Why CBD for Mental Health is Becoming a Trend?

Are you finding yourself wrecked with stress day in and day out? Are you detaching from reality or just checking out overall? Are you feeling absolutely overwhelmed, emotionally paralyzed, or unable to mount a healthy response to normal stressors?

Well, it’s time to check in with your mental health. That could mean taking some well-deserved me-time, speaking with a qualified therapist, or spending time with nature and animals. Everyone self-soothes in their own ways, with substances like intoxicants far too often making the top of the list.

But there’s a non-intoxicating compound that is taking the mental health world to a new level, and for good reasons. It’s called CBD and by now you’ve likely heard about it in the news, media, or from friends.

It’s a naturally occurring compound in hemp flower that’s non-intoxicating and non-toxic.

This quick read will catch you up on how and why CBD is making breakthroughs for mental wellness.

CBD Calms Anxiety

CBD naturally boosts compounds in the brain and bloodstream responsible for mitigating the stress response. It increases anandamide levels, a compound responsible for making you feel calm and content, which can do wonders to help you feel less stressed.

When you get triggered or stressed out, your body is pumping out the “stress hormone” cortisol. CBD reduces cortisol production, which balances the hormonal stress response. The high blood pressure, tense muscles, and racing heart rate that comes along with the fight or flight stress response are all regulated by the endocannabinoid system.

CBD signals the endocannabinoid system to relax blood vessels and calm the heart rate, which lowers blood pressure. It also signals the nervous system to relax tension in the muscles. While CBD won’t stop you from experiencing triggers and stress, it will help you to manage the negative effects stress exerts on the mind and body.

CBD Boosts Mood

Feeling a bit moody or easily irritated? Blame your biochemistry. All that anxiety has your hormones out of whack. CBD triggers the release of serotonin in the brain, which can help you to feel calmer and more at ease. You might even feel good enough to smile once and a while, but just if you feel like it.

CBD’s ability to enhance endocannabinoid tone and signaling also improve your mood. They don’t call the endocannabinoid anandamide the bliss molecule for nothing. On top of that, CBD calms pain signals from being sent to the brain through the nervous system and activates the body’s natural pain-relieving mechanisms. It also reverses inflammatory processes by suppressing the synthesis of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines.

With less pain and inflammation and more “good vibes” biochemicals floating around in your body you’re much likely to be less of a grouch when triggered by small things that shouldn’t bother you anyway.

CBD Promotes Sleep

Didn’t sleep much last night? What about last week? And last month? A lack of quality sleep is one of the worse things for mental wellness. Even if your mental health is generally okay, if you don’t get enough good sleep then it won’t be for long.

Stress, pain, and anxiety keep us awake at night when we should be resting and our modern lifestyles easily lead us to stay up until the sun shines in the morning. You don’t have to live with insomnia or use harsh narcotics and alcohol to help you rest at night. In fact, those things can be more harmful than helpful in the long term.

Products like Full Spectrum CBD (check it out here) promotes healthy sleep by boosting endocannabinoids, activating serotonin release, suppressing cortisol, and relieving anxiety. Improving sleep health is one of CBD’s most cherished properties and most common reasons people report buying CBD.

CBD and Sleep Paralysis

There is one aspect that you should be aware of in regards to CBD, healthy sleep and mental wellness. CBD increases GABA, which is a neurotransmitter responsible for calming signaling in the nervous system. It’s largely responsible for partially paralyzing your body while you sleep to prevent you from acting out your dreams and hurting yourself.

However, waking with too much GABA in your system may cause sleep paralysis, a condition where you aren’t able to move your body. This can be very disorienting and stressful, and it could even be somewhat traumatic for people already dealing with anxiety disorders such as PTSD.

The solution, in this case, is to only take small doses of CBD at night until you’ve determined how it effects your body. There’s no one-size-fits-all dosage for CBD. Everyone responds differently to it, so you’ll have to start with just a few drops and work your way up to the desired effect over a week or two.