How Can Cannabis Treat Anxiety And OCD?
PAGE Magazine
By Ross D.
Today, mental illnesses are the leading health problems affecting the most considerable population worldwide. These conditions include bipolar, anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, dementia, and OCD, among other illnesses. Study shows that one in every seven people, equivalent to 15%, has a mental disorder. Approximately 970 million people have mental illnesses, with anxiety being in the lead, affecting about 4%. Mental illnesses significantly obstruct brain functioning, which translates to low productivity and can be fatal if left untreated.
Although governments and private sectors continuously advocate for early treatment of mental illnesses and have provided many platforms to deliver these services, fewer people will show up. This is a result of stigmatization associated with the same. To help with their conditions, many people adopt natural and home remedies and talk to their peers as therapy.
Cannabidiol (CBD) use in alleviating anxiety and OCD is a vast development. It is the safest treatment alternative for OCD, especially the full-spectrum CBD oil. Although it is still in its early stages of research, people have attested to CBD helping them with their OCD symptoms. A case study performed on 87 individuals with OCD in 2020 revealed that CBD helped 60% of the patients with compulsions, 49% showed improvement on obsessive thoughts, while 52% had their anxiety symptoms lowered.
Before going into details about how CBD can help with these two illnesses, let’s briefly get to know what OCD is.
What is OCD?
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a mental condition associated with a series of obsessions and compulsions. By habits, it means consistent disturbing ideas, thoughts, or an image that causes stress to an individual. On the other hand, compulsion is the actions or behavior the individuals engage in to rid the obsessions of living a less distressing life. OCD can result from genetics, traumatic events in life, the environment surrounding the person, or brain chemistry.
There is no specific niche of people that will be affected by this condition. Whether you are young or old, male or female, you can have OCD. People with OCD often have an extreme need to stay organized, clean, shop for unnecessary items, and ensure that everything is perfect. Others tend to be fearful, which might lead to anxiety. While many people might have something that they obsess about, it does not mean that they have OCD. For you to have OCD, the obsessions must be taking a lot of your time to hinder your usual day’s activities.
Antidepressants and therapy have been the primary treatments for OCD for many years. Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SRIs) have also been effective in their treatment. While these methods have always been fruitful, they take time to yield the results, where SRIs take up to six weeks.
How does CBD lower OCD and anxiety symptoms?
CBD is one of the almost one hundred cannabinoids extracted from a cannabis plant. The other commonly known cannabinoid is THC, which contains psychoactive effects that make people high once they consume it. As opposed to THC, CBD brings health benefits to our bodies, including pain, mental condition, and muscle tension.
While OCD comes from many factors, the activities of the endocannabinoid system also affect increasing or alleviating OCD symptoms. When the ECS function is optimal, it effectively regulates fear, intrusive thoughts, and repetitive behaviors. ECS plays a significant role in regulating body functions like sleep, appetite, and moods. When you consume CBD, it interacts with these cannabinoids receptors, which helps the endocannabinoid system maintain balance in the body and brain functioning.
There have been various studies conducted to come up with conclusive evidence of CBD’s effects on anxiety. Though it is not yet comprehensive how CBD helps lower anxiety symptoms, medical practitioners say it increases the body’s anandamide levels. Anandamide is the hormone responsible for the regulation of moods and mostly elevates joy. This chemical also helps to relax the brain, muscles and calms the nerves.
How much is CBD effective in treating OCD and anxiety?
There are vast CBD products in the market today, from edibles, vapes, tinctures, topical to CBD oils. All these can help ease your symptoms effectively, although it will take more time to feel the effects on some than others. There has been a significant variance in the dose individuals take to ease their anxiety and OCD symptoms. While there are individuals who take 4 mg of CBD to help with anxiety, others will take 400 mg of the same. However, a dose of 300 to 400 milligrams has been useful for many individuals with anxiety and could help people with OCD.
However, since our bodies have different metabolism rates and weigh different, doses can differ. To get the right amount, start with a small dose and increase it with time, observing how your body responds. Forty milligrams a day is a nice dose for a start. Also, the illness stage is a crucial factor in deciding an effective dose.
Conclusion
It comes without saying that CBD has a lot of potential in treating many health conditions, especially mental illnesses. There has been enough evidence that it can lower anxiety symptoms, help people with PTSD, and now, an excellent remedy for persons with OCD. CBD for anxiety and OCD have both long-term and short-term benefits, and you don’t have to worry about being addicted to it.
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