Cannabis and Mental Wellbeing, Can It Affect Anxiety or How I Feel?
Cannabis can be difficult to judge because the same person may describe it as something that relaxes them and something that is making their life smaller.
Cannabis can be difficult to judge because the same person may describe it as something that relaxes them and something that is making their life smaller.
You may use it to switch off but notice that you are doing less. You may feel calmer for a while but increasingly anxious when sober. You may intend to use occasionally and find it has become part of every evening.
The useful question is not whether cannabis is “good” or “bad”. It is what your current pattern is doing to you.
Look for the trade-off
What does cannabis give you, and what does it cost?
It might help you disengage from worry, fill time, sleep or make boredom more tolerable. The cost might be motivation, money, concentration, memory, confidence, relationships or the ability to enjoy things without being high.
Writing down both sides can be more revealing than arguing with yourself about whether you “should” use it.
Anxiety can become complicated
Some people use cannabis because they feel anxious. Some find cannabis itself increases anxiety, panic, suspiciousness or distressing thoughts.
If you cannot tell which came first, you do not need to solve that alone.
Tell a GP or drug-treatment professional about the timing: what you feel before using, while using, the next day and during periods when you use less.
Pay attention if your mental state changes markedly
Cannabis use can be particularly important to discuss with a healthcare professional if you experience paranoia, unusual beliefs, hallucinations, severe agitation or other major changes in your mental state.
NICE guidance on coexisting psychosis and substance misuse supports coordinated mental-health and substance-misuse care where both are present.
Do not assume a severe change in mental state is simply something to wait out because cannabis was involved.
What does treatment look like
For cannabis misuse, treatment is not generally based around a replacement medicine.
NICE guidance places psychosocial interventions at the centre of treatment for cannabis and stimulant misuse, with treatment tailored to the individual. Coexisting anxiety or depression may need appropriate psychological treatment in its own right.
Change the routine as well as the substance
If cannabis is embedded in every evening, removing it can leave a large empty period.
Plan what that time is for. If you used it to sleep, think about the sleep problem separately. If you used because you were lonely, address the isolation. If it marked the end of work, create another transition.
The alternative needs to answer the reason the routine existed.
Do not let stereotypes decide whether you ask for help
You do not need to be using a particular quantity, have lost your job or identify as “an addict” before contacting a drug service.
If cannabis is repeatedly interfering with the life you want to live, that is enough reason to discuss it.
Treatment can begin with understanding the pattern and deciding what you want to change.
Last reviewed
6 September 2026
Important informationThis guide provides general information only and is not medical advice, a diagnosis or a substitute for professional healthcare or drug-treatment advice. Street drugs can vary in strength and content, and risks can change when substances are mixed with alcohol, medicines or other drugs. If you are worried about your drug use, withdrawal, physical health or mental health, seek advice from a GP, local drug-treatment service or another appropriately qualified healthcare professional.