Updates in the Treatment of Depression With the Use of Cannabis

Abstract

The objective of the present study was to look at current developments in the treatment of depression with the use of cannabis, which aims at its benefits and therapeutic action and to report its mechanism of action in the treatment of Depression. The study was developed based on an integrative review of the literature in which books, dissertations, articles and theses that were published between the years 2017 and 2023 were researched. Documents published in Portuguese and English that were available in the databases were selected. Scielo, CAPES periodicals, PUBMED and LILACS. In addition to the databases, official documents from PAHO (Pan American Health Organization) and the Ministry of Health were used in the construction of this review. Depression is a disabling disease that affects around 350 million people worldwide. Considering that currently available antidepressants take 2 to 4 weeks to produce an effect, being ineffective in around 40% of cases, new medications with rapid antidepressant action, such as that observed by CBD, are of great clinical relevance. It highlighted the efficiency of medicines based on Cannabis sativa, which is a medicinal plant with pharmacological properties that present effects as close to or similar to neuroleptic medicines, whose active ingredient used to manufacture psychoactive medicines is Cannabidiol (CBD) which helps the central nervous system and the body, reducing and alleviating the effects of depression.