Despite a hullabaloo of fear and doubt, Cannabidiol (CBD) is taking an embryonic but significant part in mental health treatment across the UK and other countries around the world — making it a potential antidote for various physical and mental diseases that could change the future of the global medical industry.
It can be very alarming to know that every year comes to a higher prevalence of mental health conditions among individuals hiding behind a curtain of stigma and discrimination for so long. With a global pandemic continuously posing a threat to humanity and causing a serious mental disturbance in a while, bringing out the mental health issue into the open has never been more crucial than ever.
Following the initial peak of coronavirus spread, the Royal College of Psychiatrists has revealed that nearly half of the Great Britain population suffers from high levels of anxiety. This includes individuals and families with no history of mental health conditions but eventually developed serious psychological breakdowns for the first time as a result of growing anxieties over long-term isolation, permanent economic fallout and bereavement for the loved ones that they have lost to COVID-19 and other related illnesses.
Keeping The Mind Healthy
It is understandably okay to feel the suffocating pressure of carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders, especially in these unprecedented times. However, allowing poor mental health to constantly dominate our entire being can have a huge negative impact on our outcomes in life, disrupting our daily routines, social relationships and even physical wellness. Maintaining a healthy state of mind, on the other hand, can sustain our ability to live a blissful life. While breaking the negative cycle of thinking may not be a piece of cake; still, we owe it to ourselves that we take the initiative to do so.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), mental health is not merely the absence of psychological issues. It is a state of well-being that can influence the way we think, feel or act whether in a good or a negative manner — allowing us to voluntarily cope with and react to the normal events and stresses of life. In a nutshell, nurturing a person’s mental health is not just about preventing the warning signs of psychological issues or treating active conditions but also preserving its continuum wellness.
That’s where CBD and its potential benefits can help!
The Gentle Side Of Cannabis: What Is CBD?
A lot of people mistakenly refer CBD to as the “medical marijuana” itself when, in reality, it is only one of the two essential components (cannabinoids) found in Cannabis Sativa, a cannabis plant species that is classified into two characteristics: hemp or marijuana.
Hemp is commercially grown and harvested for various uses including the manufacture and production of food, textile, cosmetics, paper and industrial materials. Marijuana, however, is used for its euphoric, psychoactive, and intoxicating content. Both classes contain cannabinoid components, such as cannabidiol and Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). The only difference is their level of amount for each compound.
Hemp comes with high concentrations of CBD or the non-intoxicating component whilst carrying a little to no level of THC or the intoxicating ingredient, which is more prevalent in marijuana and thus responsible for its ‘high’ result.
In the longest time, CBD lived in the shadow of its intoxicating relative, THC, causing health regulators’ scepticism towards the potential help of CBD in the medical field. But, with careful considerations and expanding shreds of evidence for its use, CBD’s therapeutic application has finally started to gain interest in some parts of the world.
CBD As A Safe & Effective Medicine
A pre-review report on cannabidiol conducted by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2017 has stressed that there is no evidence of public health issues associated with the use of pure CBD-based products. Deemed safe by most health experts and regulators, CBD products are said to be clinically proven to relax the mind and relieve pain without being high.
In fact, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the very first CBD-based medicine for childhood epilepsy syndromes (Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and Dravet syndrome). This medicine called Epidiolex contains pure CBD and is said to show positive results in three initial trials for these syndromes. So far, it has reduced the number of seizures and even stopped the spasms in some cases. Aside from epilepsy, more research is also evaluating CBD as a potential treatment to a plethora of health conditions including Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, diabetic complications, anxiety and a lot more.
CBD: Care & Treatment For Mental Health
For many years, psychotherapy and heavy pharmaceuticals have been the sole methods of treatment for various mental health conditions until CBD played a therapeutic role with its myriad health benefits and took the medical industry by storm. The use of CBD-based products to treat depression, anxiety, and other mental health disorders has then become a consumer interest in the past recent years.
The human body produces cannabinoid receptors (CB1 and CB2) to which CBD is said to interact with. This type of correlation may be related to how CBD can alter serotonin signals, demonstrating the potential advantages of using CBD oil for anxiety and other neurological disorders in a similar way to antidepressants. One of the initial findings of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) states that CBD has shown to reduce stress and other lower behavioural signs of anxiety in animals such as rats.
Although an ongoing series of human tests are still necessary to better understand how CBD works in supporting mental health treatment, early studies have been evaluating such promising results on how CBD oil can help relieve anxiety. It is assumed to work by inhibiting the production of fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) in the brain and liver to prevent the anandamide from breaking down and activate 5-HT1A. This serotonin receptor influences various neurological processes such as aggression, mood and anxiety.
To make your choice easier, at Alphagreen you can select CBD products based on your needs and they have an on-call assistant to help with any queries!
