Extensive research has determined that cannabidiol (CBD), the active medicinal component of hemp CBD oil, provides powerful anxiety relief without the psychoactive effects of marijuana. Clinical trials show that CBD even reduces different types of anxiety, including post-traumatic stress and social anxiety disorder. Hemp CBD oil can also combat everyday stress, as it has a balancing effect on the body’s stress-response system regardless of whether you have a mental disorder.
What is Hemp CBD Oil?
Medical researchers consider cannabidiol (CBD) to be the most therapeutic compound in cannabis. CBD interacts directly with biochemical systems to promote homeostasis, which makes it helpful in treating a wide range of mental and medical conditions, including depression, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis and more.
Hemp CBD oil is CBD oil extracted from the hemp plant. Although hemp is in the cannabis family, it’s not the same as marijuana. Compared to the latter, hemp has higher concentrations of CBD and significantly lower concentrations of THC–the psychotropic compound known for its psychedelic effects. Hemp CBD oil’s THC content is less than 1 percent, which makes it legal in all 50 states.
How Does CBD Relieve Anxiety?
According to an article published in Neurotherapeutics in 2015, there’s an adequate amount of clinical research on humans supporting the anxiolytic (anti-anxiety) effect of CBD.
Chronic stress does damage to the structure and connectivity of your brain. It changes entire neural networks that correspond to emotional experiences and patterns of thinking. CBD directly manipulates brain cells by interacting with cannabinoid receptors attached to brain cells. It works to restore a stressed brain to homeostasis, allowing it to build better connections, as opposed to links that reflect an anxious state.
CBD and Post-Traumatic Stress
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that causes persistent memory recall of events and contexts linked to fear. Some of the significant symptoms involve flashbacks, nightmares, and intense feelings of distress. A 2012 clinical study published in Neuropharmacology found that CBD lessened symptoms of anxiety and improved sleep quality in PTSD patients.
A medical review published in Frontiers in Pharmacology in 2016 reported that CBD has shown to acutely reduce fear in the brain and disrupt the reconsolidation of memories that strengthen learned fears. It also appears to improve the effectiveness of therapy in PTSD patients.
CBD for Social Anxiety
Social anxiety disorder, also called social phobia, is an anxiety disorder involving fear of social situations. In a 2011 clinical trial, people with a social anxiety disorder got either an oral dose of CBD or placebo. Results showed that CBD measurably lowered anxiety, which was corroborated by the participants’ subjective assessments of their anxiety levels.
In another trial, a group of people with social anxiety disorder and a group without it were both asked to speak in front of a large audience. In both groups, participants received either CBD, a placebo or nothing at all. When researchers compared anxiety levels, they found that people who took CBD had markedly less anxiety, regardless of whether they had a social anxiety disorder.
Final Thoughts
If you feel like your nervous system runs on “high alert” most of the time, you could be suffering from chronic stress or anxiety. No matter what type of stress or anxiety you’re experiencing, it takes a toll on your overall health, as well as your sanity. CBD interacts with your body at a molecular level to calm the nervous system and heal the brain. Hemp CBD oil is a safe and effective way to get the therapeutic benefits of CBD, without the risks or side effects of marijuana or pharmaceutical drugs.
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