Can You Make Use of Kratom to Treat Depression and Anxiety

You can find Kratom trees, which usually grow in tropical countries of South Asia. People use the leaves of this tree or its extracts as an alternative medicine for various chronic pain and similar other conditions. Often many people use kratom for treating their anxiety and depression symptoms too.

However, more research will be needed to prove that kratom is really effective and hence FDA has not yet approved it for treating depression or anxiety. People however use it as a dietary supplement and if you want to try treating your depression and anxiety then you need to exercise caution. 

You can buy kratom supplements from Psychonaut, who are well-known head shops available in Montreal. They also deal with many other products that you can find in most of the smoke shops. 

What is kratom?

Kratom is a tree usually found in various parts of Southeast Asian countries including Malaysia and Thailand. The active ingredients of Kratom are known as mitragynine, which is found within its leaves. If you take lower doses of mitragynine, then it will produce energizing effects. However, at higher doses, mitragynine will produce sedative effects.

Since a very long time, people in Southeast Asia have been using kratom. It is also known as few other names like:

• Biak
• Ketum
• Kakum or Kakuam
• Thom
• Thang

In many countries like Denmark, Australia and Thailand, and Kratom is considered as illegal however it is legal in the USA, but there were efforts to put restriction on accessing this substance.

How can it help in reducing our depression and anxiety?

Technically you cannot equate Kratom with an opioid, but if you look at its effects then you will find them quite similar to what you can find from opioids, like morphine or codeine. All the active ingredients present in the kratom are called as mitragynine. Mitragynine will bind to opioid receptors present in our brain to offer relief from pain.

This kind of action may be behind such anti-anxiety and antidepressant effects reported by few kratom users. So far, very little research has been conducted on the effects of kratom on our moods.

One of the studies conducted during the year 2017, where it was confirmed that among few users, kratom could enhance mood and also provided relief from anxiety.

Also, researchers have highlighted that kratom could produce sedative effects. However, researchers have not yet fully examined whether there are any side effects like whether sedation will interfere with various benefits that it is supposed to offer.