CBD and Anxiety
Oct 24, 2021
Preclinical and clinical studies show CBD possesses a wide range of therapeutic properties, including antipsychotic, analgesic, neuroprotective, anticonvulsant, antiemetic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiarthritic, and antineoplastic properties. A review found that CBD was well tolerated across a wide dose range, up to 1500 mg/day (orally), with no reported psychomotor slowing, negative mood effects, or vital sign abnormalities noted.⠀
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Evidence from human studies strongly supports the potential for CBD as a treatment for anxiety disorders: CBD reduces experimentally induced anxiety in healthy controls, without affecting baseline anxiety levels, and reduces anxiety in patients with SAD. Limited results in healthy subjects also support the efficacy of CBD in acutely enhancing fear extinction, suggesting potential for the treatment of PTSD, or for enhancing cognitive behavioral therapy. Neuroimaging findings provide evidence of neurobiological targets that may underlie CBD’s anxiolytic effects, including reduced amygdala activation and altered medial prefrontal amygdala connectivity, although current findings are limited by small sample sizes, and a lack of independent replication. Further studies are also required to establish whether chronic, in addition to acute CBD dosing is anxiolytic in human. Also, clinical findings are currently limited to SAD, whereas preclinical evidence suggests CBD’s potential to treat multiple symptom domains relevant to GAD, PD, and, particularly, PTSD⠀
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Preclinical evidence conclusively demonstrates CBD’s efficacy in reducing anxiety behaviors relevant to multiple disorders, including PTSD, GAD, PD, OCD, and SAD, with a notable lack of anxiogenic effects. CBD’s anxiolytic actions appear to depend upon CB1Rs and 5-HT1ARs in several brain regions; however, investigation of additional receptor actions may reveal further mechanisms. Human experimental findings support preclinical findings, and also suggest a lack of anxiogenic effects, minimal sedative effects, and an excellent safety profile.⠀
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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4604171/⠀