CBD interacts with receptors in the endocannabinoid system to promote relaxation, decrease anxiety and reduce pain while possibly lowering blood pressure.
A small study conducted on people suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) concluded that those using CBD spray experienced significantly reduced symptoms; however, more research must be conducted.
Anxiety
Preclinical evidence demonstrates CBD’s potential as an anxiolytic, decreasing anxiety behaviors across multiple disorders including PTSD. Animal models show CBD to have antianxiety properties as it reduces firing in fearful stimuli neurons and lowers skin conductance amplitude. Furthermore, CBD enhances extinction training to block reconsolidation of persistent fear responses.
Doctors still are unsure how CBD could improve depression and anxiety symptoms, but they do know it interacts with over 65 receptors in your brain, including some that regulate serotonin production – a chemical responsible for mood. CBD could potentially boost serotonin levels or alter other receptors or brain pathways to alter mood.
Recent surveys reveal that 68% of respondents reported an improvement in their wellbeing after using CBD. Not surprisingly, the more CBD you use, the greater will be its impact on improving wellbeing.
Depression
CBD has demonstrated anxiolytic effects in several animal models of general anxiety, such as the elevated plus maze (EPM) and Vogel-conflict test. Studies involving CBD demonstrate a bell-shaped dose response; higher doses were ineffective while lower ones proved beneficial; this contrasts to most agents that modulate the eCB system that have anxiety-provoking properties at higher dosages.
CBD reduces acute increases in heart rate caused by restraint stress and blocks the long-term anxiogenic effects of chronic predator stress through 5-HT1AR activation, while simultaneously preventing fear memories from being reconsolidated after retrieval compared with a placebo condition.
However, CBD should not replace existing antidepressant therapy for those suffering from depression. Individuals taking antidepressants must continue taking their prescribed dose while considering adding CBD as part of their treatment plan with healthcare professionals. It’s also important to inform them if you take CBD because it may interact with certain medicines like blood thinners and anti-epileptic medicines; and alter results of liver function tests.
Pain
Research indicates CBD’s positive effect on pain in both preclinical and clinical studies, from both mouse models to elite athlete studies. CBD was shown to decrease hyperalgesia from spinal nerve injury neuropathic pain models while simultaneously preventing mechanical allodynia. Additionally, it modulated D9-THC’s agonist effects within neuropathy models while protecting mice against cisplatin-induced peripheral neuropathy. A group of elite athletes with chronic pain experienced up to 30% decreases in their worst pain with improved scores on functional scale scale (Nimalan et al 2021). Due to extensive training this population was adept at self-monitoring medication tolerability issues due to training requirements.
CBD proved its efficacy in a double-blind trial conducted among people living with MS, significantly decreasing spasticity scores while simultaneously significantly decreasing worst pain scores and improving short-form health survey questionnaires from patients suffering chronic cancer-related pain. CBD differs from THC by not activating its CB1 or CB2 receptors – instead, its influence influences broad electrical and calcium signals within the nervous system, offering an innovative new method to control pain without the harmful side effects associated with opioid medications.
Insomnia
CBD can improve sleep by decreasing anxiety and regulating REM sleep – both essential components for restful, restorative rest. Furthermore, CBD may decrease latency while increasing non-REM phase time spent.
CBD has an immediate and direct influence on our bodies through the endocannabinoid system, which regulates our mood by balancing serotonin levels. Low levels of serotonin can contribute to anxiety, depression and insomnia; when serotonin levels are balanced they can alleviate such symptoms while giving us better quality sleep.
One study discovered that CBD increased sleep onset latency and total sleep time while decreasing wake after sleep onset in participants with chronic insomnia disorder, but found no significant differences in next day neurocognitive performance or subjective mood measures; this may be attributed to inconsistency in participant adherence monitoring procedures and lack of blinding in testing procedures; researchers warn against overinterpreting results related to CBD’s effects on sleeping disorders due to these potential limitations.
