This article came out of Green
Flower Media, but I felt it was worth posting.
Wondering why so many are switching to the natural herb? Here
are three ways that cannabis may treat anxiety:
1. Learned fear
Anxiety is a form of fear. Over time, the more this emotion is
felt during certain situations, the stronger the reaction to that situation
becomes.
For a simple example, a person with claustrophobia has a fear of
being in small spaces. The more often this anxiety response is experienced in
small spaces, the more a person learns to associate the small space with fear.
Over time, this learned fear becomes amplified and can interfere with daily
life.
Surprisingly, emerging evidence suggests that cannabis compounds
can help the brain delete negative memories.
Research over the past decade has found that a non-psychotropic
compound in cannabis may actually reduce learned fear. This is
because of the fact that the herb engages with areas of the brain that are
responsible for emotion, learning, and memory.
The compound is called cannabidiol (CBD). Unlike
tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is the primary psychoactive molecule in
cannabis, CBD does not cause a psychotropic “high”. Instead, CBD provides a
slightly energizing yet calming effect on most people that does not distort
thinking.
Additional research has
shown that CBD is such a powerful anti-anxiety tool that it has been
successfully reduced symptoms in patients with treatment-resistant
schizophrenia in clinical trials.
2. Social anxiety
Have social anxiety? Taking a little (or a lot) of CBD before a
nerve-wracking event may help you keep your cool.
Human research suggests
that CBD may be particularly helpful for those with social anxiety. A 2011
experiment published in Neuropsychopharmacology gave 12 participants 600
milligrams of CBD and another 12 a placebo. The participants had been diagnosed
with generalized social anxiety.
The participants were then asked to speak publicly at an event.
The participants rated their mood during the test and researchers tested vital
signs like blood pressure and heart rate. Overall, those given CBD showed less
signs of anxiety than those given the placebo. The study authors ultimately
found that
“Pretreatment
with CBD significantly reduced anxiety, cognitive impairment and discomfort in
their speech performance, and significantly decreased alert in their
anticipatory speech.”
3. Sleep
Insomnia is a debilitating symptom in anxiety disorders.
Many anxiety sufferers experience racing thoughts that can make it difficult to
fall asleep and stay asleep.
Poor sleep can also worsen anxiety symptoms the
next day. Chronically poor sleep can increase the likelihood of panic attacks
which interfere with daily life.
Cannabis has a longheld reputation as a natural sleep aid. Research in
human participants has found that cannabis that contains psychoactive THC can
help people fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer.
Some early research also
suggests that cannabis extends the amount of time consumers spend in deep
sleep, which is the restorative phase of the sleep cycle. During deep sleep,
the body repairs itself from damage caused during the day.
For someone with anxiety, catching up on much-needed sleep can
drastically improve quality of life and reduce symptoms of the condition.
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