Countless people have used CBD for anxiety and reported positive results. Studies into CBD and anxiety also show a positive correlation, leading many anxiety patients to add CBD to their existing anxiety medication or drop their pharmaceutical anxiety meds altogether.
But is CBD truly powerful enough to help with your anxiety? Especially when other approaches have failed, it’s natural to doubt the healing and soothing power of CBD. In this guide, we’ll provide you with the evidence and leave it up to you to decide. Once you’re ready to try CBD, continue on to find out how to pick the best CBD products for your particular anxious symptoms.
What Is CBD?
The second most-abundant cannabinoid, cannabidiol (CBD) often takes a backseat to THC since it isn’t intoxicating. CBD is also considered hemp while THC is still viewed as the illegal drug “marijuana” at the federal level. This means — essentially — that CBD is legal even though other forms of cannabis still aren’t. There are caveats, however.
To be federally legal, CBD products must contain less than 0.3% THC. Also, state laws on CBD differ. That’s why it’s best to buy CBD online, where state laws don’t apply.
How CBD May Help with Anxiety and Panic
Research into CBD has revealed its profound impact on a surprisingly wide array of bodily systems. From your serotonergic system — managing everything from mood to metabolism — to your brain’s release of cortisol, the potential biochemical effects of CBD on anxiety symptoms appear to be as widespread as they are profound.
Let’s dive into the effects of CBD on systems that support anxiety symptoms, taking a look at each in turn:
Impact on Serotonin Receptors
One of the first biochemical markers of CBD that scientists noted in the human body was the cannabinoid’s impact on neuroreceptors in the 5HT family, which govern serotonin levels. Many neurological factors underlie anxiety, but serotonin management is certainly one of them.
If it’s true that CBD positively impacts serotonin production and reuptake in the human nervous system, that would go a long way toward explaining why so many people who have taken the cannabinoid have noted a marked reduction in anxiety symptoms.
Regulation of Stress Hormones
Stress and anxiety are distinct but fundamentally interrelated challenges that can emerge within the human nervous system. Mainly fueled by the hormones cortisol, adrenaline, and noradrenaline, stress symptoms can often be managed by pharmaceutical medication — at the cost of side effects.
CBD also seems to modulate these stress hormones, even though it’s generally side effect-free. Abundant clinical evidence supports the idea that CBD might reduce the expression of stress hormones, fundamentally undercutting your body’s ability to feel stressed, which all too often leads to a flare-up of anxiety as well.
Neuroprotective Properties
Evidence shows that CBD may offer neuroprotective properties that could be useful in contexts as varied as Alzheimer’s disease and traumatic brain injury (TBI). While initial results remain inconclusive, CBD may offer neuronal protection by promoting proper neurotransmitter signaling when the brain has been injured or is suffering from a degenerative condition.
What Research Says About CBD and Anxiety
A seminal clinical study from 2019 convinced a large portion of the medical community that CBD has considerable potential as an anxiety treatment. Consisting of 72 adults, 79.2% of participants experienced considerably reduced anxiety after using CBD.
Combined with the dozens of other CBD studies either pertaining to anxiety specifically or anxiety-related disorders, the evidence is quite strong that CBD might have some degree of anxiolytic potential. It’s prudent to wait for official authorities to release their opinions, however, before making any firm statements about the medicinal benefits of any substance.
Is CBD Good for Anxiety?
Yes, the general direction of the evidence does indicate that CBD might be useful for anxiety. Exactly how effective against anxiety CBD is, however, seems to vary considerably depending on the individual, and more research needs to be done to conclusively determine the cannabinoid’s benefits.
When it comes down to personal health decisions, there’s a lot to the idea of using CBD for anxiety. Countless individuals have said it worked for them, studies suggest CBD reduces anxiety 80% of the time, and CBD generally has very minimal side effects. If you’re suffering from anxiety and haven’t tried CBD, it might be time to give the cannabinoid a shot.
CBD vs. Other Anxiety Treatments
Compared to other anxiety treatments, CBD is desirable both in what it does and does not do. Common pharmaceutical medications for anxiety are so toxic that even relatively low doses can be neurologically damaging or even fatal.
Whatever their reason, anxious individuals who nonetheless don’t want to use mainline pharma treatments often turn to CBD — many times with amazing results. Even if CBD offers disappointing results in your particular case, trying this cannabinoid is very unlikely to come at much cost. CBD prices have normalized over the years while quality has climbed, and the cannabinoid’s usual lack of considerable side effects allows you to experiment with CBD truly risk-free.
How to Use CBD for Anxiety
Best practices for using CBD against anxiety vary depending on the type of CBD. Allow us to elaborate:
CBD Oils
CBD oils or tinctures are best applied under the tongue and held in the mouth for at least 30 seconds before swallowing. Doing so allows anti-anxiety effects to kick in instantaneously while remaining CBD is absorbed into the digestive tract at a slower rate.
CBD Gummies
CBD gummies and other mood gummies offer faster-acting effects when you chew them thoroughly. Allow your hemp gummies at least 30 minutes to kick in before you take more.
CBD Vapes
CBD vapes and CBD flower offer instant effects that wear off relatively quickly. Users generally rely on these types of CBD products to stave off anxiety attacks and boost mental health in the moment.
What CBD Is Good for Anxiety?
Individuals who successfully use CBD against anxiety usually indicate that high-potency oral products (such as 1,500mg CBD oil) work best against anxiety. Individual circumstances must be taken into account, however, as well as the comparative strengths and disadvantages of various product types:
Are CBD Vapes Good for Anxiety?
People often report CBD vapes to be effective against anxiety, especially social anxiety disorder and other conditions marked by sudden, contextual flare-ups. Even post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is considered a form of anxiety, and PTSD survivors often report amazing results after vaping CBD pens.
Are CBD Gummies Good for Anxiety?
CBD gummies for anxiety are reported to be effective more often than not. The ingredients that go into your gummies matter a lot, though, as does the type of CBD. Always look for organic, simple ingredients, and choose broad-spectrum CBD if you’re trying to avoid THC.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can CBD cure anxiety completely?
While some people report that CBD temporarily relieves their anxiety symptoms, the cannabinoid is not known to be a “total cure” for any form of anxious condition. Clinical anxiety disorders like generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) are conditions that take years to develop and are supported by a wide variety of factors.
Reducing the symptoms of anxiety can be part of the cure, but it’s important not to confuse CBD with a “cure” for anything. We must emphasize that research into the medical benefits of CBD is ongoing, and we would refer you to peer-reviewed studies to learn more.
How long does it take for CBD to work for anxiety?
When using CBD for anxiety, you should start to notice effects within around 30 minutes. It all depends on the type of CBD you’re using, however, as well as your metabolism, the potency of the CBD product, and a whole host of other related factors.
Oral CBD takes longer to kick in than inhaled CBD, for instance, but the effects of oral CBD products last longer than CBD vapes or flower. If you’re not sure whether CBD has provided the intended effects, wait at least 30 minutes before dosing again — that gives your first dose plenty of time to kick in fully.
Can I use CBD with my anxiety medication?
For the most part, CBD and medications for anxiety should be entirely compatible. Both CBD and common anxiety meds, however, use the same liver enzymes for metabolism, and competition for these enzymes could lead to excessive amounts of either substance building up in your system. This isn’t usually an issue with CBD, which is generally well-tolerated even at high doses.
Many pharmaceutical anxiety medications, however, can have side effects or even become lethal at high-enough concentrations in the body. Siphoning away critical liver enzymes to process CBD out of your system could leave your body unable to process your usual anxiety medication dose. Always consult with your doctor before trying CBD or altering your anxiety medication intake in any way.
How do I know if CBD is working for my anxiety?
As a gentle, natural compound, the effects of CBD against anxiety can be subtle. You won’t notice yourself zoning out or feeling out of sorts like you do when taking certain pharmaceutical medications. In the people who experience its benefits, CBD instead provides a gentle feeling of uplift that seemingly provides armor against scenarios and thought patterns that would generally trigger anxiety.
CBD won’t make you feel high, and it might take a few weeks for CBD to fully harmonize with your endocannabinoid system — your body’s in-built system for processing cannabinoids. But one morning, you might wake up and find yourself feeling unexpectedly engaged and unusually unconcerned. That’s a sign CBD might be working and that you should explore the cannabinoid’s benefits even further.
Is CBD safe for kids or teens with anxiety?
The safety of CBD for kids and teens has not yet been established by peer-reviewed research, but it’s a fact that helping children has been one of the primary purposes behind the CBD industry since its formation. Countless parents have given their children CBD for conditions as varied as anxiety and Dravet syndrome, and there are just as many success stories from parents who saw incredible effects in kids and teens who were previously unmanageably anxious.
If you want to explore giving CBD to your child, consult with your pediatrician. You’ll be able to determine how the cannabinoid fits into your kid’s overall health plan and current medications (if any).
Verdict: Is CBD Good for Anxiety?
If there’s one truth modern mental health researchers have had to accept, it’s that anxiety is very rarely just anxiety. Panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and dozens of other distinct mental health conditions exist in a tangential space to anxiety — anxious people are often OCD, for instance, and OCD people are often anxious.
Where CBD may have an advantage over conventional anxiety treatments is its wide range of effects. Hyper-targeted treatments may be all the rage in medical science, but that’s not how nature is designed. Providing a more holistic approach, CBD may be able to address all the factors underlying anxiety, not just one or two.
Offering CBD since the start of the industry in 2017, Colorado Botanicals has seen the cannabinoid become a global phenomenon — with us spearheading the hemp movement all the while. Our facilities are registered with the FDA and comply with both ISO 9001 and cGMP standards. Trust us as your anti-anxiety CBD source — clean and pure as nature intended.
Sources
- Dahlgren, M. K., Lambros, A. M., Smith, R. T., Sagar, K. A., El-Abboud, C., & Gruber, S. A. (2022). Clinical and cognitive improvement following full-spectrum, high-cannabidiol treatment for anxiety: open-label data from a two-stage, phase 2 clinical trial. Communications Medicine, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43856-022-00202-8
- De Gregorio, D., McLaughlin, R. J., Posa, L., Ochoa-Sanchez, R., Enns, J., Lopez-Canul, M., Aboud, M., Maione, S., Comai, S., & Gobbi, G. (2018). Cannabidiol modulates serotonergic transmission and reverses both allodynia and anxiety-like behavior in a model of neuropathic pain. Pain, 160(1), 136–150. https://doi.org/10.1097/j.pain.0000000000001386
- Henson, J., Vitetta, L., Quezada, M., & Hall, S. (2021). Enhancing Endocannabinoid Control of Stress with Cannabidiol. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 10(24), 5852. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm10245852
- Aychman, M. M., Goldman, D. L., & Kaplan, J. S. (2023). Cannabidiol’s neuroprotective properties and potential treatment of traumatic brain injuries. Frontiers in Neurology, 14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2023.1087011
- Shannon, S., Lewis, N., Lee, H., & Hughes, S. (2019). Cannabidiol in Anxiety and sleep: a large case series. The Permanente Journal, 23(1). https://doi.org/10.7812/tpp/18-041
