Mental Health Roundup

CBD and Mental Health

Mental health and wellness has come into the spotlight as more and more people experience increased levels of occasional anxiety and stress than ever before. We here at Charlotte’s Web are committed to serving the health of others and we believe in the restorative powers that Mother Nature provides especially when it comes to mental health.

Take a look at some of the most asked questions around CBD and mental health below to understand how CBD may be able to help. Since the world of CBD is constantly evolving and studies are still being conducted, we’ll make sure to keep the list updated as more information becomes available.

Questions About Stress and Occasional Anxiety and CBD

Does CBD help occasional anxiety and stress?

CBD has been studied for its effects on occasional anxiety for several years. Most studies are pre-clinical or animal studies, but human studies of CBD and anxiety have greatly increased in recent years, and the evidence is positive.(1) A CBD study conducted in 2015 concluded that CBD has considerable potential to help with every day or occasional anxiety.(2)

What’s more, a randomized controlled study conducted in 2011 recreated a situation likely to induce anxiety in most people, namely public speaking. Participants were divided into a CBD or a placebo group. Their situational anxiety levels were measured using subjective self-reported and objective physiological measures (e.g., heart rate). The group pretreated with CBD showed significantly less stress and nervousness in performing public speaking compared to the placebo group.(7)

Learn more about CBD for occasional anxiety.

Does hemp oil help with anxiety or stress that is occasional?

Full-spectrum CBD extracts, such as hemp oil, have been shown to help successfully control their moments of stress with much lower amounts of CBD than patients who consumed a CBD isolate.(8) This is due to the fact that full-spectrum extracts contain beneficial terpenes and cannabinoids, like CBN and CBG, that are not found in CBD isolates. This is called the entourage effect.

Learn more about the differences and benefits of full-spectrum CBD, broad-spectrum CBD, and CBD isolates.

How to use CBD for anxiety that is occasional

How you consume full spectrum hemp extract containing CBD is almost entirely up to you and what you prefer. Placing CBD oil directly under your tongue before swallowing, has been shown to be one of the more effective ways of ingesting CBD because you can tailor the amount you consume to what you need more easily. However, some people prefer the convenience of capsules that contain the same oil that comes in bottle or gummy form. It all comes down to your individual preferences.

Check out our blog on “How to Use CBD” to learn more.

How much CBD oil should you use for anxiety that is occasional?

Unfortunately, there isn’t a universal amount of CBD that everyone can take to help with occasional anxiety. Much like how you consume CBD, the amount you take really depends on your individual body and your desired effects. Currently, there is a study in progress that is looking at the effectiveness of using 25mg of CBD from a full-spectrum hemp extract in the form of soft gel capsules over a twelve-week period, but it has yet to conclude.

What we recommend is that you start out with a small serving size, such as half a dropper per day, and then continue to add more each day until you reach your desired effects. Once you find the serving size that best serves you and your lifestyle needs, you don’t get much benefit from taking more or less than that amount.  We each have a personal “sweet spot” based on our own body chemistry and finding that spot creates the foundation of a beneficial CBD wellness routine.

Learn more about how much CBD you should take and “What is CBG?“

Is CBD or CBG better for anxiety that is occasional?

While we can’t say whether CBD or CBG is better for occasional anxiety, we can say that patients have found success controlling their moments of stress when they combined those two cannabinoids with the 80+ others found in the hemp plant using a full spectrum hemp extract.(8) Full spectrum hemp extracts allow the many beneficial cannabinoids found in the hemp plant to work together to support good health even further. So while CBD gets a lot of attention, an extract that includes other precious phytocompounds, such as CBG and CBN, can help CBD do its job better. This phenomenon of phytocompounds working together within the body is called the “entourage effect.”

Read our blog post “What does Full-Spectrum mean?” to learn more about the benefits of full spectrum hemp extract.

Learn more about CBN and its benefits by reading our blog post “What is CBN?”

Can CBD give you anxiety?

No. Unlike THC, the cannabinoid responsible for marijuana’s “high” that can cause anxiety, CBD has been shown to do the opposite and reduce the occasional anxiety in patients. For example, a scientific review published in 2015 in the Journal of Neuropathics concluded that CBD has considerable potential to help with every day or occasional anxiety.(2)

Learn more about the difference between CBD and THC and CBD for Occasional Stress.

References:

1. Russo, EB et al. Agonistic properties of cannabidiol at 5-HT1a receptors. Neurochem Res. 2005 Aug;30(8):1037-43
2. Blessing EM, et al. Cannabidiol as a Potential Treatment for Neurotherapeutics 2015; 12:825-836
3. Resstel, B M et al. 5-HT1A receptors are involved in the cannabidiol-induced attenuation of behavioral and cardiovascular responses to acute restraint stress in rats. British journal of pharmacology vol. 156,1 (2009): 181-8
4. Bitencourt RM and Takahashi RN. Cannabidiol as a Therapeutic Alternative for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder: From Bench Research to Confirmation in Human Trials. Front. Neurosci. 12:502.doi: 10.3389/fnins.2018.0050
5. Chhatwa, J et al. Enhancing Cannabinoid Neurotransmission Augments the Extinction of Conditioned Fear. Neuropsychopharmacology (2005) 30, 516–524
6. Soares V and Campos A. Evidences for actions of cannabidiol. Curr Neuropharmacol 2017; 15:291-299
7. Neuropsychopharmacology. 36,6, 2011, 1219-26
8. Pamplona, FA et al. Potential Clinical Benefits of CBD-Rich Cannabis Extracts Over Purified CBD in: Observational Data Meta-analysis. Front Neurol. 2018 Sep 12;9:759