Anxiety is an emotion characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil, often accompanied by nervous behavior such as pacing back and forth, somatic complaints, and rumination. It includes subjectively unpleasant feelings of dread over anticipated events.
It tends to cause a feeling of uneasiness and worry, usually generalized and unfocused as an overreaction to a situation that is only subjectively seen as menacing. It is often accompanied by muscular tension, restlessness, fatigue and problems in concentration. Anxiety is closely related to fear, which is a response to a real or perceived immediate threat; anxiety involves the expectation of future threat.
It is a debilitating condition which affects quality of life. Treatment is traditionally with medications such as Benzodiazepines, anxiolytics and psychotherapy including Cognitive Behavioral therapy.
Despite these may people continue to have difficulty managing their condition.
There is ample evidence that “Medicinal Cannabis” is very effective in managing Anxiety.
Does cannabis help with anxiety?
The endocannabinoid system appears to play an important role in responses to stress and anxiety. The two primary active ingredients of marijuana, THC and CBD, appear to have differing effects with regard to anxiety. Pure THC appears to decrease anxiety at lower doses and increase anxiety at higher doses. On the other hand, pure CBD appears to decrease anxiety at all doses that have been tested.
Cannabidol or CBD, has shown promise, especially in social anxiety disorder where in a study, it was found to have similar benefits to standard medications but cause less sedation (the test involved public speaking, which is usually a source of anxiety for most of us!)
