How Can CBD Help With Mental Health Issues?

The increasing use of social media, instability in the world today, and the COVID-19 pandemic are just some of the reasons that many people are experiencing mental health disorders. The treatments that the mental health community has for this population result in unpleasant side effects that some people are unwilling to accept. CBD is a candidate that may be able to replace these medications and reduce the unpleasant side effects.

Why Do People Take CBD?

Research has demonstrated that CBD can improve the following medical conditions:

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD

The mental health community characterizes PTSD as a condition in which people avoid activities that can trigger memories of an unpleasant event. It also causes people to experience nightmares, intrusive thoughts and relive traumatic events. The research demonstrates that CBD can reduce these symptoms. One study in particular from the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine reported that psychiatric treatment and one oral dose of CBD reduced the symptoms of PTSD.

Difficulties Sleeping

CBD is known to calm the nerves of people taking it. The adults in one study experienced anxiety and the inability to sleep well. After taking 25 milligrams of CBD daily for a month, 65% of this population registered improved sleep scores.

Depression

Researchers investigated whether or not CBD decreases depressive symptoms for those who take it. Antidepressants work to increase serotonin levels in the brain, and studies done on animals demonstrated that CBD increased the subjects’ serotonin levels. Another 2018 study found that CBD helps the brain respond to the serotonin levels that are already present.

Anxiety

Some studies show that CBD reduces anxiety levels in participants. A study done in 2015 also found that CBD improved the conditions for people experiencing PTSD, social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder.

Epilepsy

CBD demonstrated its ability to decrease the frequency of seizures in those diagnosed with epilepsy. Two epileptic conditions that improved because of CBD were two types of epilepsy that do not respond well to anti-epileptic drugs. In a study focusing on children with Dravet syndrome, one of the conditions that do not respond well to medications, CBD reduced seizures to half in 43% of the subjects. After this, the FDA approved a medication that contains CBD for children.

What Side Effects Does CBD Have on Mental Health?

In animal studies, CBD improved the psychotic symptoms that mice with schizophrenia experienced. Also, when introduced at high levels, CBD did not cause the mice to experience catatonia. Another study showed that CBD decreased the instances of visual hallucinations in the population.

How Can CBD Help Soothe Mental Health Issues?

Many people currently use CBD to medicate their psychiatric symptoms. However, half of these people are doing so without informing their physicians. This shows that CBD is working for many psychiatric patients, but the medical community is concerned that these patients are not informing their doctors. Because CBD use is not currently regulated, the risks are high because people could be taking low-quality CBD. It could also contain THC, which would cause them to experience a high. The industry needs CBD products that are of high quality and effective. Be sure to consult your doctor when considering using CBD to medicate your psychiatric symptoms.

By: Katherine Robinson, a writer for CBDistillery