How CBD Oil Could Help with Anxiety
Humans and their emotions: a double edged sword.
As human beings we are able to experience a multitude of emotions, both negative and positive, useful and detrimental to our normal daily functioning. They help guide us through our complicated lives and influence our decisions in both good and bad ways.
Alongside moments of joy, excitement, anticipation, to name but a few, we all will at some point experience things that cause us fear, pain and sadness. This duality is a normal part of the human makeup. Emotional states we often dismiss as ‘bad’ are simply the body’s way of alerting you to potential dangers and scenarios that would be best avoided.
Imperfect as we are however, these emotional systems can at times become unbalanced, in just as real a way as our bodies can sometimes fail us and require medical treatment. When worry snowballs into something that we no longer feel is manageable, this is Anxiety.
Analysing Anxiety
Anxiety as a disorder affects over 284 million people around the globe today, “making it the most prevalent mental health or neurodevelopmental disorder”(8). It can be as debilitating as it is difficult to quantify and treat since, though common threads appear throughout, the experience is often unique to the individual and it’s triggers even more so.
As with many observable dysfunctions where the brain plays a key role, scientists are only beginning to unravel the complex nature of anxiety in the search for effective treatments.
Symptoms
Anxiety can cause a host of symptoms, including but not limited to,
- racing thoughts,
- uncontrollable over-thinking,
- difficulties concentrating,
- feelings of dread, panic or ‘impending doom’,
- feeling irritable,
- heightened alertness,
- problems with sleep,
- changes in appetite,
- dissociation,
Physical manifestations can include,
- sweating,
- heavy and fast breathing,
- hot flushes,
- dry mouth,
- shaking,
- hair loss,
- fast heartbeat,
- extreme tiredness or lack of energy,
- panic attacks,
and if left untreated can lead to depression and suicidal thoughts.(7)
What Neuroscience tells us
Using fMRI brain scans to measure electrochemical responses in the brain of patients with chronic anxiety, scientists have been able to pinpoint that it is the amygdala and its neurochemical interactions with the frontal lobe that largely cause our anxiety to run amok. This fact itself comes as little surprise, as the amygdala is well known to be the emotional centre of the brain, and much of the frontal cortex is involved in processing sensory information about the world around us. There is of course a learned aspect involved which relates to the triggers that cause anxiety to surface.
How does this all relate to CBD?
CBD, or cannabidiol, is a compound produced in both small quantities throughout the human body, and much more potent quantities in the Cannabaceae plant family, specifically for our purposes, the Hemp plant. This is quite advantageous for us, since it also contains negligible to no THC, so there are no psychoactive compounds in industrially produced CBD oil.
In terms of its use as a treatment for anxiety, studies in 2015, 2019 and most recently a study in 2020 showed a direct link between CBD and anxiety management.
The exact reason and mechanisms for these effects are still under intense study themselves, but principally, CBD interacts with the brain’s neurocannabinoid system – the body’s superhighway for hormonal and immune functions, interacting with the CB1 and CB2 receptors. Once it does, the overstimulation and connection between the amygdala in frontal cortex, that we outwardly experience as anxiety, is dampened (1). Transversely, our serotonin levels are increased, causing greater feelings of calm and contentment.
The effects are fast acting and often long lasting, “with no reported psychomotor slowing, negative mood effects, or vital sign abnormalities noted” according to the studies.
There is still much to learn, but with each year comes more scientific evidence. To explore how you can use CBD to aid in your treatment and recovery from chronic anxiety, PTSD and other trauma related disorders, and as a safe alternative to other pharmaceutical treatments, take a look at the full range of high-quality, lab-tested and government approved CBD products available on our website.
SOURCES
1 – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4604171/
2 – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7330185/
4 – https://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1516-44462019000100009&tlng=en
5 – https://www.healthline.com/health/cbd-and-drug-interactions-what-you-need-to-know#takeaway
