffering from burnout enough reprieve to reset.

Conclusion on Does Cannabis Help with Burnout

The calming and euphoric effects of marijuana can be an important component in both preventing and resolving burnout. Its properties can help in managing the physical, emotional and behavioral symptoms of burnout which will effectively manage the condition.

However, it's important to keep in mind that the strain one uses has a lot to do with the effects they will feel. THC strains are great for a mental pick me up and a positive outlook while CBD strains energize, relax and treat other physical symptoms.

With some effort and some good research, you will find the perfect strain to treat your burnout symptoms. To learn more about the medical uses of cannabis and how various cannabinoids affect the body, enroll in Cannabis Training University, the leading weed college since 2009.