Anxiety is a mental health disorder and there are numerous different ways it can affect people. It can range from feelings of distress and worry in social situations to extreme panic and much more. Certain anxiety conditions will be related to specific situations/phobias like health anxiety which might manifest itself as worry/ panicking about getting an illness.
Or you might even start imagining symptoms and even after getting a clean bill of health you will often continue to worry. Sometimes anxiety disorders can have no specific trigger at all. They can just create feelings of unease and panic that springs up out of nowhere.
Anxiety affects many people all over the world and while certain groups might be more susceptible there really is no rule or pattern to who can get an anxiety disorder. People from all walks of life can be impacted by anxiety disorders and medical professionals often don’t really know what the root causes of anxiety disorders are.
Although like many other mental conditions it is likely caused by a multitude of different factors. Your environment also plays an important part in anxiety disorders as well but if you do suffer from anxiety conditions of any kind how exactly do you combat them?
Because of the wide range of possible effects that anxiety disorders can bring about tackling the issue can be very difficult. But could CBD help? CBD or Cannabidiol to give you its full name is one of the many different cannabinoids found in the cannabis plant.
Yes, that might make you a little wary, but the cannabis plant does have a wide range of medical properties and CBD is believed to have many medical benefits as well. CBD oil is derived from the hemp plant and not the marijuana-variety of the cannabis plant, so it contains much lower levels of THC.
Basically, this means there is no risk of getting a ‘high’ from taking CBD oil products as long as you are buying them from a trusted manufacturer/ supplier. CBD is believed to have a number of impressive medical properties like being able to offer quick and effective pain relief to having strong anti-inflammatory properties.
Many of the perceived medical benefits of CBD oil do require further research and study. But the supporting evidence we do have is enough to convince many people to try it. So, how could CBD oil help with anxiety?
Can CBD treat anxiety?
There is some evidence that supports the notion that cannabis could help with anxiety disorders and other related conditions like depression. Now, while CBD is only one of the many beneficial compounds in cannabis, it’s thought that it’s mainly the CBD inside cannabis that gives it is anxiety-reducing properties.
While there is less research when compared to cannabis there have been studies examining the effects of CBD on treating anxiety and the results are promising. One such study found that CBD oil helped people deal with social anxiety and it’s thought that CBD’s interaction with serotonin receptors gives CBD its anxiety-reducing effects.
Similar studies on animals also showed evidence of CBDs anti-anxiety effects. And as a further boost, the studies also showed that CBD can help combat insomnia which is a common side-effect of anxiety disorders.
Further studies showed that CBD was similarly effective combatting PTSD as well and in treating various other trauma conditions. It is believed that CBD helps calm and soothe people because it targets receptors through the body’s endocannabinoid system.
This is believed to help people feel calmer and more relaxed and this, in turn, will help alleviated feelings of anxiety and stress.
So can CBD help treat anxiety issues? I don’t like to give a hard ‘yes’ or ‘no’, but there’s definitely some scientific evidence supporting the notion that CBD could help reduce anxiety.
The wide range of different CBD products also makes this easier for people with anxiety issues as well. According to some experts, full-spectrum CBD oil that contains a wide variety of hemp-derived compounds, in addition to CBD, makes the best case for anxiety relief.
One of the biggest benefits of CBD is that it is incredibly versatile, and you will find all kinds of products including CBD Oil/ tinctures. But you can find pills, concentrates, edibles and much more. Each kind of CBD products will have their own unique characteristics, and some will naturally be stronger than others. You can even find CBD products that include other anxiety-reducing herbs in it like turmeric.
There is no right or wrong product to try and some people will naturally find certain CBD oil products to be more effective than others especially when it comes to fighting the effects of anxiety. So, if you are struggling with an anxiety disorder of any kind then you might find CBD products to be helpful however you do need to consider a few things first.
CBD considerations
If you suffer from anxiety then it might sound like CBD is a miracle cure that offers you everything you could need. The many reports about CBD apparently having so many benefits isn’t really helping this either. So, it’s important to reiterate that while evidence is promising more research is really needed and be aware that you might not find CBD to be overly helpful at first.
It could take a while for it to help you alleviate the effects of your anxiety and make you feel more relaxed or it might not help at all in some cases. Keep your expectations low and go into things with an open mind and you might find CBD to be very helpful but until further research is carried out we can’t say for sure just how effective CBD is.
You might also want to experiment with the different forms of CBD available as some will be more effective than others and much of this will go down to personal preference. And remember always buy your CBD products from a reputable supplier.
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Peter Wallace has been an advocate for mental health awareness for years. He holds a master’s degree in counselling from the University of Edinburgh.
