Anxiety is a serious mental health condition that is often difficult to treat. CBD has emerged as a potential solution for individuals who are looking for new ways to manage their anxiety.
CBD vape pens, oil tinctures, gummies, and edibles are all possible treatments for anxiety. CBD interacts with the body’s natural endocannabinoid system, reduces inflammation, and relieves pain which can all play a role in helping to improve anxiety.
Here is everything you need to know about CBD for anxiety.
What is CBD—A Quick CBD Guide
You can use CBD for anxiety, but you first need to understand the CBD basics.
CBD is a cannabinoid much like THC. However, CBD cannot get you high and is used primarily for mental and physical health benefits. It’s connected to improving sleep, reduced pain, and even better outcomes when it comes to my anxiety.
CBD is typically synthesized from hemp plants. CBD was recently made legal which has caused it to become popular throughout the country and indeed the world.
You can enjoy CBD Edibles, tinctures, and CBD vape pens. There are countless ways to enjoy CBD as well as use it for your health.
Speaking of using CBD for your health, let’s see how using CBD for anxiety works.
Can CBD Vape Pens Help With Anxiety?
CBD vape pens can help with anxiety. CBD vapes are a fast and effective way to quickly get CBD into the bloodstream to help with anxiety relief. There is scientific research that suggests that CBD could have a positive impact on individuals struggling with anxiety.
Vaping is the fastest way to get CBD into the bloodstream.
Let’s check in with the latest research on CBD and anxiety to see what science says about this possible treatment.
What the Science Says About CBD for Anxiety
Medical researchers are just starting to be able to look into the potential benefits of CBD. Much of this research is still very young and inconclusive, but one of the most promising areas is CBD for anxiety.
In fact, there are already several studies that have taken a look at how CBD can be used to help individuals with anxiety as well as other medical conditions.
One study, published in Neurotherapeutics in 2015, conducted a pre-clinical trial on the effectiveness of treating anxiety with CBD. The study found that there was evidence that CBD provided effective treatment for a variety of conditions.
The study determined that CBD was linked to better anxiety management for individuals with: PTSD, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder, OCD, and Social Anxiety Disorder.
Research continues to demonstrate that CBD is a potential treatment for anxiety. A randomized cross-over trial even found that CBD was an effective self-administered treatment for a variety of mental health conditions.
No matter which way we approach this issue, CBD is increasingly appearing as a reasonable, effective, and safe treatment for anxiety. There’s a growing body of research that backs up this conclusion, but there’s another source of data we should also look at.
Even though the formal research is still building, plenty of people the world over use CBD to help manage their anxiety.
One study looked into individuals who used CBD on a regular basis. The study found that individuals reported that CBD helped boost sleep, reduce anxiety, and help with a variety of other conditions.
The science as well as the community are coming out to show that CBD has a lot of potential for anxiety. Let’s take a look at how this works on a chemical level.
How CBD Might Help With Anxiety
We don’t yet know how CBD for anxiety works, but there are some interesting possibilities. Here’s how CBD acts within the body to lower stress and anxiety.
The first thing we need to talk about is the endocannabinoid system. This is a system of neurotransmitters that naturally occurs inside of every person’s body. It’s split up into two different kinds of receptors: CB1 and CB2.
CB1 receptors are located within the brain. CB2 receptors are located in the peripheral nervous system as well as lining the gut.
The endocannabinoid system plays a role in homeostasis. Essentially, the endocannabinoid system is responsible for keeping the body balanced which includes our mood.
CBD might not interact directly with the receptors in the endocannabinoid system. However, it’s currently thought that CBD helps promote other naturally occurring chemicals that interact with the endocannabinoid system.
You can think about CBD as turning up the volume on the endocannabinoid system. It helps other chemicals bind to the receptors in our endocannabinoid system which can help it to mediate anxiety, mood disorders, and stress.
CBD also acts differently than THC. THC floods the endocannabinoid system which can cause the euphoric and psychoactive feelings that you experience while high on cannabis products. CBD does not have that same effect.
In fact, CBD simply promotes the presence of other naturally occurring endocannabinoids. It might be that CBD is helping the body get back into balance and more specifically helping the mind achieve homeostasis which would bring anxiety down.
We’ve talked a lot about the science behind CBD, but how do you do so if you’re looking to treat anxiety?
How to Dose CBD for Anxiety
This is going to be one of the most difficult questions to answer when it comes to using CBD for anxiety. The formal scientific research as well as the anecdotal information about how much CBD you need to help with anxiety is pretty inconsistent.
Let’s start by talking about what dosage researchers typically use in laboratory settings. Right now, researchers seem to be using much higher dosages to test for anxiety treatments. These include doses ranging from 300 to 600 mg— that’s a lot of CBD.
Then again, there’s anecdotal evidence from people who use CBD that as little as 5 to 25 mg is enough to help them balance out their mood, stress, and anxiety.
So, what does it mean if there’s so much discrepancy when it comes to treating anxiety with CBD?
The first thing we need to consider is that different types of anxiety often require different treatments. It could be that certain types of anxiety need to be treated with different levels of CBD.
The intensity of the anxiety also comes into play. You might need more CBD to combat a severe anxiety than you would a mild anxiety.
Individual biochemistry is also a huge factor. Things like size, overall health, and your personal history with CBD can all change the amount of CBD you need to get your desired effects.
Here’s the biggest tip we can give when it comes to dosing CBD. Start small and build your dose up slowly.
Since CBD doesn’t get you high, the goal is going to be to find the smallest dose you can take that still gets to your desired effect.
The Three Types of CBD
There are countless different types of CBD on the market these days, but all of them tend to fall into three broad categories. Each of these can have a different impact on anxiety and stress. It’s important to know the different types of CBD because individuals can react differently to each different type.
Let’s take a look at CBD isolate, Broad Spectrum CBD, and Full Spectrum CBD.
Isolate
When it comes to CBD for anxiety, isolate is a safe place to start.
Most of the clinical trials we talked about in this blog use CBD isolate. CBD isolate is the purest form of CBD and it contains no other compounds from the cannabis plant. This is pure CBD.
CBD isolate is also a great way for you to see how this particular cannabinoid affects you before you try broad or full spectrum varieties.
CBD isolate is also very common. You might not be able to find a broad spectrum or full spectrum CBD in a pinch.
Broad Spectrum
Broad spectrum CBD also includes other compounds from the hemp plant. These can include other cannabinoids like CBG, but they contain no THC. One of the benefits of broad spectrum CBD is that it is associated with an increased Entourage Effect.
The Entourage Effect is a term for the overall combination of these compounds. While research into this topic is still developing, it’s thought that the Entourage Effect plays a role in how hemp and cannabis plants can improve an individual’s health.
There has been some research done into the Entourage Effect. This research seems to point towards cannabis and CBD products that include other terpenes and cannabinoids as effective alternatives for traditional treatments to stress and anxiety.
Broad spectrum CBD combines the benefits of CBD with its natural relationship with other cannabinoids. It can also include the terpenes from the hemp plant that are responsible not only for flavor and Aroma, but might have their own sets of potential benefits.
Broad spectrum CBD is a great way to introduce the other cannabinoids and hemp plant compounds in it to the mix.
Full spectrum
CBD vape pens that are labeled as “full spectrum” are going to contain all of the compounds you would find in a Broad Spectrum CBD product. The only difference is that Full Spectrum CBD products contain THC.
The biggest benefit to full spectrum CBD products is that trace amounts of THC which can come with its own benefit. This provides the full Entourage Effect and can deliver much more significant results.
Full Spectrum CBD products do come with a downside of containing some THC. The amount of THC in Full Spectrum products is far below the amount it would take to get an individual high. However, this is enough to potentially show up in drug tests which might make it difficult to use CBD products for certain individuals.
CBD Vapes VS Edibles for Anxiety
Understanding how CBD for anxiety works also means taking a look at the different ways you can use CBD products.
Since there are so many different categories of CBD products these days, we’re going to focus on CBD edibles and CBD vape pens. Each gets absorbed in different ways and that can change how you use CBD for anxiety.
How the Body Absorbs CBD Edibles
The CBD in edibles enters the body through the digestive system. This changes the bioavailability of CBD.
Bioavailability is the total amount of a given substance that enters the bloodstream after entering the body. A lot goes into the specific biochemistry of bioavailability, but the one big factor that is relevant for CBD is: digestion vs inhalation.
CBD edibles need to be digested before the CBD can enter the bloodstream. This means that the CBD will be entering the body much more slowly then it would with a CBD vape.
CBD edibles also have a reputation for having their effect last longer. The effect might not be as intense and it will definitely take longer to kick in, but it could release through the body more slowly providing a long-lasting relief.
Here is a selection of some CBD gummies for anxiety that we recommend.
How the Body Absorbs CBD Vapes
CBD vape pens are a different story altogether.
When you vape CBD, you inhale it directly into your lungs. This allows the CBD to pass directly from your lungs into your bloodstream.
The CBD in vapes is much more bioavailable than in edibles. This means that the CBD is going to have a much more intense effect, even at lower doses, and you’re going to feel that onset much quicker.
Vaping CBD is a great choice for getting better sleep, finding pain relief, and even helping with anxiety. Because the CBD can get into the blood stream so much quicker, the relief can also start faster.
However, an unknown aspect in vaping CBD is that the effects don’t seem to last quite as long as they do with edibles. This means that you might have to apply doses with shorter intervals than you were with edibles or that you might have to mix and match the two options.
Picking the right CBD delivery system comes down to the type of experience you’re looking to have with CBD as well as your own personal preferences.
Wrapping Up CBD for Anxiety
CBD vape pens, edibles, and tinctures are all potentially great options for helping people to better manage and relieve their anxiety.
CBD for anxiety is something that researchers are still focussing their efforts on. However, the early research seems to suggest that there is a connection between using CBD products and having better outcomes when it comes to anxiety and mental health. There is a lot of potential for CBD in the future of healthcare. Need more information about CBD? Check out our CBD learn section of our blog for everything that you need to know about CBD and your health.
