CBD Oil for Anxiety: Why it Works so Well?

Anxiety – We believe that it’s something self-explanatory, especially under current circumstances where everything is uncertain. 

With a constantly occupied mind and all these thoughts, most of us are going through anxiety. In some people, it could show up as a mild issue whereas for others it could be stronger and intolerable. 

The use of CBD oil in individuals has shown to be positively influencing the anxiety symptoms in the affected individuals. 

Anxiety and Stress:

Research studies conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO) indicate that 1 out of 13 individuals globally have anxiety issues, which turn out to be a horrifying number.

People with anxiety can understand the ongoing frustration and high levels of stress every time. Some people go for instant relief using medicines, which usually work but are addictive. 

The individuals who choose a long-term solution often claim that their anxiety issues aren’t being addressed fully with the medication. Another reason for stressing out, right?

Stress, CBD oil, and Human Body:

In such a situation, the consumption of CBD oil seems to be one of the best options as it can mitigate all the issues of the normal medication along with the creation of a significant impact on the anxiety too. 

Medically, you can expect your endocannabinoid system (ECS) to be directly activated through the use of CBD. The ECS system is connected to the receptors of cannabinoid in the entire body. 

Brain, vital organs, central nervous system, and immune system are some of the major areas where you can expect the presence of cannabinoid receptors. 

These receptors receive signals from the external environment and make certain changes in the entire body so that your body would flex enough to cope up with the stress. 

Apart from regulating the body organs, the ECS also acts as a buffer between the external stress environment and the body organs to prevent the extremely negative impact of anxiety that can take over you.

The activation of receptors of cannabinoid in the brain results in calming your nerves and reducing stress. But one thing should be specifically noted here. 

The higher amount of CBD does not mean a more relaxing impact rather using CBD more than a certain amount results in a higher level of anxiety because CBD contains some anxiety-inducing compounds a well, which impacts our brain when we over-consume it. So keep in mind that higher consumption of CBD can bring in more harm than good.

The activation of the endocannabinoid system (ECS) impacts the amygdala of the brain too. Amygdala is responsible for creating a feeling of fear and stress. 

Once ECS is activated, it helps individuals in forgetting any negative or harmful experiences, which could be the cause of creating anxiety or uncertainty about the present or future time.

These reactions on the human body show a positive impact after the consumption of CBD oil. 

Chronic Stress and the endocannabinoid system:

In the case of chronic stress or prolonged exposure to the stressful environment, the receptors of CBD start damaging and the signals emitted by these receptors aren’t given much importance by the brain. 

Additionally, the prolonged stressful situation also creates a specific enzyme, fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH). It breaks anandamide in the body reducing the feel-good impact of endocannabinoid. 

Both the reduced impact of signaling and the release of anandamide not only make the existing situation worse but also leave you with higher vulnerability to attract more stress, creating a difficult situation for you.

But don’t stress over it. The use of CBD oil can help you in mitigating both these prerequisites of stress. It triggers the signaling ability for calming the brain and body organs along with inhibiting the release of the damaging enzyme.

Positive results of CBD in lab testing:

All of the potential impacts of CBD that we have highlighted above aren’t self-made rather lab tests and clinical trials have proven them. 

The research studies conducted by pharmaceutical companies around the world have proven that CBD use can act as a trigger for CB signaling. Similarly, research works have also indicated a delay in the metabolic process of breaking anandamide.

A lab trial conducted on rats for 60 minutes of enforced restraint while administering CBD indicated a lower level of heart rate and arterial pressure along with lesser anxiety. 

The relaxing impact has been observed because of the activity in the memory, emotional processing, and cognitive processing sections of the brain.

Should you rely on the lab results?

Unfortunately, the lab results not always translate into real-world results. The success rate is often too low; this is why excessive clinical testing is required before considering a drug or product safe for the use of humans. 

In the case of CBD oil, limited research studies, and clinical trials have been conducted with positive results. 

Even developed countries like Canada have also made the use of CBD legal and medical doctors are prescribing it to the patients but still, there is a lot of room for exploration and its proper use in the medical field for treating patients.

One of the reasons for the limited exploration of the use of CBD on anxiety is the broad nature of the anxiety itself. It covers social anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, dependency disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder along with many other types. 

With such a broad scope of stress and the overlapping of each of these domains with the other results in requiring greater resources and more precision in measuring the impact.

One of the most studied impacts of CBD use is on social anxiety disorder (SAD), particularly because this stress can be better measured with the “public speaking” element involved. 

One trial to test the impact was conducted on people dividing them into three groups’ i.e. healthy group and stressed group with placebo and stressed group with actual CBD dose. The stressed group with a hefty dose of CBD performed the task with reduced symptoms of stress. 

The healthy group faced no impact and the group with placebo impact felt the stress to go higher while public speaking. These results prove that CBD use helps in restricting the stress levels.

Differences in the sources of CBD in reducing stress levels:

Two common types of CBD sources that would talk about including the purified CBD and whole plant CBD. The clinical trials for both these products have shown significant differences. 

The pure form of CBD has been found to trigger a bell-shaped response. This means that consumers felt the therapeutic impact with a sudden high and a sudden drop in the stress levels. 

Similarly, the use of CBD for controlling seizures has also indicated that the patients used a lesser quantity of whole-plant cannabis as compared to the use of higher quantities of pure cannabis. 

This indicates that consuming the whole plant CBD could prove to be significantly better in medical terms for controlling mental issues including stress rather than opting for a purer form.

Most of the studies that exist up till now deal with the short-term impact of the use of CBD with only a little evidence of CBD usage for long-term impact. Recently, some of the Japanese researchers have shown a significant impact of CBD use in anxious teenagers for the long-term as well, but it still needs to be explored further.

Last Words:

CBD oil can significantly impact anxiety levels. Lab tests and clinical trials have proved the positive impact by activating the ECS system in the human body and reducing the speed of release of anandamide. 

The formal clinical trials to make CBD oil a prevalent treatment for anxiety are under process, however informal use of CBD oil for anxiety treatment is on the rise with some of the countries legally allowing it to be used by the medical practitioners. So, consult with your doctor regarding the proper use of CBD oil for reducing stress and anxiety.