Treating anxiety is a long-term mission. Knowing how to identify symptoms and their severity, being able to turn to a doctor, following a long-term course of treatment and learning to recognize triggers. Even under optimal conditions, living with anxiety is no easy task.
Understanding the mechanisms of anxiety
What makes diagnosing anxiety difficult is the variety of symptoms that can occur. These may include breathing difficulties, tremors, palpitations, cold sweats, dizziness or even headaches. Discomforts of the body, originating in the brain. Anxiety is, in normal circumstances, a defense mechanism that is supposed to contribute to our survival. That said, in our modern world, where our fears can be associated with distant or merely potential threats, anxiety can become disabling.
Physiologically, anxiety is triggered by a neurobiological mechanism. Here, it’s serotonin, or the lack of it, that’s to blame. Low serotonin levels in the body are directly linked to anxiety and depression. For sufferers, the recommended treatments are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. In short, they prevent the brain from recovering the neurotransmitters present in the system, in order to increase their concentration.
The problem with such treatments is that they are rigorously supervised due to their classification as antidepressants. What’s more, they can have serious side effects ranging from alcoholism to the removal of inhibitions, from the development of manic tendencies to loss of libido and dependence. In other words, it’s a treatment that can potentially do more harm than good. Unlike CBD, whose side effects are minimal.
Using CBD to treat anxiety
CBD is not a serotonin reuptake inhibitor. At this time, researchers are still not entirely sure how cannabinoids influence serotonin. Or, to be more precise, its influence on serotonin receptors in the brain.
However, they can already claim that CBD helps reduce stress and alleviates anxiety symptoms both behaviorally and physiologically. In other words, CBD is not limited to the short-term treatment of symptoms. CBD is so effective that it is already used in the treatment of various forms of anxiety, including post-traumatic stress.
For people suffering from anxiety induced by post-traumatic stress, CBD has proved its worth in numerous studies since 2011. It is also used to treat severe forms of social anxiety and even behavioral disorders. And in every case, there is a reduction in stress and anxiety levels.
Can CBD be a viable treatment?
Yes. However, there are some parameters that need to be defined. Firstly, CBD-based treatments must be sufficiently concentrated to reproduce the results observed in the scientific setting. Next, it’s important to understand that CBDs are devoid of the psychotropic substances found in cannabis (such as THC). Its use is therefore not accompanied by any artificial alteration of your mental state.
For those wondering whether there’s a risk of overdose, the answer is no. Even in large doses, CBD carries no risk of drug overdose. There are no known cases of overdose, and excess generally only leads to drowsiness.
However, like any treatment, CBDs can have side effects. However, these effects are minimal compared to most treatments on the market:
- Change in appetite and weight loss;
- Fatigue ;
- Diarrhea ;
NB: It is important to specify that this information refers to CBD, which is a chemical compound extracted from cannabis. It should be pointed out that ingesting cannabis can lead to altered mental state, in addition to the risk of adverse reactions in the body, in the presence of the plant’s other active compounds.
