How CBD and Hemp Oil for Anxiety Works Miracles
Anxiety is a natural physiological response that keeps you safe from perceived threats. You may feel anxious before an important meeting, during a job interview, or while taking a test.
Although it’s your body’s way of preparing you to face a challenging situation, anxiety is more significant for some people. It can become constant, overwhelming, and intrusive, lasting for months or even years. When anxiety is severe, it can interfere with your daily life, making it difficult to concentrate, sleep, or socialize. At this point, a doctor may diagnose an anxiety disorder.
Unfortunately, anxiety disorders are the most common mental health issues in the United States, affecting almost 2 in 10 people. If you have an anxiety disorder, you’re up to five times more likely to see the doctor and six times more likely to become hospitalized for psychiatric disorders. And although doctors have a range of therapies that can help, only around 37% of those affected seek treatment.
Pharmacological medications are the most common treatment for anxiety disorders. However, they have unpleasant side effects and may not work for some. For this reason, many anxiety sufferers are turning to natural plant-based solutions and opening their eyes to the many hemp oil benefits for anxiety.
Continue reading as we explore how hemp oil for anxiety could help calm the mind.
What Is Anxiety?
Anxiety is a stress response. It’s your body’s way of preparing you to face a challenging situation by increasing your heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration. This reaction is also known as the fight-or-flight response.
Your body releases a burst of hormones, including adrenaline and cortisol. These hormones increase your strength and energy so that you can either face the threat or run from it.
The stress response is essential for survival. It’s what helped your ancestors escape from predators and other dangers. Of course, you don’t face the same immediate threats in today’s world, but the stress response can still be triggered.
You may feel anxious before a speech, meeting, or test. The stress response is beneficial in these situations, helping you perform at your best by increasing your alertness and focus.
Unfortunately, anxiety can become continuous and overwhelming. It becomes an anxiety disorder and can impact your job, education, social life, and relationships.
Medications are often recommended to treat anxiety disorders, including anti-anxiety medicines and certain antidepressants. But they come with a range of side effects that many people find intolerable. As a result, increasing numbers of people are turning to earth-centered solutions like pure CBD oil.
How does CBD for anxiety work?
CBD is short for cannabidiol. It’s a cannabinoid in the hemp variety of cannabis plants with no intoxicating effects. One of the other primary cannabinoids, THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), is responsible for the psychoactive effects of cannabis. But, if you have anxiety, one of the many appealing hemp oil benefits is that it’s naturally low in THC.
When you use hemp oil for anxiety, CBD interacts with your body’s endocannabinoid system (ECS), which is responsible for maintaining homeostasis or balance. The ECS regulates various functions, including mood, appetite, pain perception, inflammation, and memory.
Cannabinoids nourish the ECS. CBD is thought to interact with ECS receptors in the central and peripheral nervous systems. Although scientists are not sure precisely how CBD affects receptors in the brain, it may affect serotonin signals. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that plays an essential role in mental health and mood, and low levels are linked to anxiety and depression.
CBD acts as a 5-HT1A agonist, a type of serotonin receptor. A group of prescription medications called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) targets these receptors and prevents the brain from absorbing serotonin. As a result, there’s more serotonin available to communicate between nerve cells. Pure CBD oil may have the same effects, lifting anxiety and boosting mood.
In a 2020 study, researchers evaluated almost 400 people prescribed CBD for cancer, neurological, and mental health problems. After 3 weeks of CBD treatment, each participant noted improved quality of life. Those using CBD for anxiety reported improved daily functioning and reduced anxiety symptoms.
Further evidence of the benefits of hemp oil comes from a 2019 retrospective study of 72 adults experiencing anxiety or sleep issues. More than 8 in 10 reported that their anxiety symptoms eased within the first 2 months of using CBD.
Evidently, hemp oil for anxiety has great potential to help anyone struggling with mental health.
