As with our physical health, it’s essential to take care of our mental state. You’ve probably heard about the potential benefits of taking CBD oil for anxiety as it can help to calm your mind and improve general wellness. In the following article, we’ll take a look at topics such as what CBD is, how it can support our mental health and what the science says about CBD’s impact on mental wellbeing.
What Is CBD & What Are Its Benefits?
Cannabidiol (CBD) is a popular chemical compound taken from the Cannabis Sativa plants. CBD is a non-addictive and not a psychoactive substance or at most is negligibly so. Marijuana, on the other hand, does have this quality due to the presence of high concentrations of Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is a cousin of CBD. So what exactly does CBD do? It is usually administered as a way to increase a sense of calm and relaxation, which in turn can help to alleviate distress and enhance overall mental wellbeing.
Potential CBD oil benefits include:
- Ability to reduce pain;
- May relieve depression and anxiety;
- Aid in treating acne, psoriasis, eczema and other skin issues;
- Can improve inflammatory response;
- Possible neuroprotective qualities;
- May benefit the health of your heart.
The science also suggests that there are several other possible advantages of CBD, including the ability to diminish symptoms related to cancer and the capacity to prevent diabetes and the spread of tumours. In addition, CBD may help individuals with mental disorders such as schizophrenia by easing psychotic symptoms. As for tolerability, most people in studies experienced no after-effects or only mild ones after ingesting CBD. So, in other words, it’s generally safe to take.
CBD To Support Mental Health & Wellbeing
So, to what extent can CBD help with your state of mind and how? And what does science say? While the findings vary depending on the aspect of mental health, there is plenty of evidence backing up the benefits of CBD for psychological wellbeing.
Anxiety Reduction
Approximately 10 million adults suffer from an anxiety disorder in the UK. The effects of anxiety can range in severity with the disease proving debilitating for many. As for the effectiveness of CBD at treating anxiety, a recent clinical trial that was published in The Permanente Journal established that of those who participated, 79% experienced a decline in anxiety. In a similar study, the use of placebos was found to have a minimal effect on anxiety or none at all. CBD has also been found to improve sleep, which can, in turn, help with fighting anxiety.
While it is not yet known how CBD helps in treating anxiety, there is growing evidence, which supports its efficacy in doing so. This plant compound has plenty to offer in this regard, and those in the medical field are optimistic about the future of CBD. There remains, of course, plenty of room for further research.
Fighting Depression
Along with alleviating anxiety, there is data to back up CBD’s capacity for helping with depression. As with anxiety, depression can be crippling. Many of us take prescribed medications to tackle both depression and anxiety. While these treatments have been tried and proven as a way to help those suffering from either type of disorder, such medications can have many adverse side-effects. For instance, these drugs can cause drowsiness, headaches, sexual dysfunction, irritability and insomnia. Some medications can even be addictive like benzodiazepines. CBD, on the other hand, generally lacks any side effects as well as being a natural alternative.
While there’s more research needed, experts suspect that the ability of CBD to help with depression is down to how it affects the brain’s serotonin receptors. Low levels of serotonin are believed to have a link to depression. While CBD probably won’t increase actual serotonin levels, it can impact how the chemical receptors in the brain respond to the serotonin already present. A study from 2014 concluded that that CBD might help in fighting both anxiety and depression. In 2018, a review of studies found that CBD also limits stress, which, therefore, may decrease depression which is connected to stress.
Neuroprotective Features
There is also science showing that CBD can be beneficial for the brain through its neuroprotective properties. This helps to protect the brain and nervous system against neurodegenerative diseases. It might stimulate the growth of brain cells, which often decline and get damaged with age. This cell growth has a positive effect on cognition, memory and overall brain function.
For example, one study found that people with severe epilepsy experienced a median reduction of 36.5% in seizures. In other research, it was shown that seizures decreased in children that had Dravet syndrome.
Incorporating CBD Into Your Daily Routine
The best time to take CBD products depends on how the compound affects you when you take it. If you would like to use CBD to experience its calming effects, taking it at the onset of anxious symptoms helps, for instance.
To incorporate CBD in your morning routine, you may decide to take CBD oil before your breakfast so that you can allow it to run its course throughout the rest of your morning. You might also help to calm yourself down at lunchtime by chewing on some yummy CBD gummies, instead of doing a regular coffee or energy drink, if you find that your stress levels have spiked. However, taking edibles such as gummies or capsules results in a slower CBD absorption rate as compared to using oral or sublingual methods.
After a long, tiring day, you might find that you want to wallow in a relaxing bath where you can use a CBD bath bomb as a secret ingredient. CBD infused bath bombs ensure a topical application of CBD compounds and penetrate deeply in the skin layers to work simultaneously with cannabinoid receptors and provide relief.
Finally, any rough edges that might need soothing at bedtime as you call it an evening could always be dealt with by rubbing your temples or the trouble spot with the aid of a fast relief CBD balm.
Whichever way you would like to incorporate CBD into your daily routine, make sure that the brands you choose don’t add to your stress levels by giving you inaccurately labelled products. Instead, choose to be among the many folks out there who are enjoying the anxiety and stress-relieving effects of CBD oil minus the extra stress. Make sure that you shop from proven brands and choose only the best CBD oil as you seek safe and effective CBD products to help you support your mental health and wellbeing.