According to recent statistics, at least 40 million Americans have mental health disorders, with 19.1% of the total population having anxiety disorders. Typically, females are more affected than males.
Adults who experience anxiety disorders can have mild, moderate, or severe symptoms. At least 43.5% experience mild anxiety disorders, 33.7%, and 22.8% experience moderate and severe anxiety disorders, respectively.
A least 36.4% of people diagnosed with anxiety disorders receive medical care. So, where does the rest of the population diagnosed with this manageable and treatable medical condition do?
So, if you can’t help but ask what are the effects of cannabidiol (CBD) oil on mental health and anxiety disorders?’ Then read on as we got you covered through this article. We will help you understand in depth what anxiety is. We will also provide you with a straightforward answer on whether CBD oil can effectively help in alleviating anxiety-related symptoms and disorders.
What is anxiety?
Anxiety can be viewed as a normal physiological process in which one’s body adjusts to stressful conditions. However, when these emotions keep recurring to the extent that it affects an individual’s daily activities and cause them to experience physical changes like increased blood pressure or sweating, then this individual is considered to be experiencing an anxiety disorder.
People experiencing anxiety disorders can experience bouts of panic, agoraphobia (irrational fear of being trapped in a place), specific phobias, social stress, post-traumatic stress, obsessive-compulsive disorders, and separation anxiety.
The telltale signs that you may be experiencing anxiety disorders include difficulty sleeping without an explanatory reason, intensified bouts of worrying, increased and irrational irritability, restlessness, and difficulty concentrating.
Is CBD oil effective in the treatment of anxiety disorders?
With the significant health impacts mental health disorders have on the general population, studies and research have been carried out to find an effective way of curbing these disorders. One method that’s yielding positive results in treating anxiety disorders is the use of CBD oil. A survey conducted in 2017 demonstrated that at least 41% of Cannabis users had substituted their prescription anxiety drugs with Cannabis.
And 40% confirmed that the use of CBD was more effective in alleviating symptoms caused by medical conditions such as anxiety disorders. It’s a known fact that the cost of medical treatment in the USA prompts many people who have anxiety to hesitate in seeking the proper anxiety treatment.
For instance, it may cost you around $100-$120 to fully benefit from cognitive-behavioral therapies in the USA. This means that for an average American citizen to afford a single therapy session, it will necessitate them to work several jobs. This consequentially means lack of enough sleep more stress on how to get the jobs. Which in turn intensify their anxiety symptoms. Healthcare insurers also don’t help make this situation better for people experiencing anxiety disorders, as they only cover specific medications and health services offered to their subscribers.
All these factors necessitate people experiencing anxiety disorders to use CBD oil for the alleviation of their symptoms rather than incur high costs of anxiety prescription drugs or cognitive therapies. When the use of CBD oil to treat anxiety was at its infancy, many health officials deemed it to be unsafe due to the THC active compound present in Cannabis that gives one the ‘high’ feeling once this therapeutic compound was consumed.
However, after extensive research, CBD has proven to be more therapeutically beneficial than most of us thought it could be 10 years ago. Many countries have resorted to tapping the medicinal properties CBD has to offer to patients.
This has seen CBD-based medications produced on large scales over the years. It’s even possible and legal in some states in America and other countries to get a medical Cannabis license, which helps you gain access to buying CBD products from accredited and certified CBD vendors.
Can CBD effectively treat mental health disorders?
Yes, CBD can effectively treat mental health disorders. This affirmative answer was concluded after a clinical trial demonstrated positive results in treating mental health disorders by the use of CBD. Another study which was published in the Permanente Journal, also showed that at least 79% of individuals who used CBD had their anxiety symptoms reduced significantly.
All these promising results have substantially influenced most health advocates on the possibility of using CBD as an anti-anxiety remedy. It has not yet been established how CBD works to treat or manage anxiety, but given the substantial research and emphasis being put on CBD use, we are optimistic that soon we will have a complete understanding of the science behind this life-enhancing compound.
A 2019 Gallup poll revealed that at least 14% of Americans used CBD. And according to another poll, at least 37% of Americans use CBD to relieve their anxiety disorders symptoms. Advancements in how CBD is used have evolved over the past years.
People no longer consume it directly. Reputable CBD brands make CBD products in the form of tinctures, creams, oils, patches. This makes it easy and convenient for people to use when treating different ailments.
This medically significant compound has also shown positive results in treating many ailments such as Alzheimer’s, cancer, Parkinsonism, multiple sclerosis, and depression. CBD products can also provide relief to chronic pain caused by diseases such as arthritis and also aid in sleeping disorders. FDA has also officially recognized the use of CBD in the treatment of epilepsy.
Things to note about CBD use
Despite having no long-term risks associated with the use of CBD for mental health disorders, it’s important to note that there is a need in more research needs to be conducted to determine any long-term side effects or complications that may be associated with continual and prolonged CBD use.
Rarely do people experience side effects associated with CBD use. And when they do, it’s usually caused by using CBD products that do not have the levels labeled on these products.
Before using any CBD product, please make sure that you first consult your doctor since there is a chance that when taken simultaneously with prescription mental drugs, there may be an unwanted reaction between the two.
