According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, a mental illness is a condition that affects a person’s thinking, feeling or mood. A traumatic event is one of the most common causes of mental illnesses. Events have suggested that CBD may help.
The most common mental illnesses include schizophrenia, bipolar and anxiety disorders, and depression.
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a chronic and severe mental disorder that affects how a person thinks, feels, and behaves. People with schizophrenia may seem like they have lost touch with reality.
Symptoms include:
- Hallucinations
- Delusions
- Unusual or dysfunctional ways of thinking
- Movement disorders
Bipolar Disorder
Bipolar disorder, also known as manic-depressive illness, is a brain disorder that causes unusual shifts in energy, mood, activity levels, and the ability to carry out day-to-day tasks.
People with bipolar disorder experience periods of unusual behavior, changes in sleep patterns and activity levels, unusually intense emotions.
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and anxiety disorders are often diagnosed among those with bipolar disorder.
Anxiety disorders
There are several types of anxiety disorders, including generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and various phobia-related disorders. Anxiety disorder is often characterized by feelings of worry, anxiety, or fear that are strong enough to interfere with one’s daily activities.
Anxiety disorders share some general symptoms:
- Dry mouth
- Nausea
- Panic and fear
- Dizziness
- Sleep problems
- Inability to stay calm
- Cold, sweaty, numb hands or feet
- Shortness of breath
- Heart palpitations
- Tense muscles
Depression
Depression is a mental health disorder characterized by persistently depressed mood or loss of interest in activities, causing significant impairment in daily life.
If you have been experiencing some of the following signs and symptoms most of the day, nearly every day, for at least two weeks, you may be suffering from depression:
- Feelings of guilt, worthlessness, or helplessness
- Persistent sad or anxious mood
- Loss of interest or pleasure in hobbies and activities
- Fatigue
- Feeling restless
- Feelings of hopelessness
- Irritability
- Difficulty sleeping, early-morning awakening, or oversleeping
- Thoughts of death or suicide, or suicide attempts
How does CBD help?
CBD enhances anandamide signaling and alleviates psychotic symptoms of schizophrenia.
A 2005 review stated that cannabidiol (CBD) may exert sedative, hypnotic, anxiolytic, antidepressant, antipsychotic and anticonvulsant effects.
Stress is the underlier of many anxiety disorders and can exacerbate the effects of most mental illnesses. A review from Neurotherapeutics found that CBD may help reduce anxiety.
Anxiety and depression are usually treated with pharmaceutical drugs, which can cause a number of side effects including drowsiness, sexual dysfunction, agitation, insomnia, and headache. CBD, on the other hand, helps relieve those symptoms without the side effects.
Cannabidiol (CBD) induces rapid-acting antidepressant-like effects and enhances cortical 5-HT/glutamate neurotransmission.
While CBD helps with many mental illnesses, one should consult with their medical provider before using CBD.
Additional Studies:
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19394765
- Adolescent Exposure to Chronic Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol Blocks Opiate Dependence in Maternally Deprived Rats
- β-Caryophyllene, a CB2 receptor agonist produces multiple behavioral changes relevant to anxiety and depression in mice
- Brain CB2 Receptors: Implications for Neuropsychiatric Disorders
- Cannabidiol, a Cannabis sativa constituent, as an antipsychotic drug
- Cannabidiol reverses MK-801-induced disruption of prepulse inhibition in mice
- Cannabinoid CB1 receptors in the dorsal hippocampus and prelimbic medial prefrontal cortex modulate anxiety-like behavior in rats: Additional evidence
- Cannabinoids in bipolar affective disorder: a review and discussion of their therapeutic potential
- Cannabis as a substitute for alcohol and other drugs
- CB1 cannabinoid receptor stimulation during adolescence impairs the maturation of GABA function in the adult rat prefrontal cortex
- Distinct Neurobehavioural Effects of Cannabidiol in Transmembrane Domain Neuregulin 1 Mutant Mice
- Cannabidiol as a potential treatment for psychosis
- Cannabidiol enhances anandamide signaling and alleviates psychotic symptoms of schizophrenia
- Effects of cannabidiol on schizophrenia-like symptoms in people who use cannabis
- Effects of cannabinoid drugs on the deficit of prepulse inhibition of startle in an animal model of schizophrenia: the SHR strain
- Cannabidiol, a Nonpsychotropic Component of Cannabis, Inhibits Cue-Induced Heroin Seeking and Normalizes Discrete Mesolimbic Neuronal Disturbances
- Cannabidiol, neuroprotection and neuropsychiatric disorders
- Influence of Treatment of Tourette Syndrome with Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC) on Neuropsychological Performance
- Joint Effects: A Pilot Investigation of the Impact of Bipolar Disorder and Marijuana Use on Cognitive Function and Mood
- Long-term marijuana users seeking medical cannabis in California (2001–2007): demographics, social characteristics, patterns of cannabis and other drug use of 4117 applicants
- Multiple mechanisms involved in the large-spectrum therapeutic potential of cannabidiol in psychiatric disorders
- Neural basis of anxiolytic effects of cannabidiol (CBD) in generalized social anxiety disorder: a preliminary report – ResearchGate
- Opposite Effects of D-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol and Cannabidiol on Human Brain Function and Psychopathology
- The anxiolytic effect of cannabidiol on chronically stressed mice depends on hippocampal neurogenesis: involvement of the endocannabinoid system
- The Development of Cannabidiol as a Psychiatric Therapeutic: A Review of Its Antipsychotic Efficacy and Possible Underlying Pharmacodynamic Mechanisms
- The endocannabinoid system and emotional Processing: A pharmacological fMRI study with Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol
- Therapeutical use of the cannabinoids in psychiatry