CBD could help alleviate anxiety and depression.
It may not be the wonder substance marketers sell it as. But evidence, both scientific and anecdotal, points to several benefits from CBD.
Among those benefits, the chemical present in cannabis plants including industrial hemp shows promise in the treatment of symptoms of anxiety and depression. It’s present alongside THC in marijuana, but CBD won’t get you high. What it does do, according to some studies and plenty of testimonials, is help alleviate the debilitating symptoms of depression and anxiety.
“On its own, CBD has been shown in a number of animal and human studies to lessen anxiety. The stress-reducing effect appears to be related to activity in both the limbic and paralimbic brain areas,” according to Conscious Lifestyle magazine.
There are also plenty of people who say the compound has helped ease their anxiety.
“I started small, but within hours, I noticed a significant difference. I wasn’t as shaky or as moody. I didn’t feel so much on edge from the never-ending panic that can surge through me like waves,” writes Robert Dean in the Austin American-Statesman.
Studies also indicate CBD could be an effective counter to the devastating symptoms of depression, according to Ministry of Hemp. That publication points out that more studies are needed to come up with more definitive answers.
Still, there’s plenty of anecdotal evidence that the compound can help with depression, including this mother, who traded in traditional antidepressants for CBD.
“I no longer experience anxiety attacks and my depressive episodes have ceased. Better still, I feel very aware of my emotions and mental state, as opposed to feeling “separated” from my emotions like I did when on SSRI’s. CBD doesn’t make me feel “drugged” in any way, in fact, the best way I can describe its effect on me is that when I use CBD regularly I notice a distinct lack of symptoms of depression and anxiety,” she writes.
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