Does CBD help with stress and anxiety?

Going on a first date, making a speech to a broad audience or having a job interview – there are too many stressful situations in everyday life. The good thing is that the circumstances that cause sweaty palms and heart-pounding tend to pass quickly.
However, prolonged family problems or challenges at work may lead to chronic anxiety and require medical care. Besides medicaments, there are more natural ways of therapy, such as CBD consumption.
Nowadays, cannabis is promoted by the media as an alternative to traditional medicines and a natural cure to help prevent or even cure many illnesses. Numerous studies prove that CBD may be helpful with everything from anxiety and bad sleep, to Parkinson’s disease and chronic pain management. Let’s discuss how CBD can be helpful in coping with mental health problems.
There are two types of cannabinoids. Phytocannabinoids come from the cannabis plant, while endocannabinoids are made within the body.
Cannabinoids help to keep the homeostasis of the physiological functions such as sleep, mood, appetite, or immune functions. For example, if your body lacks water, it will send thirst signals, or if you’re stressed, it will help regulate the heart rate.
The body keeps the balance with the help of our endocannabinoid system, a sensitive network of cannabinoid receptors, which are found mainly in nervous and the immune systems. A receptor is a protein molecule on the surface of cells, which can receive chemical signals and help to produce the corresponding cellular or tissue response to the outer changes. Cannabinoid receptors can easily be activated by the endocannabinoids naturally made in the body or external cannabinoids, such as CBD and THC. Therefore, by consuming these plant compounds, you can keep the endocannabinoid system regulated.
Usually, the terms stress and anxiety are used interchangeably. Even though both stress and anxiety share many similar symptoms, they are two different health conditions. It may be a challenge to see the differences between the two. However, you must identify which one you are struggling with and treat it accordingly.
Stress is the body’s reaction in response to a real or alleged threatening situation or discomfort.
Some of the psychological and physiological signs of stress include:
Anxiety, on the other hand, is a reaction to stress. It is an emotion accompanied by the following symptoms:
Unfortunately, anxiety may develop into further more damaging forms:
Small bursts of stress hormones make the body to prepare for “fight or flight”. Unfortunately, human bodies weren’t designed to manage a constant state of panic. High levels of chronic stress hormones, especially cortisol, may wreak havoc everywhere. Here are the main effects that anxiety may cause to the body:
Regular panic attacks make your brain release stress hormones and lead to persistent headaches, lightheadedness, and depression. The brain releases adrenaline and cortisol in the nervous system, helping the body to respond accordingly to the threat. Prolonged exposure may negatively affect the body. For example, a high level of cortisol may cause weight gain over time.
Anxiety may cause heart palpitations, chest pain, high blood pressure, and cardiovascular diseases. For those who already suffer from heart disorders, anxiety raises the chance of coronary events.
Anxiety can cause digestive disorders, such as stomach aches, nausea, and diarrhoea. Anxiety disorders may also lead to loss of appetite.
Constant feelings of anxiety and stress, and high levels of chemicals and hormones, such as adrenaline, weaken the immune system. This increases the risk of viral diseases and illnesses. Moreover, regular vaccines may not provide the desired result in this case.
Rapid breathing, caused by anxiety disorders, may worsen respiratory functions for people with asthma. Furthermore, patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease may also suffer from anxiety complications.
Other effects:
Once you’ve determined which disorder you have, if not both, it is time to start the treatment. CBD may be helpful for both stress and anxiety. However, some anxiety disorders require additional medications or therapy.
Regular stress can be harmful for social life, mental and physical health. In this case, CBD products such as oil or tincture act as a natural way to lower the daily stress that stops you from living your best life.
If you experience chronic stress, the hypothalamus becomes less sensitive to cortisol, the main stress hormone. It means that you need more cortisol to obtain the same response. Lowered sensitivity causes us to remain stressed for a long time. CBD may increase the hypothalamus’ ability to sense cortisol and prevent stress from lasting for too long.
Stress causes an increase in blood sugar and metabolic activity, which in turn causes a buildup of free radical products and oxidative damage. CBD products such as oil are high in antioxidants that help neutralize free radicals and protects the body from damaging influence.
Animal and human studies indicate that cannabidiol has anxiolytic properties. A study conducted in 2010 showed that CBD can help reduce anxiety in people with social anxiety disorder, or SAD. It was found that CBD could affect limbic and paralimbic brain areas, help to minimise current anxiety and change the initial brain reaction to anxiety disorders. Similarly, a 2011 study demonstrated that CBD might significantly reduce anxiety, cognitive impairment and discomfort induced by public speaking, and significantly increase alertness.
In 2015, the research results suggested that CBD had considerable potential as a treatment for multiple anxiety disorders, including panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, social anxiety disorder, generalised anxiety disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Anxiety and sleep disorders may be the result of posttraumatic stress disorder. The 2016 research with a trial of cannabidiol oil resulted in a decrease in anxiety and an improvement in the quality of the young patient’s sleep.
Due to the different therapeutic properties of cannabidiol, it is difficult to know exactly what body part it may activate. According to the studies, CBD can reduce anxiety by stimulating neural regeneration and neurotransmitter systems.
If you choose to take a CBD product, it will work best as part of comprehensive anxiety treatment. The best way is to speak with a trusted medical professional first and discuss your plans, especially if you are currently taking prescription medications. CBD may interfere with your body’s ability to metabolise drugs. A doctor can also help you manage other health issues.
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