Can CBD Help to Treat Stress and Anxiety?

Anxiety is by far the most popular condition users of CBD are looking to treat, and many people report feeling more relaxed and calm after consuming cannabis.⁣
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In fact, researchers at Vanderbilit University recently found that cannabis can cut down connections between parts of the brain known to activate anxiety.⁣
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The study focused on the link between the amygdala (the emotional hub regulating our fight-or-flight response) and the frontal cortex, with this connection between the two considered a kind of stress-anxiety superhighway in the brain.⁣
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They discovered that the circuit between these two parts of the brain is stronger in individuals with certain types of anxiety disorders.⁣
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“As people or animals are exposed to stress and get more anxious, these two brain areas glue together, and their activity grows stronger together,” says Dr Sachin Patel, co-author and director of the Division of General Psychiatry at Vanderbilt University.⁣
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It is an element of the endocannabinoid system (our built-in network that responds to cannabis) called 2-AG that helps to regulate how this amygdala and frontal cortex interact.⁣
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And when scientists boosted the levels of 2-AG in mice, they were able to short circuit and break these connections, in so doing reducing their anxiety levels. ⁣
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This is a promising development in our understanding of using CBD for stress relief, and will hopefully bring us closer to scientifically validating cannabis as an option for the treatment of anxiety.⁣