Anxiety is a crippling mental disorder that affects more and more people every day. Even though this condition originates in the brain, it can have profound effects on the body as well. Anxiety can result in:
- Sleep problems.
- Numb or tingling hands.
- Decreased blood flow.
- Nausea.
- Dizziness.
And that’s just the tip of the anxiety-induced iceberg. Thankfully, treatments do exist for this crippling disease. But to add insult to serious injury, many of the treatments for anxiety produce side effects that are worse than the disorder itself.
Now, though, researchers are finding a treatment from an unlikely source: the marijuana plant. Certain chemicals in the marijuana plant can offer some seriously profound medical benefits when taken in the right way.
In this article, the experts at Honest Marijuana will introduce you to the chief chemical compound, known as CBD, that’s responsible for treating the many forms of anxiety. Along the way, we’ll answer such questions as:
- What is CBD?
- What is CBD oil?
- Why use CBD oil for anxiety?
- Is CBD oil addictive?
We’ll also investigate whether CBD oil gets you high and which CBD oil is right for treating anxiety. Let’s get started.
What Is CBD?
CBD is the abbreviation for the word cannabidiol (pronounced can-uh-BIH-dee-all), which is a member of a larger group of chemical compounds known as cannabinoids (pronounced CAN-uh-bih-noids).
Though you may have never heard of CBD or cannabinoids before, you’ve likely heard of CBD’s close relative THC. THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, is the cannabinoid most responsible (and most famous) for getting you high. Other cannabinoids include:
- Cannabinol (CBN)
- Cannabicitran (CBT)
- Cannabigerol (CBG)
- Cannabichromene (CBC)
- Cannabigerovarin (CBGV)
All in all, 113 cannabinoids have been isolated from the three species of Cannabis plant (indica, sativa, and ruderalis). Though THC usually gets most of the press, CBD is quickly growing in popularity because of its myriad medical benefits.
What Are The Medical Benefits Of CBD?
CBD can be used to treat:
- Insomnia
- Hyperglycemia (high blood sugar levels)
- Nervous system degeneration
- Psoriasis
- Artery blockage
- Bacterial growth
- Cancer cell growth
- Bone degeneration
- Muscle spasms
- Seizures
- Convulsions
- Anxiety
- Psychosis
- Chronic pain
- Inflammation
- Nausea and vomiting
- Low appetite
As you can see, the list of medical benefits that CBD has to offer is long and varied. And as scientists continue to study the cannabinoid chemical compounds—and CBD specifically—more benefits are discovered every day.
For the rest of this article, we’re going to focus on one disorder—anxiety—and see how CBD can be used to treat this overwhelming affliction. But before we do that, we need to investigate the means for getting CBD into your body. More to the point, we’re going to talk about CBD oil.
What Is CBD Oil?
There are numerous ways to get CBD into your body. The most common include:
But one of the best, and most effective, ways to achieve the benefits of CBD is with CBD oil.
CBD oil is most often produced through a process called CO2 extraction. Using the proper equipment, CO2 is exposed to high pressure and low temperature.
The CO2 is then forced through the marijuana plant where it strips off the cannabinoids, terpenes, trichomes, and other beneficial chemical compounds. After the CO2 travels through the plant matter, it evaporates and leaves behind an oily, honey-like material that’s packed full of canna-goodness.
We don’t recommend trying CO2 extraction at home unless you have the right equipment and the proper training. CO2 extraction is a very technical process and can be dangerous if performed incorrectly. Purchase a professionally made product rather than trying to do it yourself.
Now that we know what CBD is and what CBD oil is, it’s time to discover why CBD and CBD oil are effective treatments for anxiety.
Why Use CBD Oil For Anxiety?
We can look at this question in two ways:
- How is the cannabinoid CBD good at treating anxiety?
- Why is getting CBD in oil form ideal for those suffering from anxiety?
Let’s answer each one in turn.
How Is CBD Good At Treating Anxiety?
“Anxiety” is a blanket term for more specific disorders, including:
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
- Social phobia
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
- Panic disorder
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
All of these disorders can be mitigated and treated with CBD because of what that cannabinoid does in the brain: it boosts signaling through serotonin receptors and increases generation of neurons in the hippocampus.
Clinical studies in animals have revealed that CBD may act like selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), such as Prozac and Zoloft, to prevent the brain from reabsorbing the chemical. Because more serotonin is available in the brain, more neurons are activated. And when those neurons are active, anxiety is reduced and mood is improved.
Similarly, brain scans of individuals suffering from anxiety and depression show a smaller hippocampus (a part of the brain responsible for emotions and memory formation). Scientists have long understood that creating new neurons in the hippocampus (thereby increasing its size) is an effective treatment for anxiety and depression.
CBD has been shown to encourage neurogenesis in the hippocampus and, as a result, improve overall mood and reduce depression and anxiety.
Why Is Getting CBD In Oil Form Ideal For Those Suffering From Anxiety?
CBD oil is one of the best choices for getting a daily dose of CBD because it’s discreet. You can administer a drop or two directly in your mouth. You can mix it with your favorite drink. You can even mix it with food.
Best of all, it doesn’t have any telltale signs like smoking, dabbing, and vaporizing. That makes it great for those who are looking for healing without letting everyone around them know that there is a problem.
Will CBD Oil Get You High?
No, CBD oil will not get you high. That’s because CBD is non-psychoactive, meaning that it doesn’t change your perception. In fact, CBD is the chemical compound that keeps you from getting too high when you consume whole-plant marijuana (through a joint or a bong, for example).
It does this by plugging itself into the cannabinoid receptors in your brain. When CBD is there, the receptors stay off and the trip is less trippy. Without the presence of CBD, THC would dock with every single one of the cannabinoid receptors in your brain and turn them all on at 100 percent, creating a very powerful psychoactive high that could result in a bad trip.
Even if you isolate the CBD into a concentrated form (like CBD oil), it won’t affect you in the way THC does. Instead, it will give you all the medical benefits mentioned earlier without the associated high that marijuana is best known for. That’s great news for people looking to treat anxiety without having to take time out of their day to wait for the high to wear off.
What Are The Side Effects Of CBD Oil For Anxiety?
Unlike THC, CBD produces no serious side effects. The worst thing you can expect from using high-CBD products is dry mouth. Most individuals who take CBD products for medicinal purposes don’t even consider that a side effect. The dry mouth they experience is a small price to pay for a reduction in their symptoms.
Plus, other treatments often produce a long list of side effects that almost make it worse than the original ailment. CBD products do none of that.
In addition to dry mouth, CBD products can have one other side effect: they can interfere with your liver’s ability to process other medications. That means that the CBD products you take for your anxiety may negate the effects of the medications you take for your heart condition.
This could have unintended consequences if the CBD you’re taking isn’t meant to completely replace a certain medication. Be sure to talk to your doctor before adding a CBD product to your daily regimen.
Is CBD Oil For Anxiety Addictive?
No, CBD oil is not addictive. This is because CBD oil doesn’t turn on the cannabinoid receptors in your brain like THC does.
It’s those cannabinoid receptors that are responsible for creating the high that people keep coming back for. So because CBD oil doesn’t produce any kind of psychoactive effect, it isn’t addictive.
Is CBD Oil Legal?
At the state level, CBD oil is, for the most part, completely legal. Forty-five of the 50 states have approved CBD for medical use. Only Idaho, South Dakota, Kansas, West Virginia, and Nebraska have yet to make CBD products legal.
The federal government still classifies CBD as an illegal substance because it is derived from the marijuana plant. Even though CBD has no negative side effects and is not addictive, the Drug Enforcement Agency of the United States lumps CBD products in with the likes of heroin, LSD, mescaline, and ecstasy. Silly, isn’t it?
Which CBD Oil Should You Use For Anxiety?
CBD oil of any kind is beneficial for alleviating the effects of anxiety. But CBD oil made from high-CBD strains is even better because the concentration will be higher, meaning that you won’t have to use as much oil to experience the medical benefits.
If you have a choice of which CBD oil you buy, look for products made from the following strains:
- Grand Daddy Purple.
- Jack Herer.
- CannaTsu.
- Cannatonic.
- Girl Scout Cookies.
- Northern Lights.
- Purple Urkle.
- Blackberry Kush.
- Strawberry Cough.
Keep in mind that the specific strain is less important than the fact that the CBD has been isolated away from the psychoactive THC.
That said, the strain you choose can provide other beneficial chemical compounds, such as terpenes and trichomes that work together with CBD to produce some unique effects (this is known as the entourage effect).
How To Find The Best CBD Oil Dose
Here’s a step-by-step process for finding just the right CBD oil dose for your anxiety.
Find A Baseline Dosage
First, rank your anxiety from mild to medium to severe. Then find where your anxiety rank crosses your weight in the table below.
Regardless of the product you purchase, look on the label and find these two pieces of information:
Calculate Your Dosage
- Serving size
- Amount per serving
Serving size will usually be listed in drops (e.g., 1 serving = 10 drops). Amount per serving will usually be listed in milligrams (e.g., 25 milligrams). So if 10 drops equal 25 milligrams, one drop equals 2.5 milligrams.
Armed with that information, you can calculate how many drops it would take to give you the number of milligrams recommended as a starting dose.
Should You Try CBD Oil?
Yes, we strongly recommend that you try CBD oil if you suffer from anxiety. That’s the only way you’ll know for sure if it’s right for you.
The first step is to talk to someone at your local dispensary. Explain your situation and the relief you’re looking for from a CBD product. They can point you to a CBD oil that’s appropriate for your symptoms. Then we suggest starting with a small dose to see how you feel after taking it. You can always increase the dosage once you know what it does for your anxiety.
It’s important to remember that CBD oil isn’t a recreational product. It’s not going to get you high like THC products will. So if you don’t suffer from anxiety, nausea, or any of the other disorders mentioned above, you may not feel anything at all when you take CBD oil (other than possibly the dry mouth).
To begin taking advantage of the numerous benefits of CBD oil, talk to a professional who can direct you to a product like Hemp Theory Hemp Extract Oil that will best meet your needs.
For more information on all things cannabis and to check out our 100-percent all-natural marijuana products, visit HonestMarijuana.com today.