Mental health issues have risen significantly over the last decade. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over 1 billion people are living with mental and neurological disorders worldwide.
Substance abuse, chronic disease, and adverse economic factors constitute the biggest threats to mental health. Mental disorders may also be due to increased social isolation, certain environmental aspects, and genetic predisposition.
Fortunately, mental diseases are treatable. You can manage these conditions using prescription medications like antidepressants or opt for alternative herbs like kratom.
Here’s a guide to kratom and how it might improve your mental health.
What Is Kratom?
Kratom, botanically Mitragyna speciosa, is an evergreen tree indigenous to Southeast Asia. Its leaves have been chewed for centuries to relieve various ailments.
Most scientific studies investigating kratom’s therapeutic properties have found that the herb possesses opioid-like effects, making it a potential remedy for pain management. Other findings suggest that extracts from the plant may also treat stress and anxiety, signaling its significance in managing mental health disorders.
Besides kratom’s diverse medicinal applications, another intriguing fact about the Asian herb is that it exists in numerous strains. Examples include white Malay, green Indo, and red Horn kratom.
All strains may provide certain mental health benefits. However, they each vary in their overall effects.
How Might Kratom Support Mental Health?
The best way to analyze kratom's potential mental health benefits is to begin by understanding its biological effects. Kratom is loaded with therapeutically useful compounds, including the powerful alkaloids mitragynine and 7-hydroxy mitragynine. When consumed, these alkaloids bind to specific opioid receptors.
Both mitragynine and 7-hydroxy mitragynine have a high affinity for mu-opioid receptors, producing effects similar to those associated with conventional opioids like oxycodone and heroin. The compounds may also impact other major opioid receptors, including kappa, delta, and zeta.
Opioid receptors regulate various mood-related processes, such as motivation and reward. They also help foster social interactions.
Note that mood swings are a common symptom of mental disorders. Therefore, any physiological process that enhances their stabilization, such as kratom-mediated opioid signaling, might help to manage mental health issues.
What Does Research Say?
There’s an abundance of research crediting kratom for its positive mental health benefits. One such finding suggests that the kappa opioid receptor - one of the opioid receptors impacted by kratom - may alleviate major depressive disorder (MDD) and other psychiatric issues.
Another piece of research found that self-medicating with kratom helped ease anxiety and depression.
After consuming measured kratom doses for several weeks, the subjects reported marked improvements in hyperarousal and workplace anxiety.
The same study established that kratom could enhance sociability. This is especially significant for users grappling with social anxiety disorder (SAD). Consuming kratom extracts can imbue you with the confidence and motivation you need to get out there and interact with your peers or dear ones.
Many mental health patients grapple with various sleep disorders, particularly insomnia. This is another area where Mitragyna speciosa might provide relief.
Thanks to kratom's anxiolytic properties, you may add the herb to your bedtime routine to shorten your sleep latency. Moreover, extracts from the Asian plant might help prolong sleep duration for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) patients by minimizing the occurrences of nightmares.
Kratom may also support mental health by boosting focus and concentration. Various studies have found that the herb is stimulating at low-to-moderate doses and might elevate mental clarity. Kratom can quell racing thoughts, allowing you to face daunting endeavors with matchless grace and confidence.
Last but not least, kratom may address mental health issues by alleviating pain. Research suggests that the active alkaloids in kratom might increase pain tolerance through their effects on opioid receptors.
Perhaps you’re struggling to draw a nexus relationship between pain and stress.
Well, stress can interfere with your brain’s ability to process pain signals, increasing pain sensitivity. Similarly, pain may worsen existing anxiety. The interplay between the two conditions can result in a vicious cycle that’s difficult to break.
But kratom’s analgesic properties aren’t only beneficial for stress and anxiety management. The herb may improve your mental health further by reducing neuropathic pain, which is associated with higher emotional distress levels and lower quality of life.
Kratom and Opioid Addiction
The opioid crisis in North America has led to thousands of deaths and millions in economic losses in the last few years. Canada alone reported 5,975 deaths due to opioid overdose in 2023.
Many pundits now tout kratom as a potential solution to the opioid epidemic. That’s because the herb impacts the same receptors as conventional opioid drugs but with a lower risk of addiction.
Theoretically, opioid addicts can gradually introduce kratom into their lifestyles to mitigate the adverse effects associated with regular opioid drugs.
The logic is that since kratom presents similar mental effects as scheduled opioids, it can successfully fool the brain of an opioid addict into believing that the user is still on their regular opioids.
Long enough, a once-opioid addict would have switched to kratom without experiencing severe negative effects.
Wrap Up
Kratom may not be a magic pill for mental disorders. However, extracts from the plant can make a significant difference for mental health patients. As a parting shot, note that kratom is most effective if moderately dosed. An overdose can be grossly counterproductive.
Remember to also consult your therapist before using kratom or any other herbal extract to manage a mental condition.
