What is Mental Health?

Mental health is a combination of your emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It is the ability of an individual he handles stress, relates to others, and make choices daily. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) : 

“Mental health is a state of well-being in which an individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community.”

CBD Oil and Mental Health. What We Know

Cannabidiol (CBD) oil is a natural plant-based oil that contains Phyto (plant) chemicals called cannabinoids. CBD interacts with the human body by binding to several target areas. For instance, when it interacts with the human brain, it activates 12 sites of action and may produce therapeutic effects by activating multiple pathways at once. 

Research published in January 2020 states that CBD and CBD-containing compounds such as nabiximols prove to help alleviate psychotic symptoms and cognitive impairment in patients with a variety of conditions. The study supports the use of CBD for the treatment of schizophrenia, social anxiety disorder and autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Though the research is very limited at the moment future studies will help in exploring more into this subject.

Another study conducted in 2020 shows encouraging evidence for medicinal cannabis in the treatment of a range of psychiatric disorders. 

The researchers’ analysis included 83 studies out of which 40 were controlled trials that looked at the use of CBD to treat symptoms of mental health conditions. 

This included studies on the treatment of Depression, Anxiety, Tourette Syndrome, ADHD, PTSD, and psychosis. 

Research findings suggest that pharmaceutical THC – with or without CBD improved anxiety symptoms in individuals with other medical conditions. Whereas there was no impact of THC with or without CBD on depression symptoms.

As for other mental disorders such as PTSD, ADHD, psychosis, Tourette syndrome, there was no evidence that any type of cannabinoid improved the symptoms. One study suggests that pharmaceutical THC worsened the psychosis symptoms.

Conclusion

This new study suggests that there is not enough evidence yet to support the use of CBD or its compounds in the treatment of mental health conditions. This doesn’t mean that there will be no change in future studies. 

It is recommended that people work with their mental health provider that they feel comfortable with.