Last updated on 29 September 2021
Excessive and unnecessary anxiety affects over 40 million individuals in the United States and can be very problematic to manage. In several studies concerning the use of CBD oil for anxiety, CBD appears to rise synaptic response in the brain with serotonin levels.
While people don’t usually think of stress as desirable, it is a natural and critical adaptive response. Stress can assist in coping with threats to welfare and safety. These responses play a vital role in helping people to recognize and deter possible threats. These are the responses that motivate people into taking action to improve their situation (improve relationships, pay bills, work harder, and so on). Some individuals are not able to manage these natural responses well. They can become a nuisance and negatively affect their relationships to others and overall productivity.
How Can CBD Treat Anxiety?
In Great Britain, the effect of CBD on conditioned anxiety was tested in a detailed study1. In the double-blind study with 47 volunteers, an anxiety stimulus was built up and then reduced. Participants given CBD had a larger positive trend curve in eliminating anxiety. These results provide the first evidence that CBD can improve the consolidation of extinction learning in humans and suggest that CBD may have potential as an adjunct to extinction-based therapies for anxiety disorders.
Based on previous animal studies,2 human studies have begun to provide evidence that CBD can alleviate various commonly reported anxiety-related disorders. These include anxiety, social phobia, and acute stress.
Brazilian scientists carried out a study of patients induced with generalized social anxiety. The participants reported a substantial decrease in anxiety after consuming CBD. Investigators validated patient’s subjective reports by conducting brain scans indicating cerebral blood flow patterns uniform with an anti-anxiety effect3.
What is The Proper Dosage of CBD oil to Treat Anxiety?
There are a number of factors that need to be considered when looking for the perfect dosage of CBD for you. Some of them are:
- Your state of health or discomfort
- How severe your complaints are
- Your metabolism
- How you react to CBD
- Your body weight
- Sensitivity to cannabis
- Your personal body chemistry (including any other medications you are taking)
So, how much CBD should I take for anxiety?
Based on the guide in the book “CBD: A patient’s guide to Medical Cannabis” by Leinow & Birnbaum,4 we recommend the Step-Up method, where you gradually increase the dose until the desired results are achieved. According to the authors, the recommend dose for anxiety disorders is microdose (increasing up to a standard dose, if needed). To read more about what a microdise is and how to take CBD, please read our dosage guide.
Quality CBD Products For Anxiety
As THC can induce stress, it is essential to find an industrial hemp CBD oil that doesn’t contain THC. Some products will be labeled with concentrations of CBD, others will have nutritional information. Products extracted using different methods may contain cannabinoids including THC, pesticides, and fungi that are left over from the plants. They could also contain material as well as other contaminants introduced during the manufacturing process.
Consult Your Healthcare Professional
Talk to your healthcare provider on the usage of CBD oil to treat your anxiety disorder. Let them explain to you whether CBD could bring about any undesired reactions. Should you experience any side effects, you should share these with your health care provider as well.
How long does CBD oil take to work for anxiety?
Remember that everybody is different. CBD may take less time for some and more time for others to be effective. Follow instructions on the label cautiously and any directions provided to you by your doctor for the best results against anxiety.
Testimonials about CBD and anxiety disorders*
These testimonies are from people who have used CBD oil against their anxiety. According to the following reviews and testimonials, some customers have achieved good results with CBD oil. Some took a few weeks for their body to accumulate the amount of CBD required for the positive effect.
Great handling, great product 
“Why CBD? I have always suffered from unfounded anxiety, a nervous bladder, and irritable bowel syndrome, as well as neck tension and resulting sleep disorders. I have tried a lot of home remedies, sports, and other stuff. Everything helped only conditionally or temporarily. I have also tested other CBD products, but since they contain only a small part of all the ingredients or are presumably made with errors, their effect was not convincing. I wrestled with myself for a long time and in the end, I tried a product from Nordic Oil as the last attempt and see there. SUCCESS! After the first few drops, my stomach got better, the nervousness was much reduced and also the neck tension was slowly loosened. Since then I feel dazzled again and also the fear which always accompanied me for no reason has almost completely disappeared. Many thanks for such a great natural product. I will definitely order again :)”
Trustpilot review by D. Dallsen
I have been fighting for 10 years …
“I’ve been struggling for 10 years with severe panic attacks that have affected my life (if you could call it that), long speech, short meaning…for a month I’ve been taking CBD, it’s taken me a while to learn how to dose it, and everyone has to realize that for themselves, but I have to say that after 10 years I feel good again. I have not tested any other products, but Nordic Oil has served its purpose for me.”
Trustpilot review by C. Casiu
References
- Das, R., et. al (2013). Cannabidiol enhances consolidation of explicit fear extinction in humans. Psychopharmacology, 226(4), pp.781-792. [↩]
- Zieba, Jerzy, et al. „Cannabidiol (CBD) reduces anxiety-related behavior in mice via an FMRP1-independent mechanism.“ Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior (2019 [↩]
- Bergamaschi, M., et. al (2011). Cannabidiol Reduces the Anxiety Induced by Simulated Public Speaking in Treatment-Naïve Social Phobia Patients. Neuropsychopharmacology, 36(6), pp.1219-1226. [↩]
- Leinow,, L. and Birnbaum, J. (2017). CBD: A Patient’s Guide to Medicinal Cannabis. North Atlantic Books. [↩]
Author
With close to two decades of successful stint in the Media industry, I felt I was surely missing a piece in my life puzzle. I took a break and set out to seek the purpose of my life. I travelled, lived out of a suitcase, let things flow into life without resisting, and after five challenging years, I found my rhythm. I love to write about Cannabis and Health and try my best to simplify esoteric concepts into simple ideas for life.
Pingback: CBD for Seasonal Affective Disorder | Hemppedia
Pingback: What are Terpenes? | Hemppedia