Taking Pure CBD Oil for Anxiety Relief
CBD is widely championed for its abundant healing properties that can help with a variety of physical and mental conditions. While research into its benefits is ongoing, anecdotal evidence shows that anxiety relief is one of the most popular reasons for consumer use – and the science isn’t far behind.
One in 10 people worldwide has been diagnosed with a mental health disorder, with anxiety being the most common. In honour of Mental Health Awareness Month, we’ve put together a comprehensive guide on the benefits of pure CBD oil for people with anxiety, covering everything from how it works to how much you should take.
Note: We are not pitching CBD as a solution to anxiety disorder. Always discuss any concerns you might have about your mental health with a medical professional.
How Can CBD Oil Help with Anxiety?
Anxiety is something we all experience from time to time, whether we realise it or not. It’s a negative emotional state, characterised by feelings of worry and apprehension, but actually serves as a really important defence mechanism. Anxiety helps to raise our awareness, and our ability to cope with new and potential difficult situations. However, when it occurs to an excessive extent, to the detriment of the individual, it can interfere with daily life. That’s where it can become an issue for people.
In recent years, there’s been an increasing amount of research into the interaction between anxiety, the endocannabinoid system and CBD. Along with a plethora of promising evidence, there have been further clinical trials with several studies concluding that CBD oil has considerable potential as a treatment for various anxiety disorders.
Anxiety, CBD and the endocannabinoid system
To understand how CBD can affect anxiety, we have to take a look at how anxiety is triggered and how the endocannabinoid system has an impact on this.
We experience anxiety when certain areas of the brain are activated and, as previously mentioned, if this happens too much or at the wrong times, it can be to our detriment. The endocannabinoid (far too long a word for our liking too) system helps to prevent incorrect and unnecessary activation of these areas in two different main ways – excitement or inhibition.
Anxiety is caused by some systems in the brain working either too well, or not well enough. The endocannabinoid system has receptors in different parts of these systems, which help to mediate how they respond by either “exciting” or “inhibiting” their functioning.
CBD, meanwhile, works to restore the natural balance of the body by communicating with our endocannabinoid system, which is part of our central nervous system. It helps to control things like our mood, sleep, appetite and body temperature, among other important internal functions, through a process known as homeostasis, ensuring that nothing is out of sync. Our endocannabinoid system collaborates with other systems in the body, helping them to be triggered or suppressed when necessary, and preventing us from feeling out of whack.
How Do We Know That CBD Can Relieve Anxiety?
Although more studies need to be done, the early evidence for how CBD interacts with our endocannabinoid system shows a positive impact on anxiety symptoms. After all, the endocannabinoid system affects sleep, body temperature, arousal and emotional processing, which means it must interact with the amygdala, the part of the brain that mediates anxiety and controls these functions.
Studies have also been done on the endocannabinoid receptors at both serotonin and GABA nerve terminals, both of which are known to play a large part in anxiety. Research indicates that CBD can excite and inhibit these nerve terminals being activated, showing by extension how CBD could be responsible for reducing anxiety.
Evidence for CBD in reducing anxiety
There’s a fair amount of existing preclinical evidence that strongly supports CBD as a treatment for the following disorders, when administered acutely:
- Generalised anxiety disorder (GAD)
- Panic disorder
- Social anxiety disorder
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
A recent New York Times piece revealed that, according to a Brightfield Group survey of 5,000 people, over 60% of users were taking CBD for anxiety relief. This should really come as no surprise, given that a 2017 survey saw 41% of people swapping their anti-anxiety meds for cannabis, and 40% stating that CBD was more effective in relieving conditions like anxiety.
OK, science lesson over, but our CBD oil is starting to look like quite the magic potion… Then again, we knew that already.
How to Take CBD Oil for Anxiety
There are a variety of different ways to take CBD oil, whether you prefer to sip it, rub it or smoke it. Luckily for you, our 250mg CBD Oils are perfect for popping in your bag, so you can knock back a drop or two as soon as you feel those unwelcome symptoms come creeping, even if you’re on the go.
Easy ways to take CBD oil include:
- In a tincture – introducing our natural and flavoured CBD oils
- In a capsule
- In your breakfast smoothie
- In your morning coffee
- In a vape pen
- In your cooking – try a few drops in one of these tasty recipes
- In a topical rub or balm
- In a cocktail
How Long Does it Take for CBD Oil to Work for Anxiety?
The time it takes for CBD oil to get to work generally depends on how you take it. When taking CBD for anxiety, it’s important to consider that there are actually two different types of anxiety: state and trait. The former refers to the in-the-moment rush of anxiousness that will only arise from specific situations, and won’t last long. Trait anxiety, meanwhile, applies to those who experience an underlying feeling of anxiousness that can rise and fall, but is still felt regularly to some degree.
Taking CBD for state anxiety
- If administered orally via oil drops, capsules or baked goodies like this CBD-infused caramel shortbread (you name it, we’ve got it), the effects begin working within 30 minutes to two hours.
- Vaping will have a more immediate effect, since its delivery to the brain is much faster than edibles or balms, which provide a slow release. You may find this particularly helpful if you’re heading into a stressful work event, or a situation which you know could trigger symptoms of anxiety.
Taking CBD for trait anxiety
- Taking some form of CBD on the reg is more likely to help those who experience anxiety on a day-to-day basis. We’d recommend small doses two or three times throughout the day, which should build up in your system over the course of a couple weeks. If you find you’re still struggling, increase your doses incrementally and you should feel your resilience to those pesky feelings of anxiousness and dread fade away.
Like anything, though, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to how CBD can help anxiety symptoms. That means that the time it takes to experience CBD oil’s effects will depend on multiple factors, from how much you’ve taken to your existing sensitivity to CBD.
As a general rule, the effects of CBD last between two to six hours and it should be out of your system in less than a week once you stop using it.
However, for seasoned CBD oil users, it’ll take a little longer to leave your system, since CBD is lipophilic. That means it dissolves in fats and other compounds in your body over time, which is great news if you’re using CBD oil to help alleviate pain as well as anxiety.
How Many MG of CBD Should I Take for Anxiety?
So now you’ve got all the gear, you’re probably wondering just how much CBD you should be taking. Well, again, the right dosage varies from person to person, so we’d recommend starting low and working your way up, ensuring you always stay below the maximum daily intake of 70mg. This reduces the possibility of any unwanted drug-to-drug interactions in the body, helping to make CBD safer for those who are also taking medication.
If you’re trying CBD oil for the first time, we advise you to take it slow, beginning with anything between 20-60mg per day.
Can CBD Make My Anxiety Worse?
Nope. No. Nein. Never.
THC – the psychoactive component of the cannabis plant – can, occasionally, make people more anxious. That’s why Good Hemp recommends CBD oil without THC for anxiety, so you can reap all the calming benefits of CBD without any of the psychoactive effects caused by THC.
We delved into the different types of CBD oil and how they make you feel so you can get clued up on this flourishing compound before you buy your first batch. The real question is: citrus or peppermint?
Why Try Good Hemp CBD Oil for Anxiety?
While there are still studies to be done to support exactly how consistently CBD alleviates stress and anxiety, there’s a whole bunch of juicy evidence already out there – so you don’t just have to take our word for it.
Good Hemp’s pure CBD oil without THC provides all-natural anxiety relief – plus a host of other health and wellbeing benefits, including chronic pain, muscle repair and anti-inflammatory properties – without leaving you with any psychoactive effects or spontaneous midnight munchies.
Go and see for yourself. Browse our available CBD oils and you’ll soon find your zen, without so much as a yoga mat in sight!
Note: CBD is not a recognised drug in the UK for treating anxiety disorder. Please be aware that we aren’t medical experts and although all information is based on scientific research, speak to your doctor if you’re on any medication.