Is CBD good for anxiety? To properly understand How CBD and anxiety are related, there are some questions we think we should answer first.
What is anxiety?
Everything is blurry, pins and needles all over your body, your heart is racing, you are shivering, but you are also sweating, you can’t catch your breath, there’s actually not enough oxygen to breathe. Your head is pounding, your mind is racing, and you want to run away but you can’t move.
Does this sound familiar? This is how a panic attack feels like, and it’s even scarier when it comes out of nowhere.
Anxiety is the most common mental illness and it manifests differently to every person. You might have all of the symptoms above, some of them, or even some different ones.
Anxiety evolved as a helpful emotion, and it would have been very useful if we were still hunting for our food, and running away from lions. We can’t flee or fight our bills or a new unfamiliar place, but we still get the same response from our body and brain.
The amygdalas are the emotional center of the brain, and for people with anxiety, they are overly sensitive, and they identify stressful everyday situations as a threat. That triggers the release of adrenaline throughout the body, It prepares it to face the “threat” and fight or run.
The heart is racing and breathing speeds up, lung passages expand, and blood vessels dilate, all to make sure that the muscles needed to run away are ready for action. Other systems get shut down, like salivary glands and the digestive system. Blood flow turns away from the stomach and the skin, and nerves involved in arousal shut off.
People with anxiety can’t always reason their way out of this feeling, because the logical part of the brain cannot control the amygdala; and so this anxiety builds up to a full-blown panic attack.
Anxiety and your brain and body
Anxiety causes a chemical imbalance in the brain. Scientists are still studying and discovering the changes that take place in our brains cause of anxiety, but one thing is clear; different neurotransmitters, the brain messengers, (like serotonin, dopamine, and endocannabinoids) and their receptors, are out of balance.
These imbalances and the excessive release of other hormones, like cortisol, take a toll on your body. The consequences can be digestive problems, headaches, weight gain, pain, fatigue, endocannabinoid imbalance, and a lot more.
CBD as a treatment for anxiety
There are a lot of prescription anti-anxiety drugs, but they tend to be addictive. For people that are looking for a more holistic approach or they want to combine their treatment, CBD can help them combat anxiety.
Scientists still have a long way to go and many studies to complete in order to figure out exactly all of the therapeutic properties of CBD, but current studies show that CBD offsets anxiety by stimulating neurotransmitter systems and neural regeneration.
Serotonin: Serotonin has at least 14 different receptors. CBD can mimic serotonin by binding and activating the body’s 5-HT1A serotonin receptors, which is considered to have the strongest role in anxiety disorders. Buspirone, the anti-anxiety drug, also binds to the same receptor.
Endocannabinoids: Cannabinoids are a naturally occurring compound, and are used by the endocannabinoid system, which tends to destabilize under stress. CBD helps restore balance by preventing overstimulation of the CB1 receptors, and by mimicking and augmenting the production of endocannabinoids.
Neural regeneration: Throughout our lives, our brains continue to grow, as new neurons and new connections are formed. But constant stress and anxiety can damage neurons. A significant amount of studies have proved that CBD can boost the process of neural regeneration, especially in the hippocampus, meaning that CBD can help reverse the brain damage caused by anxiety.
CBD and your anxiety
There are many CBD products available and questions like “Which product works better for me?” or “How much should I take?” can be overwhelming. And if you are reading this, you probably don’t need more things to stress over.
CBD is not a panacea, but it has been scientifically-proven that it has anti-anxiety and anti-inflammatory activities, and there are still dozens of clinical trials currently in the works.
No product type works better. It all depends on the condition you wish to treat and the person using it. it’s important to choose the administration method that best suits you. We chose edibles because they are easier to use and easier to regulate the desired dosage.
If you choose to use CBD to treat your anxiety, we highly recommend that you reach out to a trusted medical professional, especially if you are currently taking other medications.
We hope that your healing journey is successful and that you will find your kind of balance!