Why Taking CBD Can Help Reduce Stress and Anxiety

Today over 40 million Americans report suffering from a diagnosed anxiety disorder, and each year that number grows. It’s a similar story with stress, as, according to the Global Organization for Stress, 75% of all Americans report moderate to high levels of stress. The causes for these high levels of anxiety and stress are numerous, as are the potential treatments. However, in recent years one natural treatment is rapidly gaining popularity, taking CBD.

If you struggle with stress and anxiety, especially if traditional treatments for keeping both in check have failed to produce results, here’s the good news. Following federal legalization in 2018, CBD is now starting to be recognized as a leading method for reducing symptoms of both stress and anxiety. There’s a lot of confusion around this topic, however, which is why we will explain the benefits of CBD and how it works in this article.

The Science Behind CBD’s Calming Effects

To understand what makes CBD products powerful in combatting anxiety, let’s go over the basics first. CBD, known as Cannabidiol, comes from the cannabis Sativa plant. But don’t worry.

Even though it comes from the same plant commonly associated with the psychoactive “high” feeling you get from smoking marijuana (caused by the compound THC), legal CBD products never contain enough THC to produce this feeling.

Instead, you get most of the calming benefits of the cannabis plant without the high effect. CBD binds to the CB1, and CB2 cannabinoid receptors found primarily in your nervous systems. Preliminary research suggests CBD binds to these receptors, resulting in an alteration in serotonin levels. Too little serotonin and the likelihood of a mental illness like depression and anxiety go up significantly.

The link between low serotonin and mental illness is why doctors prescribe selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) as a treatment method. In the same vein, CBD oil is taken by many as a natural SSRI alternative with hopes of producing similar effects, as reported by Healthline. However, it should be noted that the research into these claims is still in its early stages, and you should consult your doctor before changing your treatment plan.

CBD’s Downstream Benefit: Improved Sleep Quality

Another exciting research development is discovering CBD’s ability to improve sleep. Sleep deprivation causes memory loss, difficulty concentrating, and a decrease in mood. In fact, just 17 hours without sleep puts you in a state akin to feeling drunk! That’s where CBD can help.

Taking CBD for stress and anxiety often has a downstream impact on improving sleep quality. Less stress and anxiety, better sleep, it’s as simple as that. As reported by the Sleep Foundation, there is preliminary evidence to suggest CBD can help alleviate symptoms of sleep disorders, including:

• Insomnia
• REM sleep behavior disorder
• Excessive daytime sleepiness disorder

So whether you want to take CBD to reduce symptoms of stress and anxiety and have a downstream improvement in sleep quality, or you wish to improve a separate sleeping disorder, CBD could provide you with more benefits than you realize at first.

Preliminary studies show that CBD can directly lead to less stress and anxiety. It works by binding to your body’s cannabinoid receptors in your body which help alter Serotonin signals. This alone can have an immediate impact on your levels of stress and anxiety, but you may also find yourself soon sleeping better as a result. With better sleep comes better mood regulation, making CBD a powerful potential one-two punch for treating symptoms.

How to Get Started with CBD

If you’ve never taken CBD before but would like to experiment to see if it can alleviate your stress and anxiety, then make sure to consult your doctor first. Once you have the go-ahead based on your own unique set of circumstances, then you should find the correct method of taking CBD.

CBD oil is the most common form, and there are numerous ways of taking it for the best result. However, you can also find CBD pre-blended in many food and beauty products depending on your needs. It’s also important to consider if you want a full-spectrum blend or a concentrated isolate variety. Put simply, full-spectrum CBD is widely regarded as offering the most benefits, with the main downside (or upside) is it contains trace levels of THC.