Psychotic disorders are heterogeneous, making it difficult to find a single cure. But there is hope in cannabidiol (CBD), a cannabinoid that shows promise in treating multiple mental health disorders.
While CBD is not yet approved for mental health disorders, many people already have it as a conjunctive or alternative treatment. You can now buy CBD pills in Europe for personal use. CBD has anxiolytic, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties that can benefit mental health.
Here are five mental health problems that CBD can help with:
Schizophrenia
Mental health professionals have been promoting the use of CBD as an adjunctive treatment for schizophrenia. Different studies have evaluated the effectiveness of CBD in treating schizophrenia with mixed results.
Some studies have found that CBD has therapeutic effects on schizophrenia patients. They found that CBD significantly reduces both positive and negative psychotic symptoms. Other studies, however, found no significant change in symptoms with CBD use.
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While CBD presents potential therapeutic effects on schizophrenia, its exact mechanism of action is not well understood. CBD neither binds to cannabinoid receptors nor does it affect dopaminergic neurons significantly. Schizophrenic patients present with abnormalities in the endocannabinoid system, which CBD can rectify. But scientists believe that Cannabis exerts its effects through a different mechanism of action from CB receptors.
Anandamide is an endocannabinoid ligand whose levels negatively correlate with psychotic symptoms. CBD competes with anandamide intracellular transporters and inhibits fatty acid amide hydrolase, an enzyme that degrades anandamide. This mechanism helps raise the levels of anandamide cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).
Anxiety and Depression
Anxiety is among the most common mental health disorders, affecting about 19.1% of the U.S. adult population yearly. Many of these individuals are turning to CBD to manage their symptoms. While research on the anti-anxiety benefits of CBD is still in its infancy, many people who use CBD suggest that the supplement can help manage anxiety. Recent clinical trials also seem to support the benefits of CBD against anxiety disorders.
One recent study found that CBD can relieve anxiety symptoms in 79% of participants. These findings have led mental health advocates to recommend CBD to their patients as a conjunctive therapy or alternative treatment.
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While CBD’s anti-anxiety benefits are not well understood, researchers have established that CBD has mild sedating effects that could help with depression and anxiety. CBD has a biphasic response such that it is stimulating in lower doses but sedating in higher doses. Low doses of CBD can improve mood and fight the symptoms of depression, while high doses are sedating and can help calm the mind during anxiety attacks.
Parkinson Psychosis
CBD’s antipsychotic effects also seem to affect patients with Parkinson’s disease who present with psychotic symptoms. One study found that patients who have not responded to antiparkinsonian drug regimens responded positively to CBD therapy. CBD exerts a neuroprotective effect by facilitating autophagic action. In doing so, CBD can help recycle old or damaged cells, which improves brain function.
CBD also stimulates neurogenesis and exerts antioxidant effects, which can help improve psychotic symptoms. Furthermore, CBD boosts dendritic arbor and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels in the hippocampus.
Insomnia
Insomnia comprises many sleep problems, including difficulty falling asleep, waking up repeatedly at night, or waking up too early. While insomnia may not always be a mental health disorder, it usually signifies a mental health problem such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, bipolar disorder, or schizophrenia.
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There is strong scientific evidence that CBD improves sleep quality and makes it easy to fall asleep and stay asleep. This how CBD interacts with melatonin signaling pathways, which signals the body to fall asleep. CBD can also reduce rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, improving the quality of sleep. During REM, the mind becomes awake, but the body remains paralyzed. This condition impacts the quality of sleep.
Studies show that CBD reduces the REM sleep cycle, thereby improving the quality of sleep. CBD inhibits arousal signaling by activating CB1 receptors in wake-promoting centers, particularly in the basal forebrain.
Seizures
CBD can also have a significant impact on neurological disorders. Among CBD’s possible benefits, its effect on epileptic seizures is the most studied and well understood. This has led to the FDA approval of CBD for the treatment of epilepsy.
Epileptic seizures occur as a result of abnormal electrical activities in the brain. Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid (TRPV) plays a critical role in the onset of seizures. Information technology blog also let you understand about the role technology is playing in the CBD industry.TRPV has high permeability for Ca2+, which modulates seizures and epilepsy. CBD has a high affinity for TRPV, which is one way it treats epilepsy and seizures.
Conclusion
There is still limited research on the neurological and psychological therapeutic effects of CBD. Nonetheless, many people already use CBD to manage their mental health conditions. Despite such evidence, individuals should talk to their doctors before using CBD.
Written By: Nancy Fernandez
References
https://www.thepermanentejournal.org/
