Cannabidiol (CBD) has shown in studies that it may be able to help with certain symptoms of anxiety by reducing the overactivity in the brain. While everyone’s brain chemistry varies, those with anxiety have one thing in common – an overactive amygdala. Scientists believe that CBD oil may be a valid treatment for anxiety because of its interaction with this part of the brain.

Anxiety Disorders

Anxiety comes in all shapes and sizes ranging in severity and duration. For some, it could be a little nuisance that makes life a little harder, while others experience something much more debilitating. There are also different types of anxiety that have a wide variety of symptoms. Some anxieties can be ticking away at you throughout the day; some anxiety comes and goes as it pleases, while other anxieties may need something to trigger them.

Common Anxiety Disorders

• Panic Disorder
• Social Anxiety
• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
• General Anxiety Disorder
• Specific Phobias

The biology behind anxiety starts at the amygdala. This is what controls your fight-or-flight response. Studies have shown that individuals who have anxiety disorders have an overactive amygdala, which can trigger symptoms of anxiety like fear, ruminating thoughts, or elevated heartbeat. Even though this issue is rooted in the brain, there are still treatment options that may lead to complete relief.

Treatment for Anxiety Disorders

If you have an anxiety disorder, you may be happy to know that anxiety is treatable. It is common for people with anxiety to be completely cured, or at least have a reduction in their symptoms significant enough to manage their day to day life. One of the most effective ways to treat anxiety disorders isn’t just by taking medication, but to use therapy alongside the medication. Therapy has shown to be so effective because the goal is to help you learn new coping mechanisms, thought patterns, and habits.

Common medications prescribed for anxiety do work, but they can have some side-effects that aren’t the most desirable. Some anxiety medications can cause addiction with severe withdrawals, or cause people to experience side-effects like confusion, blurred vision, or nightmares. Of course, researchers are always trying to find the best method of treatment with the highest reward and lowest risk factors, and they are discovering the answer might have been right under their noses the whole time.One issue that some come across when doing therapy alone is being unable to practice these new skills because of the severity of their symptoms. When ruminating thoughts consume your mind, it can be challenging to break free even with guided therapy from a professional which is why many use medications. The medication’s purpose is to help reduce the symptoms enough to relearn healthy habits.

Cannabis and Anxiety

Medical marijuana has been used for quite some time to treat a variety of ailments from inflammation to depression. Science is starting to reveal why it has been so effective for so long making this plant very valuable. One of the chemicals in the cannabis plant that has been studied heavily because of its wide array of potential and lack of intoxicating effects is the cannabinoid Cannabidiol (CBD).

CBD has shown in studies to help reduce anxiety symptoms in multiple anxiety disorders by elevating an endocannabinoid called anandamide. Your body makes this chemical, and its job is to bind to cannabinoid receptors and help promote homeostasis which is when your body is regulated and behaving as it should. The cannabinoid receptor that anandamide binds to the most is the CB1 receptor which is what helps control your neurological system which includes your appetite, pain sensitivity, sleep cycle, and mood.

The elevation of anandamide has shown in studies to help reduce the fear response and may prove to be a coping mechanism for stress in humans. Endocannabinoids travel backward unlike most neurotransmitters through a process called retrograde signaling. Through this process, the endocannabinoid is able to relay a message to the cell sending the fear signals out, altering what message is sent reducing anxiety symptoms.

How to Take CBD for Anxiety

Before you start taking any new medications to help with your symptoms, you need to let your doctor know that you want to make changes. They can help you determine whether this is a good avenue to take as well as monitor your progress. One thing you and your doctor should discuss are your expectations when it comes to your treatment, what kind of relief are you looking for? This can help give you a good idea of what methods might work best for you.

If you have anxiety that is subtle but is creating a discomfort throughout the day all day, you would want a method that lasts longer. Most methods that last longer take longer to kick in, so this is something to consider. These long-lasting methods include:

• Edibles
• Suppositories
• Pills

For anxiety that is triggered or can get debilitatingly severe, there are methods that work more quickly. However, they don’t last as long. These methods can kick in in minutes, but only last for a few hours. These methods include:

• Vape
• Concentrates
• Pure Oil
• Tinctures

For those with chronic anxiety throughout the day that can cause attacks or bouts of extreme anxiety, using both ways may also be helpful. Taking a pill for the anxiety throughout the day, and then having a tincture for when your anxiety starts to get excited is also a good strategy should your doctor recommend it. You and your doctor may not see CBD oil as a forever medicine. The goal may be to use it as a tool to help you through therapy, with the final goal of you being off medication and being able to function with as little to no discomfort.

If you and your doctor have decided that CBD oil may be able to help you with your symptoms, be sure to stop by our shop and check out our isolate CBD oil products and our full spectrum hemp products that may be just right for you!

You know that feeling you get when you lose sight of your kid in public? Or that feeling when someone ran a red light and just barely missed you? Your heart is racing; you may be more aware of your surroundings, sounds are sharp, smells are potent. This is your body setting off an alarm system to keep you safe, but when there is no threat nearby, and your body is still reacting this way, your brain has taken over, and your amygdala is hijacked.

What is the Amygdala Hijack?

“Amygdala Hijack” is a term coined by a psychologist named Daniel Goleman who wrote the book Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ. Goleman recognizes that we have evolved as humans, but we still have an ancient alarm system in our brain that is designed to keep us safe by going off when there is a threat nearby. While this is a great tool for our body to use when we are protecting our tribe in a cave from predators, in modern times, it can interfere with our functioning.

What is the Amygdala

The amygdala is a region in your brain shaped like two almonds, and it is located in the temporal lobe. Its main role is creating the fight or flight response that makes you respond to threats. Another job the amygdala has is deciding what memories you keep and where they are stored as well as the level of emotion associated with the memory.

When you are faced with a threatening situation, like public speaking or dealing with a confrontation you’d rather sweep under the rug, the thalamus in your brain receives stimuli and sends the signals to your amygdala and cortex. If the stimulation gives the amygdala a sense of danger, it decides to alert the body with the fight or flight response or let the situation slide because it isn’t a threat to you, the host before the cortex even has time to chime in. If the situation is threatening to your amygdala, it triggers a chemical response that can raise your heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing to get you ready for battle or to get the heck out of there as fast as you can.

While in the past this would be a great way for your muscles to get blood and oxygen to give you an advantage in the fight or flight, this also shuts off the cortex making people who are experiencing this fearful response unable to think clearly. It can be hard to problem solve and concentrate because your body is reacting in such a primitive way. This process can get so intense, that people who experience this fear response can take hours to recover.

Chronic Stress and the Amygdala Hijack

So why is it that some people can handle stressful situations while others have an amygdala that goes off every time the wind blows? Brain imaging studies have shown that individuals who have PTSD, social anxiety, panic disorder, or any other anxiety disorders have an amygdala that is overly sensitive, making the fear response happen more often and sometimes more powerful. Scientists aren’t sure why the amygdala malfunctions in some, though many believe it has to do with the environment you grow up in, the medication you may take, life events that have happened to you, or genetics. Many people turn to medication to calm their brain down because chronic stress can trigger the amygdala hijack more frequently, one of the medications being CBD oil.

CBD for the Amygdala Hijack and Chronic Stress

One of the reasons CBD oil works so great for anxiety is because it elevates and enhances an endocannabinoid in the brain called Anandamide. Anandamide binds mainly to the CB1 cannabinoid receptors in your brain which are in charge of regulating things like pain, your appetite, sleep cycle, and your mood. Because it is a regulator, CBD oil helps to make things in your brain work the way they are supposed to. If you have an overactive amygdala that is always getting hijacked, CBD oil may be the solution you’ve been looking for.

You have probably heard both terms anxiety attack and panic attack. You might think they are the same thing, even people who experience them can get the two confused, but they are actually quite different. So what exactly is the difference between an anxiety attack and a panic attack?

What is a Panic Attack

Panic and anxiety have different features, and they are used by a behavioral health professional as terms for specific symptoms and disorders. Panic attacks have similar symptoms that can make them seem like an anxiety attack like:

• Rapid Heartbeat
• Shortness of Breath
• Dizziness
• High-Stress Levels
• Excessive Worrying

The difference in a panic attack is that it is often a sudden fear or anxiety felt that starts to take over. This feeling is intense and can turn into terror, nervousness, or apprehension. The symptoms are so severe; they are the only thing you can focus on in the moment of an attack. They usually occur seemingly for no reason, without an obvious immediate trigger. However, they can become expected because the fear is caused by a stressor like a phobia. Panic attacks don’t usually last for very long. After about ten minutes, the symptoms usually calm down but some attacks can last longer, or some people can have several attacks one after the other.

People who have panic disorders are often vulnerable to panic attacks. However, you can experience a panic attack without a mental health disorder. Panic attacks and anxiety are a normal and emotional protective response that our body uses as an alarm bell to get us to safety. When these attacks or anxiety happen too frequently and start to get in the way of someone’s quality of life, that is when these become a problem.

There is a guide that health professionals use called the DSM-5 which has lists of symptoms to categorize mental health disorders. In order for an attack to be categorized as a panic attack, it must have four or more of the following symptoms:

• Excessive Sweating
• Heart Palpitations
• Trembling or Shaking
• Dizziness or Faintness
• Chest pain or Discomfort
• Difficulty Breathing
• Nausea or Abdominal Discomfort
• Chills or Hot Flashes
• Anxiety
• Fear of Dying
• Depersonalization or Derealization
• Feeling like you are Choking
• Fear of Losing Control

What is an Anxiety Attack

The DSM doesn’t define the term anxiety attack. Instead, they use anxiety as a term to describe a core feature of several illnesses under the category of anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorders, and trauma and stress-related disorders. When it comes to anxiety, the feelings of fear and tension usually get worse over time and are associated with excessive worry about a potential danger, whether it exists or not. When this feeling of anticipation builds up, and the level of stress reaches a point of being overwhelming, it can feel like an attack.

Symptoms of Anxiety May Include:

• Muscle tension
• Disturbed sleep
• Difficulty concentrating
• Fatigue
• Restlessness
• Irritability
• Increased startle response
• Increased heart rate
• Shortness of breath
• Dizziness

The biggest difference between panic attacks and anxiety attacks is that panic attacks are usually a lot more intense, but the symptoms don’t last as long as an anxiety attack would. Anxiety attacks can last for days, weeks, or even months. Both types of attacks are serious and need to be addressed once you start noticing these symptoms. Anxiety is %100 treatable through therapy, and CBD oil can make the journey toward recovery a lot easier. Check out how CBD oil can help with anxiety and how it can help with panic attacks and then talk to your doctor about using CBD oil to help calm your brain down while you learn how to manage your stress levels.

[author name="Sarah Potts" bio = "Sarah Potts has been writing about the wonderful benefits of cannabis for CBD Instead since 2017. Medical cannabis has changed her life and her goal is to show others how it might help them as well." email="pottscontent@gmail.com" twitter= "pottstato"]

How do you identify yourself? Is it the clothes you wear? Your hobbies? The way that you think or behave? How do you think you would feel if you started to notice this person that you had come to know slowly start to disappear as someone who is unfamiliar and unpleasant emerges beneath your skin? Those who experience trauma and develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are unfortunate victims of losing their sense of self. What is it about trauma that changes our behaviors and interests? Is there anything we can do to hold on to who we are?

What is PTSD

To understand why trauma changes you, you have to understand the disorder that causes these changes. Several symptoms characterize PTSD:

• Re-experiencing symptoms- obsessive recollections, nightmares, or flashbacks
• Avoidance
• Hyperarousal

Traumatized patients can also suffer from a hybrid of PTSD, depressive disorder, or another anxiety disorder.

Not everyone develops PTSD when they experience trauma; some people are more susceptible than others. Studies have shown that only 10-30% of the people who experience trauma may develop the disorder, with exceptions to war which is 20-30% and rape which is 50% and degrades to 5% over time. This is important to remember when you experience the same event but have a different psychological outcome from someone else. There are risk factors that can play a key role in the changes that PTSD causes in the brain.

Risk Factors of PTSD

If someone has experienced a traumatic event in their life, they are more likely to develop PTSD after another event opposed to someone who is experiencing trauma for the first time. Studies have found that if you experience the following symptoms during or right after a trauma, you may be more likely to develop PTSD:

• Elevated heart rate
• Severe intrusive thoughts
• Exaggerated startle response
• Disassociation

Researchers are starting to discover that traumatic events aren’t the only thing that can cause symptoms associated with PTSD. Because we are in a time in history where we can see every negative thing that happens anywhere in the world, we are being bombarded with constant negativity that can cause a small chemical reaction in your brain similar to what happens during trauma. Studies have shown that when you see someone who is suffering a traumatic event, your brain hurts for them and can bring on symptoms of PTSD. The stressogenic lifestyle of our century seems to have led to an increase in certain psychiatric disorders.

PTSD in the Family

Studies have also shown that if someone experiences trauma, their children are more susceptible to developing anxiety disorders like PTSD. While studying Holocaust survivors and their children, researchers discovered that their children were more likely to have PTSD symptoms and report more distress during traumatic events. Researchers believe that in addition to being exposed to traumatic stories, the children may also have biological vulnerabilities that can bring on symptoms. While studying primates, they noticed the same behavior between parents and offspring. Researchers believe that passing down this anxiety could be an instinct to protect our children thus protecting our species.

PTSD and Your Behavior

According to ICD 10, if the psychological difficulties last for years after you survive a traumatic event, you can form negative behavioral changes like difficulties in social and personal functioning that can lead to personality changes. The gradual personality changes have also been seen with feelings like:

• Insecurity
• Jeopardy
• Social Inequality
• Withdrawal
• Work-related Dysfunction
• Uncertainty
• Social Withdrawal
• Paranoia Toward the Environment
• Irritability
• Prone to Interpersonal Conflicts
• Low Tolerance for Frustrating Situations

If these cognitive difficulties go untreated, they can result in permanent negative behavioral changes. But how can feelings and emotions change the way that our brains work?

PTSD and the Brain

The Growing Brain and PTSD

Our environment has a significant impact on the postnatal cortical development, which is when the brain is developing from the third week of gestation into adulthood. This means that everything that happens to us, where we live, what we eat, how we are spoken to, what happens to us, all plays a role in how our brains develop. This time in our lives is when we are the most malleable as well as the most susceptible to mental health disorders. The orbitofrontal cortex, which is what is in command of alternating emotional processes, may require variety and balance between different external simulations both negative and positive for structural and biochemical development to be adequate.

Environmental Stress and PTSD

Scientists have discovered that the prefrontal neurotransmitter system is sensitive to environmental stress, causing exposure to extreme circumstances to lead to structural abnormalities in the frontal lobe which is closely related to the limbic system. The limbic system is a system in your body that is focused mainly on self and species preservation. The limbic system responds to emotional stimuli and sets the level of arousal while also helping to reinforce behaviors. Scientists have conceptualized this system as the “feeling and reacting” brain.

Your frontal lobes make up two-thirds of your brain, but many of the mechanisms are still unknown to scientists. What we do know is that the frontal lobes control or influence:

• Motor Function
• Language
• Executive Function
• Attention
• Memory
• Language
• Mood
• Personality
• Self-awareness
• Social and Moral Reasoning

These abnormalities can cause an inability to be empathetic, pathological narcissism, or other deep-seated personality deficits. Researchers believe that this may be why PTSD can be misdiagnosed as a personality disorder because of the fundamental behavioral changes that are centered around their own happiness and comfort above all else.  

How Does Stress Cause Damage to the Brain?

Why is it that extreme emotions cause damage to these areas of the brain that cause personality and behavioral changes? The answer is in the chemicals that are released when you experience stress like cortisol.

Cortisol is released when you are stressed out or experience something that causes fear which is what kicks your brain and body into gear to run away or fight for survival. However, they also can change your stem cells into cells that inhibit neural connection to the prefrontal cortex. While this may be able to improve learning and memory, it lays down the foundation for anxiety disorders by decreasing the number of cells that mature into neurons.

Cortisol is also supposed to be helping to regulate the immune system. When it is unable to provide this function, your body can start to experience inflammatory effects. This not only makes you more vulnerable to the common cold, but this also can cause parts of your brain to degrade leading to abnormalities.

Brain damage is serious, but you can help prevent it through treatment. The most effective way to cure yourself of PTSD is to seek therapy, participate in empowering activities, and maintain healthful, supportive, and safe relationships.

Treatment Options for PTSD

Exposure Therapy

Trauma-focused therapies have been some of the most successful methods for people who have PTSD. One of the most popular being exposure therapy. Exposure therapy helps patients process their fear and anxiety by facing their memories in a safe space while learning and practicing healthy coping mechanisms.

EDMR Therapy

EMDR, which is eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, uses your eye movements guided by a therapist to help process traumatic memories and they help you reframe these memories while also changing your negative reactions to them.

ART Therapy

A new therapy for PTSD, anxiety, and depression has been emerging and shown to be very successful both in the therapist's office and in controlled studies. It is called Accelerated Resolution Therapy, also known as ART. Patients who undergo this therapy may have a significant reduction in symptoms in less than ten sessions. You can watch a short TedTalk by therapist Yolanda Harper here who has not only seen this therapy be successful in her patients but in herself as well.

Therapy has been very successful in helping people who suffer from PTSD, but medication can also be prescribed depending on how severe it is. When your emotions are out of control, it can be difficult to learn how to hone them. But by turning down the negative static in your brain, you can learn to think in a new and healthier way. One medication you should bring up with your doctor is CBD oil.

CBD for PTSD

Cannabidiol (CBD) has shown in studies to be very effective in helping with anxiety disorders like PTSD. One of the main ways it helps to relieve this feeling of fear and anxiety is by reducing the overactivity of the amygdala that is present in an anxious brain. By reducing the activity of the amygdala, it causes your brain not to send out so many fear signals making your anxiety less overwhelming. Research also suggests that CBD oil has neuroprotective and neurodegenerative properties, helping to protect the brain from damage and encourage healing.

Medication alone won't cure your PTSD or the changes in your behavior. Seeking a therapist is imperative for anxiety disorders just like seeing a physical therapist would be needed for someone who needs to recover from a physical injury. It is clear that PTSD causes your brain to think in an unhealthy way, and having someone help you learn how to change that process will help you defeat that dirty monster trying to bring you down.

Talk to your Doctor

If you are already on medications, you need to ask your doctor if the enzyme P-450 metabolizes it. If it is, CBD may interfere with this medication, keeping the body from metabolizing it. Even if you aren’t taking medication, you should let your doctor know about anything you put into your body whether it is a prescription from a doctor, an over-the-counter-pill, or a natural oil like hemp oil. They can help you monitor the way your body reacts as well as help you monitor your symptoms to make sure that you are taking the most efficient and healthiest route.

Have you recently found yourself after PTSD tried to take you away? We would love to hear how you took your life back!

[author name="Sarah Potts" bio = "Sarah Potts has been writing about the wonderful benefits of cannabis for CBD Instead since 2017. Medical cannabis has changed her life and her goal is to show others how it might help them as well." email="pottscontent@gmail.com" twitter= "pottstato"]

There are tons of studies about how cannabis can make our lives better. Unfortunately, many of them are still at rodent model stages or in a test tube. This doesn’t invalidate their findings; this just shows us that we still have a little bit more to learn. This month, a new clinical study was published on how CBD oil can help patients with PTSD. The findings are probably just what you would expect.

The Study

A retrospective case series examines the effects of oral CBD on symptoms of PTSD in 11 adult patients who are participating in an outpatient psychiatry clinic. A mental health professional administered an open-label, flexible dosing regimen of CBD to patients diagnosed with PTSD. The patients also received routine psychiatric case like additional psychiatric medications and psychotherapy. This study lasted eight weeks, and the PTSD symptoms were assessed every four weeks for symptoms severity.

From the 11 patients, 11 experienced a decrease in their symptom’s severity. Throughout the patients, the CBD was generally well tolerated, and none of the patients had to opt out because of side-effects. The study found that taking CBD orally while also doing routine psychiatric sessions helped to reduce the symptoms of PTSD. They also found that patients who experience nightmares due to their PTSD found relief.

How To Take CBD For PTSD

If you are just starting with CBD oil, check out this beginner’s guide first. It explains how to start taking CBD, side-effects to look out for, and how to talk to your doctor and is a must-read for any CBD newbies.

When it comes to PTSD, it is a product of fear and anxiety. Your amygdala is going crazy because it has learned that it needs to be extra careful to keep you safe. CBD oil calms down this response, making your symptoms less severe. If you have frequent outbursts and panic attacks, taking CBD oil through a vape or tincture may be the most effective. These methods of CBD oil work quickly and can help calm you down at the moment.

If your PTSD has you on edge all day and you feel like it takes every fiber of your being to keep yourself together, taking CBD pills or edibles may be the best for you. This gives you CBD relief throughout the day taking the egg shells off of the ground your walking on.

Have you tried CBD for your PTSD? We would love to hear your story and so would others looking into CBD oil!

[author name="Sarah Potts" bio = "Sarah Potts has been writing about the wonderful benefits of cannabis for CBD Instead since 2017. Medical cannabis has changed her life and her goal is to show others how it might help them as well." email="pottscontent@gmail.com" twitter= "pottstato"]

Did you know that stress can cause you to experience physical symptoms? It makes sense because when you get embarrassed, you might blush. When you get sad, you might cry. Some people can experience a seizure that looks like an epileptic seizure all from experiencing too much stress.

What Are Non-Epileptic Seizures

An electrical surge in the brain causes epileptic seizures. It causes unconsciousness and convulsions which are what we label as seizures. People who have non-epileptic seizures can experience the convulsions and unconsciousness, but an electrical surge in the brain doesn't cause it. Instead, this event is caused by stress.

Non-epileptic seizures were once called pseudoseizures, but this label is misleading. These seizure-like events are very real and can have heavy effects on the person experiencing them. Doctors believe that this is a physical reaction to psychological stress and they also believe that these events are not purposefully produced.

How Do You Know If It Is Stress?

The first thing you need to do if you are losing consciousness or convulsing is go to the doctor. They can run a test with an EEG machine that scans your brain’s activity looking for electrical surges. With this test, they can determine what your seizures or events are coming from.

How To Prevent Non-Epileptic Seizures

Since these seizures happen when someone has reached their limit with stress, what you need to do is try to prevent yourself from reaching that point. Let yourself have a break and relax and eliminate stressors that are unnecessary.

You can also try using CBD oil as well. Studies show that it can help relieve you of stress by making it easier to manage your emotions. By elevating an endocannabinoid called anandamide, CBD hemp oil can help with stress by making the activity in your brain less influential, making it easier to handle everyday stress.

What are some ways that you decompress to relieve stress? We would love to hear about it in the comment section below!

[author name="Sarah Potts" bio = "Sarah Potts has been writing about the wonderful benefits of cannabis for CBD Instead since 2017. Medical cannabis has changed her life and her goal is to show others how it might help them as well." email="pottscontent@gmail.com" twitter= "pottstato"]

A prevalent symptom of obsessive-compulsive disorder is intrusive thoughts, also known as obsessions. However, this doesn’t mean you have to have OCD in order to experience this way of thinking. Many people who suffer from anxiety have had intrusive thoughts, and CBD oil may be able to help.

Cannabidiol (CBD) may be able to help with intrusive thoughts by strengthening bonds and reducing overactivity in the brain. People who struggle with mental health have areas in their brain that work differently than those who don’t have mental health issues, and CBD may be a solution to many of the symptoms that arise because of those differences.

What Are Intrusive Thoughts

Intrusive thoughts are unwelcome thoughts that you can’t help but think about, and they make you feel uncomfortable, sad, or angry. This can be constantly playing random scenarios in your head before going to or after a social event. This can be thinking all day about whether or not you locked your front door, feeling anxious until you get home to see you did, in fact, lock it. Intrusive thoughts can also be negatively thinking about yourself, without the ability to snap yourself out of it constantly bringing yourself down.

Intrusive Thoughts And The Brain

Scientists believe that people who experience intrusive thoughts have a stronger inner-speech process. When studying the brain of people who suffer from unwanted thoughts, they found that the inferior frontal gyrus was active, which is where language processing occurs. They also found that the cingulate cortex was engaged, which control emotion, memory, and learning.

Intrusive thoughts are also associated with hippocampal overactivity. The hippocampus is in charge of short-term and long-term memories, as well as spatial navigation. Studies show that the hippocampal GABA receptors are what helps stop unwanted thinking.

How CBD May Be Able To Help

Studies have shown that CBD oil may be able to disrupt the overactivity in the cingulate cortex, without causing impairment of cognitive functions. Researchers believe this is one of the primary ways CBD can reduce anxiety, which may be able to help with intrusive thoughts.

Cannabidiol also may be able to help with the hippocampus and its involvement with intrusive thoughts. Studies suggest that CBD oil may be able to help strengthen the binding of GABA receptors. This stronger connection may be able to help your brain deal with intrusive thoughts instead of letting them manifest in your head.

Talk To Your Doctor

If you are suffering from intrusive thoughts and anxiety, you should look into getting a therapist. They are so good at figuring out your triggers and helping you learn coping skills that can help you overcome them. And talk to them about CBD oil. Go in with information to back up your claims, because some doctors aren’t educated on medical marijuana yet even with its growing popularity. They can help you monitor your progress to determine whether or not this is the right route for you to take.

Have you struggled with intrusive thoughts? What are coping mechanisms that you have used that actually work? We would love to hear about them in the comment section below!

[author name="Sarah Potts" bio = "Sarah Potts has been writing about the wonderful benefits of cannabis for CBD Instead since 2017. Medical cannabis has changed her life and her goal is to show others how it might help them as well." email="pottscontent@gmail.com" twitter= "pottstato"]

If you let your life get out of hand and don’t practice self-care, the stress of this world can cut your life expectancy down. Having chronic stress where you feel anxiety or stress for long periods of time can have an impact on your mental and physical health. This is the type of damage your body takes that can be avoided, all you need is a good doctor, a good attitude, and possibly some CBD oil.

Eustress Vs. Distress

Not all stress is bad. The stress and excitement you feel before a job interview is different from the stress you feel of being overworked. Eustress is the good stress while distress is the bad stress. Eustress can motivate you, help you focus, improve your performance, feels exciting, and doesn’t last for long. Distress can cause anxiety, be overwhelming, feel unpleasant, decrease your performance, and can continue for a long time if it goes untreated leading to physical and mental problems. Knowing the physical problems may be able to encourage you to take control of your life, practice self-care, and reduce your stressors.

How Stress Works

Your central nervous system is in charge of your fight or flight response, which is what stress is. In a healthy brain, the amygdala sends the panic signal to the hypothalamus, which then gets your adrenal glands to produce stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline. After the threat is gone, the hypothalamus tells the adrenal glands to stop producing these hormones and return to normal. But if this stressor doesn’t go away, the response will continue, and the adrenal glands will keep pumping hormones in your body.

During this time where your body perceives threats, also known as perceived stress, your body is taking action to protect itself. If you continue to put yourself in stressful situations without a break or practicing self-care, bad stress can start to wreak havoc on your body.

Stress And Your Heart

These stress hormones can affect parts of your body like the cardiovascular system. Scientists believe that stress may cause inflammation in the heart causing damage. Many coping mechanisms that people use for their stress like comfort eating, smoking cigarettes, or turning to alcohol can also put the individual at risk for developing heart issues.

Stress And Your Lungs

Stress may also worsen symptoms of lung diseases like asthma and COPD. During your body’s reaction to stress, it needs more oxygen to go to parts of the body overworking your lungs. Stress can also cause hyperventilation, which is when you aren’t breathing correctly and can have higher CO2 scores which can result in damage.

Stress And Your Blood Sugar

People who are chronically stressed produce more blood sugar when their body is reacting to the fear response because your body believes it needs more energy to protect itself. When the two hormones associated with stress rise, so do glucose levels. Having high blood sugar levels on a regular basis due to stress could cause you to develop diabetes and can be harmful to those who already have type 1 diabetes.

Stress And Your Immune System

Research suggests that people who experience chronic stress are susceptible to developing a dysregulation in their immune system. When your body is in fight or flight mode, it suppresses the immune system by lowering the number of proteins needed to signal immune cells. The chemical cortisol may also cause inflammation, which over time can cause damage and cause the immune system to weaken.

Relax!

If you are constantly stressed, you could be harming your body. Take a day off of work, go on vacation, and talk to a therapist about your worries. Taking CBD oil may also be able to help because it has shown in studies to reduce the overactivity of the amygdala, which may make the fight or flight response less severe. If you need a little help fighting stress, stop by our shop and get some CBD hemp oil to help make your stress more bearable as you learn to cope with it.

What are ways that you pump the breaks on your fight or flight response? How do you unwind and calm your body down to prevent the damage that comes with stress? We would love to hear about it in the comment section!

[author name="Sarah Potts" bio = "Sarah Potts has been writing about the wonderful benefits of cannabis for CBD Instead since 2017. Medical cannabis has changed her life and her goal is to show others how it might help them as well." email="pottscontent@gmail.com" twitter= "pottstato"]

Social anxiety is often confused with shyness. People think that you just need to come out of your shell and you’ll eventually adapt to your surroundings. But with social anxiety, the adaption is extremely difficult. Social anxiety isn’t just being awkward or tense in social situations; it is having an intense sense of anxiety that can be so overwhelming it causes people to isolate themselves from the world, and CBD oil may be able to help.

Cannabidiol (CBD) may be able to help with social anxiety because of its anti-anxiety effects. CBD calms down the activity in some areas of the brain that are linked to anxiety and has even shown in studies to help people calm down in stressful social situations. To know exactly how it works, knowing what social anxiety is and what parts of the brain are active will help you understand.

What Is Social Anxiety?

Social anxiety is entirely different from introversion or shyness. Social interactions overstimulate introverts, shyness is when you feel awkward or tense in new social situations, but social anxiety is when you sense the overwhelming fear of being judged or humiliated.

People with social anxiety are constantly self-monitoring themselves, making sure they don’t mess up and if they do they can ruminate on their mistakes for weeks. Social anxiety is also known as social phobia, meaning that this disorder is born from fear. But where does fear come from? These two little almond-shaped masses in your brain called the amygdala.

Your Brain And Social Anxiety

The amygdala controls your fear response. It is always on the lookout for danger, and it alerts you when it thinks that a serious threat is nearby. People who have anxiety disorders like social anxiety have an overactive amygdala which is continually sending out a fear response.

You amygdala could be telling you that you are taking too long to put the change in your wallet at the check out line and everyone behind you hates you. Your amygdala could light up when you say something in a social setting, and you are so sure that someone is rolling their eyes at you. When you see a group of people laughing, your amygdala is confident it is about you, and you should go home and think about everything you have done that day to figure out why people are laughing. But taking CBD could help calm your amygdala down.

CBD For Social Anxiety

Studies have shown that CBD can reduce the activity of an overactive amygdala, helping to make the fear response less severe. In a study where people were given CBD oil before public speaking, they found that those who took CBD before going out and making their speech had a significant improvement on cognitive function, dysfunction, and anxiety when speaking in public.

Therapy Is Key

CBD hemp oil may seem like some wonder drug that cures all, but when it comes to mental illnesses like social anxiety disorder, it is more of a tool than a cure. While your amygdala may be less active, this doesn’t change the thoughts that you are used to having. Seeing a therapist and learning how to retrain your brain to think more positive in social situations. They can help you discover coping mechanisms that work for you and help you not even need the CBD anymore.

How To Take CBD For Social Anxiety

When taking CBD hemp oil for social anxiety, you have two options. You can take the edibles or pills and have the effects take thirty minutes to an hour to kick in and last for about six to eight hours. Or, what you can do is get tinctures, candy, or a vape and have the effects kick in within fifteen to thirty minutes and last a few hours. Different methods work for different people, make sure to keep your doctor involved so they can help monitor you to find out what is the best option for you.

Have you used CBD for your social anxiety? We would love to hear how it has worked for you in the comment section below!

[author name="Sarah Potts" bio = "Sarah Potts has been writing about the wonderful benefits of cannabis for CBD Instead since 2017. Medical cannabis has changed her life and her goal is to show others how it might help them as well." email="pottscontent@gmail.com" twitter= "pottstato"]

Have you ever been so embarrassed by something you did you felt like you couldn’t leave your house in weeks? Do you fear being the victim of a crime anytime you walk out of your front door? Do you avoid certain events or places you used to go to because you experienced a panic attack there? You might have agoraphobia and CBD may be able to help.

Because agoraphobia is considered a complex panic disorder, CBD oil may be able to help with the symptoms. By reducing overactivity in some regions of the brain, CBD may be able to help calm your mind down so you aren’t feeling an overwhelming level of discomfort when you want to go somewhere that might give you panic attacks.

What Exactly Is Agoraphobia

Many people think that agoraphobia is a fear of open spaces. But there is much more to this disorder than that. Agoraphobia is the fear of places or situations that may cause panic, embarrassment, or helplessness.

Someone who is agoraphobic may start to feel symptoms of a panic attack when they find themselves in a stressful situation that they can’t escape. Or if they return to a place that has given them a panic attack before. Agoraphobia is when you let your fears dictate where you go every day.

How Agoraphobia Develops

If someone experiences a panic attack in a particular situation, this can drive them to avoid that same situation, so they don’t have to suffer a panic attack again. This is when it is a form of panic disorder. But not everyone who has agoraphobia has a panic disorder; they can also be triggered by a number of irrational phobias like:

• Being a victim of a crime
• Catching an illness in a crowded place
• Accidentally humiliating yourself in front of people

How CBD May Be Able To Help With Agoraphobia

Cannabidiol has shown in studies to regulate the endocannabinoid system. This includes regulating your fear response which is what triggers panic attacks. CBD has been able to reduce the activity of the amygdala, which is what causes the fight or flight response resulting in panic, as well as the insular which is overactive in patients with anxiety.

By reducing your anxiety, you can gain more control over the fear that isolates you from being out in the world. If you bring CBD hemp oil with you, it may even be able to stop a panic attack in its tracks by reducing the overactivity in your brain.

Talk To Your Doctor

If you have agoraphobia, you should first off be speaking to a doctor about it. They can help you come up with coping mechanisms and give you easy tasks to accomplish to help you conquer your fear. You can even find counselors who will help you over video chat, so you don’t have to leave your house! If you are on medication and want to take CBD, let them know so they can help you discern whether or not the medicines will react differently because of the CBD. And they can watch and monitor you closely to make sure this is the right path for you to take. Stop by our shop today to get your ticket out the door.

Do you stay up at night and think about how you embarrassed yourself ten years ago, fretting over what you should have done instead? When you get angry, does your brain get carried away making your emotions even stronger? If you aren’t able to suppress your thoughts and they come at you like a whirlwind, you may be suffering from ruminating thoughts.

Thought rumination is when your thoughts don’t shut up and mull over things over and over. You think about events or situations that impacted you negatively, and you just can’t stop thinking about it. It can be after extreme situations, or it could be over the tiniest hiccup in your day. If you suffer from thought rumination and you leave it untreated, it is likely to cause anxiety. 

Constructive Ruminating Vs. Nonconstructive Ruminating

Not all rumination is terrible. You can have constructive thought rumination that can turn into a cognitive coping mechanism. Studies have shown that constructive ruminations can help with problem-solving, adaptive preparation, anticipatory planning, recovering from depression, and increasing health-promoting behaviors.

When it’s nonconstructive, it can cause anxiety, depression, and difficulty with physical health. Which is why it is so important to seek treatment. While this type of thought pattern can help you solve problems, it can also fuel a bad mood making it fester.

Why Do We Ruminate?

Rumination is caused by overactivity in the brain. Studies have shown that overactivity in the amygdala, which is our fear response, may be behind ruminating thoughts. There is also signs of increased activation in the hippocampus, insula, and cingulate cortex. While therapy can help you retrain your brain, taking medication can help with the chemical change in your brain that makes ruminations so severe and many are turning to CBD oil.

How CBD Oil Can Help With Ruminating Thoughts

Because the rumination happens when the amygdala is overactive, CBD oil may be able to help. Studies have shown that CBD oil can reduce the overactivity of the amygdala resulting in a relief of anxiety symptoms, including thought ruminations. It can be overwhelming to try to use your superhuman ability to ruminate over things for good, but when you calm it down it makes it an easier task.

If you find yourself in a loop of thoughts that are driving you insane, taking CBD oil in a tincture, dab, or vape may be able to calm you down quickly so that you can get a break from inside your head. Taking things like CBD edibles or pills may be able to help you have a calmer mind throughout the day, making it less likely to need the faster routes of administration. Stop by our shop today to find the perfect fit for you so you can discover how to use your powers for good.

[author name="Sarah Potts" bio = "Sarah Potts has been writing about the wonderful benefits of cannabis for CBD Instead since 2017. Medical cannabis has changed her life and her goal is to show others how it might help them as well." email="pottscontent@gmail.com" twitter= "pottstato"]

Do you hate flying? Does the thought of a plane give you anxiety? Would you rather take a road trip that is eighteen and half hours than a three-hour flight? You’ve probably heard that you’re more likely to get in a car accident than a plane crash, but when you stand at the terminal, you find yourself taking huge breaths to calm down. CBD might be able to help with your flight anxiety.

Cannabidiol (CBD) as shown in studies to regulate the parts of your brain that control your fear response, which is why CBD may be able to help with anxiety. When your brain starts to become overactive, CBD also elevates endocannabinoids that studies suggest help calm down that activity. Taking CBD is an excellent way to get rid of flight anxiety, but getting down to the reason you have this anxiety and abolishing those thoughts is how you get rid of it forever.

Common Reasons To Fear Flying

Experienced A Bad Flight

Turbulence might scare you, or maybe you’ve had to use the oxygen masks, or the plane was turned around because of mechanical issues. This can make you start to fear flying, even though it is one of the safest ways to travel.

The Media

The media is a massive trigger for all sorts of fears. Every time you scroll through Facebook or turn on the news, there’s a new tragedy to hear about. If you’ve seen a plane crash, this can make you feel like that situation can happen to you.

Claustrophobia

Do you hate being anywhere you can’t escape? Do the walls feel like they are closing in and the people around you are all sitting too close? Claustrophobia is a problem that can make flying almost impossible to handle.

Germs

Do public places make your skin crawl? Do you worry about germs or getting sick from being in close quarters with others? You may think that a coughing passenger is going to take everyone down in the plane. But research shows that it’s not likely to get sick from a fellow passenger.  

Panic Disorder

Having a panic attack can be the worst feeling, especially if you are in an environment you aren’t in control of. Being stuck on a plane might trigger your panic response, which can make you reluctant to get on a plane again.

How To Deal With Flight Anxiety

Exposure Therapy

Some psychologists suggest exposure therapy and have used mock planes to help people get over there fears. In this exciting time of technology advancements, they have even started using virtual reality therapy and found success.

Educate Yourself

Educating yourself on the safety of airplanes can also help you learn to fear them no longer. We are programmed to think that being afraid means we are in danger, but that isn’t always the case. Learning about the vigorous testing that planes go through and how turbulence is more annoying than it is deadly can help put your mind at ease.

Positive Self Talk

When you get on the plane, tell yourself how good you’re doing. Remind yourself how safe and clean your environment is. When thoughts of anxiety try to creep in, counter them with thoughts that are confident.

Take CBD

When you are anxious, your brain is sending off fear signals at an overwhelming rate. CBD has shown in studies to help relieve anxiety. Researchers believe it is because it uses endocannabinoids to help reduce overactivity in the brain. Using CBD edibles or tinctures before the flight may be able to calm your nerves so you can enjoy your trip. Be sure to talk to your doctor about taking CBD, because it can interfere with certain medications.

Have you overcome your flight anxiety? Share your story with us in the comment section below!

[author name="Sarah Potts" bio = "Sarah Potts has been writing about the wonderful benefits of cannabis for CBD Instead since 2017. Medical cannabis has changed her life and her goal is to show others how it might help them as well." email="pottscontent@gmail.com" twitter= "pottstato"]

Has a car accident made you afraid to get back behind the wheel? Maybe you’re just anxious about everything, and pushing around a giant metal box around other giant metal boxes isn’t something you can get comfortable with. You’re not alone if this is you, and if you want to, you can overcome your driving anxiety.

Identify Why You Have Driving Anxiety

The first thing you need to do is recognize why you have this anxiety. Is it because of a car accident you had ten years ago that you still, to this day, don’t know how you survived? Do you fear that you’ll have a panic attack and be trapped in the car? Are you scared of a car accident even though you’ve never been in one? Finding out why you have this fear is one of the best ways to conquer it. Once you have it figured out, the next logical step is to get in touch with a counselor.

Therapy For Driving Anxiety

What a counselor can give you that the internet can’t is a “tailored to you” therapy session. While of course there is online therapy where you talk to a real person from the comfort of your home, but that falls into this category as well.

What your counselor might advise is cognitive behavioral therapy. It is one of the most effective treatments for people with anxieties. It isn’t the only one, so you may be playing a game of hot and cold until you find what works best for you. Before you dive in, here are some things to expect to practice while conquering your fear of driving.

Tips On Overcoming Driving Anxiety

Face Your Fear

This means your counselor is going to suggest getting into that driver seat and get the ball rolling. This doesn’t mean you should be hitting the interstate going 80 miles an hour, but getting used to being behind the wheel is a form of exposure therapy. Feeling comfortable behind the wheel again may give you a feeling of control which can help with the anxiety.

Don’t Add To The Anxiety

If you are just getting back in the car, don’t go places you aren’t comfortable going. If you’ve never been somewhere before, this could cause your anxiety to get worse. If you aren’t comfortable going at fast speeds, stay in areas where the speed limit is lower. If playing music is a distraction that makes you anxious, turn it off so you can better focus.

Find A Way To Relax On And Off The Road

This doesn’t mean closing your eyes and doing breathing exercises while going down the high way, that would be dangerous. But you can do those breathing exercises when you get into the car to settle down. While driving, use coping statements to help keep your anxiety at bay. Remind yourself how awesome you are for getting back out on the road and what a great job you’re doing.

Try CBD

Before you use CBD to help with your driving anxiety, make sure that it doesn’t make you drowsy off the road, first. Though it is rare, some people have found that CBD can make them tired. Taking a small amount should keep you alert and your anxiety low. Studies have shown that CBD has anti-anxiety effects that may benefit you through this time of retraining your brain to no longer fear driving.

Have you conquered your fears of driving? Did you used to suffer from driving anxiety but something just clicked for you and helped you work it out? We would love to hear about it in the comment section! Your tips might be able to help someone conquer their fears as well!

[author name="Sarah Potts" bio = "Sarah Potts has been writing about the wonderful benefits of cannabis for CBD Instead since 2017. Medical cannabis has changed her life and her goal is to show others how it might help them as well." email="pottscontent@gmail.com" twitter= "pottstato"]

Where do anxiety disorders come from? Yes, they come from trauma or constant toxic environments that cause stress. But what parts of our brain are affected? What is the chemistry behind this awful feeling of dread many can’t escape?

Anxiety disorders are troubling and often misunderstood by the people who don’t experience them, and even the people who suffer from them every day. Those on the outside looking in may just see someone who doesn’t know how to handle stress. Those who go through their days in inner turmoil see themselves as someone who can’t for a second feel anything but dread and fear. Sounds exhausting, right?

Could learning what goes on in the brain help in any way? Could knowing that your brain reacts differently help you cope with your everyday struggle? Possibly. It can also give a hint of reality to those who don’t experience anxiety the way that others do, helping them to understand it is more than just being stressed out all of the time, it is actual brain changes.

While several parts of the brain can contribute to anxiety disorders, the two main areas that have been discussed and even had recent discoveries are the amygdala and the hippocampus. Both being a part of the limbic system, they help control mood, instincts, and basic emotions.

The Amygdala

In the center of your brain, you have two almond-shaped set of neurons called the amygdala. The amygdala is believed to be the communication hub for parts of the brain processing incoming sensory signals as well as the parts of the brain that interpret these signals.

The amygdala’s job is to alert the brain when there is a threat present. A speeding car coming your way down the street? The amygdala helps you jump out of the way.

Researchers have discovered that heightened amygdala activity is related to anxiety disorders. The natural instinct to feel fear is set to overdrive, making you feel like you have something to fear even when there is no real threat present.

The Hippocampus

The hippocampus is located deep in the brain and plays a huge role in fear conditioning. Studies have suggested that damage to the hippocampus could contribute to avoidance learning, which is a considerable component of anxiety.

The Hippocampus turns threatening events into memories. People who are victims of child abuse or who have been involved in combat have shown in studies to have a smaller hippocampus. Not everyone gets PTSD from traumatic events, but researchers believe that a dysfunction hippocampus plays a role in developing the condition after a traumatic event.

A team of researchers has also recently discovered anxiety cells in the hippocampus. The team found that when mice went into an open field or in an elevated part of a maze, these anxiety neurons responded strongly.

When the research team was able to suppress these anxiety neurons in the mice, it made the mice more comfortable in unfamiliar places. And when they excited these neurons, it made the mice have anxiety in safe and enclosed spaces.

How CBD Can Help With Anxiety

Chronic stress can impair signaling in the endocannabinoid system with the amygdala and the hippocampus which can lead to anxiety disorders. Studies suggest that CBD oil can help reduce activity in the amygdala giving anxiolytic effects.

Studies have also shown that CBD may be able to help with the disturbed signaling in the endocannabinoid system involving the hippocampus. Possibly even aiding in cell proliferation, which is increasing the number of cells. More findings are requested to be conclusive, but scientists are on a hot track to discovering the ways that CBD hemp oil can help with anxiety symptoms and it causes.

What do your hangovers feel like? A headache? Maybe some nausea? Or do you get this pit of anxiety that chains you to your bed lasting for the majority of the day? If you have a mental illness, it’s likely that you won't experience hangovers the same as others. Luckily, CBD oil can help with this anxiety.

CBD helps with anxiety by lowering the overactivity in your brain. When you have anxiety, it is your fear response being activated even when there is no threat in sight. Anxiety can be heightened because of how alcohol interacts with the body.

Why Does Alcohol Make You Anxious?

Low Serotonin

Hangover anxiety can include mood swings because alcohol can lower serotonin levels. Serotonin is one of the “feel-good” chemicals. With low serotonin, it can cause you to feel depressed or anxious. CBD interacts with the serotonin receptors, making researchers believe it could be a valid treatment for anxiety and depression. This may be why it works so well to give relief after a night of drinking.

Low Blood Sugar

Having a few drinks can cause your blood sugar levels to drop. When your blood sugar levels are too low, it can make you feel faint, dizzy, and give you anxiety. It can be hard to eat when you wake up from a hangover because of anxiety and nausea. While CBD is known to lower blood sugar, it can also reduce nausea and anxiety, so you can eat to get it back to normal.

Dehydration

When you wake up from a night of drinking alcohol, the first thing you might reach for is a glass of water. This is because your body is dehydrated. Dehydration can cause anxiety, muscle aches, headaches, nausea, and dizziness. CBD oil can’t help with this one, the best remedy for dehydration is good old-fashioned H2O.

Increased Heart Rate

Have you ever woken up from a night of drinking and your heart is pounding? When you consume alcohol, it can make your heart rate increase for a short period which can cause anxiety. CBD oil has shown that it can reduce blood pressure caused by stress as well as helping to reduce anxiety.

How To Take CBD For Hangover Anxiety

One of the first things you can do is take CBD before you go out drinking. It can help you become less impulsive, making it easier to watch how much you drink. You should also set up a few tools by your bed so that when you wake up, you can start getting rid of that anxiety. You should have water for the dehydration, a snack for your blood sugar, and a fast administering CBD product of your choice. This includes tinctures, e-cigarettes, candies, and concentrates because they all work quickly. No need to lay in bed all day to wait for it to pass!

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder affects 5.2 million adults at any given time of the year. This number doesn’t even account for the children who suffer traumatic events, who are just as susceptible to developing this disorder as adults. PTSD is extremely treatable, but if it goes uncared for many people can start to notice cognitive impairments. This impairment makes learning at school, work, and home more difficult which can add to the frustration of the disorder.

Many people use CBD to help with their PTSD. Scientists believe it has access to some of the main parts of the brain that are affected by PTSD like the hippocampus. There is a neural marker in the hippocampus that decreases when someone has PTSD which makes the hippocampus smaller. This is great news when it comes to treatment with CBD because it can help. However, this is bad news for those who go untreated.

The hippocampus plays a significant role in memory and learning. When someone has PTSD, they can develop a verbal declarative memory deficit. Declarative memory is one of the two main types of long-term memory, and it’s the ability to recall information that has been stored. The information in this type of memory are things like facts, experiences, and concepts. Researchers believe that having this memory deficit could be both preexisting as well as a product of PTSD.

Having a memory deficit makes it harder to learn as well as the some of the other symptoms of PTSD. Not only is it hard to reach into the brain and pull out information, hyperarousal, which is one of the signs of PTSD, makes it hard to focus.

People with PTSD may also suffer from intrusive thoughts that may interrupt them in their class or job making it difficult to concentrate. Sleep disturbances that are common with people who have PTSD can make their mind and body not at a full 100%, making thought harder to navigate through.

It is essential to seek out therapy when you have PTSD; your future mind could depend on it. Researchers believe that having PTSD may put people at risk for dementia. If you or your loved one are suffering, check out this article on how CBD can help with PTSD. Also, talk to your doctor about finding the best treatment options so you or your loved one can get back on track to living a happy and healthy life.

When you feel a panic attack coming on, one of the first signs is an increased heart rate. When your blood is pumping, it can make it very difficult to calm down causing the panic attack to become almost unavoidable. There are ways that you can help lower your heart rate so that you can calm your mind and get your head out of that fearful mindset.

Checking Your Heart Rate

The average heart rate is 60 – 100 beats per minute. If you think your heart rate is elevated, you can check it by putting your index and middle finger on the wrist of the opposite hand just below the baseline of the thumb. You can also check your heart rate through the large vein that goes along your throat just below the joint where your jaw connects. Instead of counting for a straight 60 seconds, count the number of beats within 15 seconds and then multiply by four. This gives you a good idea of what your heart rate is.

Slow Your Breathing

When you feel your heart rate is elevated, take in a slow breath of five seconds, hold your breath for five seconds, and then let out the air for five seconds. Keep repeating this until you feel your heart rate slow down focusing on your exhaling. It’s unclear as to exactly why, but your breathing and your heart rate are connected. Some scientists believe that it is a way for your body to use energy more efficiently.

Valsalva Maneuver

With your mouth and nose closed, try to blow air out. While doing this, bear down like you are having a bowel movement and do this for about 10 to 15 seconds. In the first phase of this exercise, you get a temporary spike in your blood pressure which is why you should talk to your doctor before doing this method if you have high blood pressure issues. You should also only need to do this exercise once if your increased heart rate persists talk to your doctor about it to see what they suggest.

Ice Water

Splashing or dipping your face in ice water can help lower your heart rate by setting off the dive reflex. This reflex slows down your body’s metabolism so that you can survive under cold water for a longer period which in turn lowers your heart rate.

Taking CBD Oil

While CBD oil doesn’t lower heart rate directly through interacting with the cardiovascular system, if your heart rate is increased due to anxiety it can help. Cannabidiol interacts with the brain’s “fight or flight” system, helping to reduce anxiety. The quickest methods to get relief are by using tinctures, oral sprays, vapor, or concentrates.

Have you ever had to stand in front of a crowd to speak and suddenly your mind turns off? Whether it’s a presentation and you can’t stop saying “uh” or “um.” Or a speech you must give and your nervous laugh echoes through the speakers. Public speaking is a difficult thing to do, especially when you already have anxiety. CBD oil can help you get up there with confidence and blow the crowd away.

Fear and anxiety can get in the way of public speaking. For most people, they are terrified of being vulnerable in front of a crowd. Which isn’t such a far-fetched fear considering the ridicule that is plastered all over the internet to remind us how cruel humanity can be.

Anxiety and fear happen when your brain is reacting to something. This isn’t such a bad thing when there is a car shooting down the street, and you’re right in the middle of the intersection; this reaction is what kicks your survival instincts into overdrive so you can jump out of the way. When anxiety and fear become a problem is when your brain is over-activated during times where you aren’t in any real danger.

When you have anxiety about something, your brain is firing off a bunch of fear signals across what is called the synapse, which is the space in between two neurons. This message signaling helps you feel more alert. This would be great if a tiger was chasing you, but not when you’re about to go on stage.

Taking CBD oil a few minutes before you do your public speaking can help calm your brain down so fear isn’t in control of your mind. Cannabidiol elevates an endocannabinoid called anandamide which helps reduce the overactivity in your brain causing the anxiety.

The way anandamide works is through a process called retrograde signaling. It travels backward from the receiving cell to the sending cell with its own type of message. This message is telling the sending cell to either stop sending so many signals or to send more because there isn’t enough activity. With anxiety, anandamide tells the sending cell to calm down, so your receiving cell doesn’t get overwhelmed.

During a study, they tested the effects of cannabidiol on people who were about to do public speaking. The subjects using cannabidiol had a significant change in anxiety, cognitive impairment, and discomfort while speaking.

If you need to get rid of the jitters that arise when you have to speak in front of a group of people, try CBD oil for your anxiety. It doesn’t take much at all, just a few drops of tincture or puffs from an e-cigarette. And if you want to get even more discreet, you can use oral spray or CBD candy. Be sure to stop by our shop to check out our wide variety of options that could be perfect for you!

There is more to OCD than keeping a clean home or having rituals. Some individuals may continuously check their front door to make sure it’s locked; others may have constant worries about not fitting in driving them into an anxious loop. Because OCD runs off of fear, there are almost endless possibilities to the ways it can ruin someone’s life if left untreated.

1. Checking

Someone with OCD may feel compelled to regularly check things like if the front door is locked, if the stove is off, or if they have an alarm set for something. They can check it five times and still have that anxiety that something is wrong and continue to check it.

They may obsess over a document they need to turn in for work and constantly read through it making sure there are no mistakes. They may reread e-mails over and over to make sure they sound competent or get their point across. This isn’t just due diligence; this is a compulsion that can take hours out of someone’s day. It can be embarrassing trying to walk out of a store and constantly looking around you for ten minutes making sure you didn’t drop anything.

2. Contamination

Someone with OCD may have a fear of contracting an illness or disease from bacteria that is on the surface of something. They can have this belief that a small amount of bacteria like a urine drop can contaminate an entire room making them compelled to give it a deep cleaning. They can feel dirty after touching a doorknob, newspaper, or computer because they fear the germs that exist in this world. These fears can leave them spending hours a day cleaning themselves and their surroundings.

3. Hoarding

Being a hoarder with OCD is more than just having a junk room filled with old stuff. This type of OCD can take over someone’s entire living space, getting in the way of day to day life. They collect newspapers, plastic bags, and even feces to an unhealthy degree. They may be unable to throw away an item because they may need it someday. They may have grown sentimentally attached to an object, making it impossible to part with. They may also hold on to glass, razor blades, or human waste thinking they are protecting people from it. They will collect and collect until their home is stuffed to the brim becoming a health hazard as well as a fire hazard.

4. Intrusive Thoughts

Intrusive thoughts are unwelcomed thoughts that turn into obsessions. Someone with OCD can obsess over their sexual orientation, need for approval, or have a constant need for perfection. These intrusive thoughts can also be fears of harming someone, that their thoughts influence the world around them, or that certain places are too dangerous to go to. People with intrusive thoughts can also be extremely sensitive to bodily functions like swallowing or blinking, having a difficult time focusing on anything but what their body is doing.

CBD can help

Fear and anxiety run OCD. This makes CBD oil an excellent treatment option for the symptoms. Someone with OCD has an overactive fear response, causing them to have anxiety for long periods of time until they complete a task like washing their hands or locking the door. Because of CBD’s interaction with the endocannabinoid system, it can help calm down those fears and anxieties.

CBD elevates a chemical called anandamide. Anandamide is an endocannabinoid that your body organically synthesizes. This endocannabinoid binds to the cannabinoid receptor CB1 which mediates brain and nervous system functions. Through a process called retrograde signaling, anandamide travels to the cannabinoid receptor and transmits a signal telling the neuron to send more information or less depending on activity. For those suffering from anxiety disorders like OCD, hemp oil helps calm the brain down making the irrational fears less prominent.

Panic disorder is an anxiety disorder that causes the person afflicted to have panic attacks that seem out of the blue. This can be very debilitating making it terrifying to go places, talk to people, or do activities. Because this disorder runs off fear overwhelming the brain, cannabidiol may be a beneficial treatment.

Cannabidiol works so well with panic disorder because of its interaction with the endocannabinoid system. Panic attacks come from when your brain is overwhelmed with fear, and your brain is sending as many warning signals it can even if it can't process them. CBD elevates an endocannabinoid called anandamide which helps reduce the number of signals being transmitted and helps calm the brain down.

Endocannabinoids have an interesting role to play in the endocannabinoid system by how they interact with cannabinoid receptors. While most neurotransmitters travel to the sending cell to the receiving cell, endocannabinoids travel backward through a process called retrograde signaling. This gives the endocannabinoids the ability to communicate with the sending cell and help mediate the information being sent out.

The Attacks

When you have panic disorder, the one thing that plagues your mind is when your next attack is going to be. Because they happen when you least expect it and pump your mind with fear, it leaves a mental scar that looms over you throughout the day. It can make you avoid going places where you’ve had an attack, even if it’s somewhere like work. Because your cortisol levels can be high when you wake up, people can awaken to an attack before they even start their day.

These sudden panic attacks can last for several minutes or even longer and they come in all shapes an sizes. Some people completely black out when they get too anxious, others may start to hyperventilate and sob. Considering that anger is a product of fear, it’s no surprise that some people also throw tantrums or get violent when they start to feel their anxiety rise.

How Does CBD Work?

Cannabidiol can help with panic disorder by regulating your brain chemistry through the previously mentioned interaction with the endocannabinoid system. When you have this anxiety disorder, your fear response is much more active, and your fear memory is very strong.

Cannabidiol enhances the endocannabinoid anandamide which sends signals to the CB1 cannabinoid receptor in charge of your neurological system. Its message is to tell the neuron sending out neurotransmitters to stop over activating the receiving cell, so your brain isn’t so overwhelmed by the feeling of fear.

Studies have also indicated that CBD can help with the response from the amygdala. The amygdala is involved with the emotions that you feel, including your fight or flight response. Cannabidiol has shown in studies that it may be able to help reduce the response from this part of your brain, helping to reduce anxiety.

Cannabidiol's anti-panic effects have also been linked to its interaction with serotonin receptors in the dorsal periaqueductal gray. This area of the brain plays a role in our fear response as well. 

How To Take CBD For Panic Disorder

If you suffer from panic disorder, CBD tinctures and e-cigarettes could help you stop the attack when you feel it coming. Many report that in just minutes they are washed over with a fresh, calm, and collected mindset. Taking edibles or CBD pills can help you handle your mind throughout the day, making panic attacks less likely. The best part about CBD is that unlike other anxiety medications, it is nonaddictive, there is no lethal dose, and you won't build a tolerance to it. Stop by our shop to try CBD today!

Where does irrationality come from? Why is it that our brains are so easily manipulated into thinking in a way that doesn’t coincide with reality? While being irrational may prepare us for the worst, it can also hinder our decision-making process.  For those who suffer from an anxiety disorder, it can make these decisions even harder.

Irrational behavior can come from intense emotions that stem from making important decisions. Research shows that the amygdala may be where this irrationality comes from. The amygdala takes part in controlling our emotions and is where our “fight or flight” response is mediated. Research shows that people who are better at making rational choices have a more active prefrontal cortex, suggesting that it isn’t necessarily the intensity of the emotions that drive us, but our ability to handle them.

Lucky for us, the amygdala and prefrontal cortex have a high density of CB1 cannabinoid receptors. CB1 receptors are a part of the endocannabinoid system that helps control the functions of our neurological system. Cannabidiol (CBD) interacts with these receptors by elevating the endocannabinoid anandamide. Because of the way that endocannabinoids travel, they can be a big help when it comes to thinking irrationally.

When you are stressed out or overly emotional in a situation, your brain is spitting out neurotransmitters that may be over-activating brain cells. This overactivation can be overwhelming which causes you to be unable to think. When you are twenty minutes late to work and you can’t find your keys, if your brain is overwhelmed it may be harder to find what you’re looking for.

Endocannabinoids travel backward through a process called retrograde signaling. While most chemicals in your brain go from the presynaptic cell to the postsynaptic cell, endocannabinoids do the opposite and bind to the cannabinoid receptor located on the outside of the neuron. This connection stimulates the cannabinoid receptor giving a message to the neuron to either hold back on the transmissions or to send more through.

While not everyone struggles to make rational decisions while they are stressed out, it is a common issue. The next time you are stressed out, and you can’t think straight, and your mind is driving you up the wall, try taking some CBD. It may help ease your mind to a state where thinking is no longer a chore, and your thoughts are more clear.

Cannabidiol can’t give you the liquid courage of lowering your inhibitions, who would want that anyway? That courage is empty, dirty, and fake. True courage comes from within, and CBD can just help you discover it.

The Amygdala

When you suffer from trauma or have an illness that makes anxiety and stress your everyday feeling, your amygdala is probably overactive. It may feel like you can’t control your brain because your brain has changed completely. When the amygdala is overactive, it sends out more hormones than your brain needs, causing you to become more emotional than you’d prefer.

It can be easy for someone to advise to lot let your emotions get the best of you. One of the hardest parts about mental illness is that it changes the way that you feel and think. When your brain floods with chemicals, it can be challenging to push that down and try to have a level head. After all, these chemicals in your brain are there for a reason. To push you. But when your brain is overactive, you get pushed too far and too often, and it can become a terrifying world out there.

How CBD Can Help

Cannabidiol may help calm your brain down so that you can think naturally through its interaction with the endocannabinoid system. Your CB1 receptors are in charge of regulating your mood, and the anandamide in your brain is supposed to help make sure that there isn’t too much going on. Through a process called retrograde signaling, the anandamide travels backward through the synapse to send a message to the sending cell. This message tells your brain to either give out more hormones or to send less.

If you struggle with courage because of your mental health, making your emotions less severe can help you retrain your thought process. It is easy to be fearful and down on yourself when your emotions are driving you to feel that way. CBD can help by taking those emotions out of the equation, but you have to work towards thinking more positively.

One of the most common reasons people use medical marijuana is for anxiety. Stress is as popular as ever, and people are searching for ways to ease their minds. Of course, CBD has shown in studies to have a fantastic ability to reduce symptoms of anxiety. Through elevating endocannabinoids, it calms down the overactive neurons that cause that gross feeling of unease. But medicine usually isn’t the single solution. 

1.    A Healthy Diet

Did you know that the food you eat can affect your mood? Interestingly enough, there are some foods that you can eat that reduce anxiety and stress. For instance,  high-fiber and carbohydrate-rich foods can cause your brain to produce more serotonin. Green leafy vegetables can help your brain produce more dopamine, and even salmon has anti-inflammatory properties that can help reduce the effects of stress. Food can have a significant impact on your mental health, so take a look at your diet.

2.    Exercise

Whether you want to get rid of stress at the moment or have an overall effect on your day, exercise is a great way to do that. Even just going for a walk can significantly reduce your anxiety. When you do physical activity, endorphins are released. These chemicals interact with your brain in a way that makes you feel terrific. Next time you’re about to have a panic attack, take a lap. It could be what brings you back to reality.

3.    Awareness

It’s easy for someone to tell you that this too shall pass. That advice can be incredibly annoying, but there is so much truth to it scientifically. When you are stressed out or having an episode, your brain is going nuts. There are all of these exciting conversations going on between overactive neurons, and you’re just a casualty of war. Being aware that it’s just a brain thing and it’s not going to last forever can give you the mental strength to power through it knowing that there is an end in sight.

4.    Water

How much coffee, tea, soda, or anything but water do you drink? Dehydration can cause anxiety, and just by drinking more water, you can start to notice a difference. When your body is thirsty, it is a threat to survival. So your brain has this subtle bout of anxiety it feeds you until you quench that thirst and go about surviving.

If you’ve taken steps towards changing your lifestyle, but you find it difficult to power through the electric war going on in your brain and want to try CBD oil, check out our shop! Taking CBD by tincture or vape is a great way to reduce anxiety quickly, and taking CBD edibles and pills can give you all day relief. There’s no reason to be anxious anymore; it’s time to take control of your life.

With anxiety disorders being one of the most common in the mental health realm, it’s no surprise many are turning to CBD to relieve their distress. 40 million adults over the age of 18 experience an anxiety disorder of some kind every year. And it’s entirely treatable! But only 36.9% of people with an anxiety disorder receive treatment. It can be difficult to even get yourself in the position of getting help, and CBD can help.

While you are seeking treatment for your anxiety, one visit to the doctor isn’t going to cure you. It’s a process of your doctor getting to know you, analyzing what treatment methods would work best for you, and then implementing them. You also have to do the work of trying to get better.

It can be hard at first, having distress filling you to the brim. Many people suffer from panic attacks because of their anxiety, and it is a symptom that takes time to get control over. CBD can help with those panic attacks in the moment as well as a preventative measure just like the ordinary pharmaceuticals prescribed. The great thing about CBD is that it’s non-addictive unlike many medications, and it does more than just target your anxiety.

What Is CBD?

(Image Credit GreenmedicineSP, check out their Instagram for beautiful pictures of marijuana plants.)

Cannabidiol (CBD) is a chemical that is extracted from cannabis or a hemp plant. When consumed, this compound enters the bloodstream to work with our endocannabinoid system. Unlike THC, CBD doesn’t bind directly to cannabinoid receptors that are on our neurons. Instead, it elevates chemicals, stimulates other non-cannabinoid receptors, and opens pathways to create reactions throughout the body. This is why you don’t get the same “high” effect as you would with THC.

What Is The Endocannabinoid System?

The endocannabinoid system is in charge of the entire body’s regulation. It makes sure you get a fever when you are sick to fight off a virus, it makes you hungry when your body needs food, and it makes assured that when you get angry, your emotions don’t stay permanent.

The endocannabinoid system is made up of three major parts, metabolic enzymes, cannabinoids receptors, and endocannabinoids. For the endocannabinoid system to keep you healthy, all of its parts have to be functioning correctly.

Endocannabinoids

Endocannabinoids were an exciting discovery because of their similarity to cannabinoids. Our brains organically make chemicals that mirror cannabinoids found in cannabis that stimulate cannabinoid receptors. The two that we know about are anandamide and 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG).

One role that endocannabinoids olay is mediation. While a cell is transmitting a message to a receiving cell, it could be over excited and sending too much information. This is stressful for the brain and you as well. Endocannabinoids travel backward through something called “retrograde signaling.” The endocannabinoids go from the receiving cell to the sending cell, giving the sending cell information to send more chemicals or send less.

If your endocannabinoids aren’t working correctly or aren’t high enough in presence, your brain can do whatever it wants. This can lead to mood disorders and more specifically, panic attacks.

Cannabinoid Receptors

There are two types of cannabinoid receptors so far labeled CB1 and CB2. These receptors are found all over the body. However, CB1 receptors are more densely populated in the brain. This could be because the primary function of CB1 receptors is to control the neurological functions of the body. CB2 receptors are spread out evenly through the body and control the immune functions.

Metabolic Enzymes

The metabolic enzymes in the endocannabinoid system synthesize endocannabinoids. This is interesting because usually chemicals that are used in the brain are held in a sac to be used when they are needed. Endocannabinoids are created on demand by metabolic enzymes, avoiding the possibility of an overload.

Metabolic enzymes also degrade chemicals in the brain that are no longer needed, like the endocannabinoids. Once the hormones have done their job, the metabolic enzymes will get rid of them keeping your brain free of debris. If a cell is damaged, these proteins will also repair them and help the healthy cells stay healthy.

CBD And Panic Attacks

When you have a panic attack, your heart might race, your thoughts might become confusing, you can even start sweating. Everyone’s panic attack is different, but they all stem from the same place.

When you have anxiety, the parts of your brain that recognize fear are overactive. During a panic attack, a bunch of chemicals are being sent from one cell to the other, carrying terrorizing messages of fear. CBD elevates endocannabinoids, so they get to use their retrograde signaling to save the day. They tell the sending cells to stop overloading the receiving neurons, making the transmission much calmer. This results in your body returning to normal, and your mind calms down.

CBD Can Help With Underlying Anxiety

It’s not enough to just be able to break out of panic attacks quickly with CBD oil; we want to stop having them altogether. Like stated before, treatment is necessary for recovery. However, taking CBD regularly can help with the underlying anxiety you might be feeling all day.

People with anxiety have overactive amygdalas, which are what create the constant sense of distress for people with disorders. CBD targets the amygdala, making it function regularly and giving you peace of mind.

There are many different types of anxiety disorders, and all of them can be treated with therapy and medicating. Luckily, you can choose the CBD route instead of pharmaceuticals if you prefer because they work just as well.

Different Types Of Anxiety CBD Helps Treat

CBD For General Anxiety Disorder

With 6.8 million adults experiencing General Anxiety Disorder each year, this is one of the most popular forms of anxiety. This particular type of anxiety affects women twice as much as men, and many people have developed a substance abuse disorder or depression. CBD helps with this anxiety disorder by calming the brain down when it gets overactive and prevents it from getting out of control.

CBD For Panic Disorder

This is when someone has recurrent panic attacks that are so severe and often their days are filled with dread over when the next one is going to occur. It can be extremely debilitating to everyday life, and if it goes untreated, it can cost people their jobs or even their lives. CBD can help the panic attacks while they are happening, which can relieve the fear of another one coming when you have a plan to defeat it.

CBD For Social Anxiety Disorder

Being extremely self-conscious in everyday situations is not normal. If you avoid meeting new people or have constant fears of being judged, you might have social anxiety, and you should talk to a mental health professional. If it is so extreme even talking to a mental health professional is a ridiculous idea, CBD can help calm your fears and make walking through the door easier.

CBD For Specific Phobias

This type of anxiety disorder can be extremely debilitating if the phobia is something difficult to avoid. Fear is only a product of the mind when it comes to phobias, and CBD can help make those spikes of fear less severe and can make conquering them easier.

CBD For Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is when people have reoccurring and unwanted thoughts that can take over their lives. OCD can get so extreme people are spending hours a day needing to fulfill their routines. CBD can help make those urges weaker, and the anxiety felt when they haven’t been complete less severe.

CBD For Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

PTSD can happen to anyone and cause extremely violent episodes or devastating panic attacks that can blow up out of nowhere. Anger stems from anxiety because it comes from fear. CBD can help you control that anger and fear, as well as help, keep negative thoughts from being created that can drive you to an episode.

CBD For Depression

Depression is ubiquitous in people who are struggling with an anxiety disorder. Often, the depression can make the anxiety worse. Having the stress that you need to do something, but being too depressed to have the motivation to do it, and then increased anxiety from it not getting done. This may sound like a small instance that may have a minimal effect, but if this continually happens, it can bring wear and tear down on the brain, making the illness even worse. CBD can help with depression, making it easier to live a productive day.

The Importance Of Getting Help

People with anxiety are three to five times more likely to visit a doctor and are six times more likely to be put in a hospital for psychiatric care over those without anxiety disorders. Battling this mental illness by yourself can prove to be much harder than you might think. Talking with a professional can help you find where the distress comes from and how to overcome it completely to where you don’t need CBD for anxiety, you just take it to keep your skin clear.

If you are ready to take the next step to getting your anxiety under control, come check out our shop! We have great CBD oil tinctures that are perfect for quick relief. You can also buy isolates to make your own food or lotions! The possibilities are endless; it’s just up to you to go for it!

Tis the season to be anxious, fa la la la la, la la la la. It is that time of year where people are putting on their happy faces and best dress for the few times out of the year the entire family gathers. But you won't let social anxiety take over the holidays. No, not this year. This will be the year you enjoy the company of the ones you love. There are several tricks you can use to get your head in the holiday game which includes things like safe, risk-free medicine and preparation.

Did You Know?

Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD, how fitting) is the third largest mental health care problem in the entire world. It has been estimated that at any given point in time, 7% of the population is having social anxiety. So if you are worried about this holiday season, you are not alone.

SAD is described as being in fear of social situations where you have to interact with other people. Other people are pretty terrifying, but what exactly is so scary? It is often the racing thoughts that bring upon fear of being negatively judged or evaluated by other people. We are taught not to care what other people think, to just love ourselves and not worry about the people around us. But that way of thinking can go against biology.

We Need Eachother

Since we leave the womb, we are dependant on someone else. We need someone to feed us, bathe us, and make sure we don’t sleep wrong in the crib. From the beginning of our time, we need people for survival.

Imagine you live in a village in the middle of nowhere, and the tribe works together to sustain themselves without any outside resources. Each tribe member has their own job or duty that keeps the others alive and well. Now imagine in this same situation, social rejection. This could mean less food for your family or even less protection. Though most of us don’t live in these circumstances, the idea remains the same.

Social rejection at your job could end up meaning less food for your family. Social rejection within the family can result in a hostile living environment. There are consequences to social interactions, and that is where the fear festers.

If the consequences weren’t enough, the mind registers social pain in the same way it does physical pain. It is harder to point where on your body you hurt, but your brain still makes you feel it. Feeling this pain can make someone never want to have a social interaction again, because why would you put yourself in a situation to get hurt?

Traumatic social situations could cause someone to develop SAD, but it isn’t necessary for the disorder to appear. Many people can start seeing the onset of SAD, but most of them don’t get help. This disorder does not go away by itself. You need therapy and possibly medication to see the other side. But in order to get help, you need to know the signs to look for in you or even someone you care about.

Visual Symptoms Of Social Anxiety Disorder

You can see symptoms of social anxiety in someone, maybe even before they realize it’s happening. Being aware of how someone with this disorder behaves is an excellent way to help them. If you are looking out for someone, make sure you make it easy to talk about. People with SAD want to be a part of social situations; it is just their anxiety that keeps them from joining in. If you are worried you are developing this disorder because of newly found social behaviors, do you feel uneasy during these common triggers?

Common Triggers For Social Anxiety Disorder

• Meeting new people
• Being teased
• Being watched while doing something
• Being criticized
• Being the center of attention
• Meeting a figure of authority
• Have to speak publicly
• Eye contact

People with Social Anxiety Disorder also feel insecure in social situations. Rehearsing what to say on the way in the car, or having no idea how to talk to anyone in general. They also get embarrassed exceptionally easy, which can make the disorder worse if put in a traumatic situation. Social Anxiety Disorder can make you unable to function in public. Making writing, talking, swallowing, and even making phone calls in public difficult.

Other Symptoms Of Social Anxiety Disorder

• High levels of fear
• Anxiety
• Nervousness
• Racing heart
• Automatic negative thoughts that don’t stop
• Blushing
• Dry mouth or throat
• Sweating
• Muscle twitches
• Trembling

People with anxiety tend to know they are feeling irrational, but that doesn’t really help the situation. It’s always nice to know that the reality you live in isn’t real, of course, but it doesn’t make the feelings any less real. But this is all caused because of the overactivity in the brain, and there are ways to calm that down.

What Is CBD?

Cannabidiol (CBD) is a chemical that is found in cannabis. The goal of medical marijuana is to interact with the endocannabinoid system, which is in charge of the entire body’s regulation. This system makes sure the metabolism works well, the acid in the blood is level and anything that the body needs to function correctly. When the endocannabinoid system malfunctions, this can cause disorders and diseases.

Unlike THC, CBD oil can’t get you high. You don’t have the same psychoactive response because CBD doesn’t bind to cannabinoid receptors in the brain the way THC does. CBD actually activates and stimulates other receptors and chemicals around the cannabinoid receptors to activate the endocannabinoid system.

What Is The Endocannabinoid System

The endocannabinoid system is made up of receptors, metabolic enzymes, and endocannabinoids. The endocannabinoids are chemicals that the brain makes organically that are very similar to the cannabinoids found in the cannabis plant. This is why marijuana works so well and in so many different ways.

The cannabinoid receptors that are known and studied today are CB1 and CB2 receptors. The CB1 receptors are all over the body, but more densely located in the brain. Its function is to control the nervous system. The CB2 receptors are spread evenly throughout the body with the control over immune functions.

The metabolic enzymes wear a couple of hats. They are the cleanup crew, making sure to get rid of chemicals in the brain that are no longer needed. Build up of proteins can cause diseases like Alzheimer’s, and the metabolic enzymes are there to make sure things like that don’t happen. They are also nurses. They help heal cells by promoting growth, repair, and run maintenance.

How Does CBD Help With Social Anxiety?

Normally, a conversation between neurons goes from the sending cell (presynaptic) to the receiving cell (postsynaptic). The presynaptic cell uses a small electrical pulse to send chemicals out into the synapse, which is the space between the cell, and the postsynaptic cell has receptors that bind to the chemicals.

Endocannabinoids are too cool to do what everyone else is doing. They travel from the receiving cell to the sending cell instead through retrograde signaling. The postsynaptic cell tells the presynaptic cell what it needs through the endocannabinoids, and this helps prevent overactivation. If your body doesn’t make enough endocannabinoids, your neurons could be sending overcharged signals to each other, making it lock up unable to function with all of the information. This is where hemp oil comes in.

When a neuron has too much information, it can shut down disrupting communication. We all have done it, been so overwhelmed we just have to turn off for a second and take a breath. The overstimulation is also what you feel during panic attacks or distress. All of those chemicals being thrown around in your brain makes you feel the way you do in a crowd.

CBD elevates the production of endocannabinoids that help your brain cells function correctly. For patients with anxiety disorders, CBD calmed down the hippocampus and the amygdala, which is where the anxiety comes from. Anxiety is a form of fear, and the amygdala is the pandora’s box of fear. It’s super tiny, but when it is overactive, people develop some of the worst paranoias and anxieties. CBD calms the stimulation, making the mind less muddled and more level.

When it comes to anxiety, medication is for easing the symptoms. No magical pill will cure anxiety forever, but there are plenty of medicines that make living through it more manageable. This can become debilitating because some of the drugs prescribed are addictive. Making anxiety that much harder to beat. Luckily, CBD is a medication that isn’t addictive and can help with anxiety throughout the day as well as in a pinch.

Preparing For The Social Interaction

After you have your CBD and your brain is nice and logical, you can begin preparing for the social interaction. Social anxiety is fueled by fear, and the best way to conquer it is by facing it. This does not mean walk into a room full of people in a ridiculous sweater so every eye is on you and you boil under pressure. It means take baby steps today so that when you are put in larger situations tomorrow, they aren’t as scary.

Baby steps could be going to the store once a day until the holiday greed gets too much and the Christmas cheer fills the toy aisles. Throughout the time it takes for the festivities to get here you can be working on your social interactions. Make eye contact with people during conversation. They won't think its weird unless they are socially anxious as well, and in that case, there’s a friend you secretly made.

Go for a walk, and take the time to recognize that anyone who sees you has no idea how anxious you are. Realize the fears that you have are false, and through small tiny victories, you can build your way up to the big day.

When you go to the parties or dinners that you have to make an appearance at, don’t be scared to take CBD tinctures or e-cigarettes with you. When your heart starts racing, and you can feel the blood rushing to your face, take a moment to medicate. Not only will it take you out of the situation, making it easier to think clearly, you’ll also calm down.

After The Holidays

Your next step after getting CBD for your anxiety is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). Studies have shown that it is the most effective form of therapy for SAD. This disorder will not just go away, and hiding behind medicine only works for so long. To truly free yourself from this particular disorder, you have to work for it.  

If you are thinking about making any changes to your medication, make sure to talk to a doctor to find the right ways to make the transition and for a second opinion to make sure the switch is right for you. Then check out our shop to find the solution that works best for you!

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) affects 2.2 million Americans a day. That’s two million people whose mind has taken control and made their life difficult to live through. Having compulsions can disrupt your life and make social interactions difficult. This can turn into depression or further anxiety. Many people chose SSRIs like standard antidepressants, but not everyone wants the side effects. For so long, people lived with the risks behind prescription medications because they had no other option. Well, now we do, CBD oil. Medical marijuana has the same effects as medications patients are already taking but without the risky side effects.

What Is OCD

“Imagine that your mind got stuck

on a certain thought or image…

Then this thought or image got replayed in your mind

over and

over again

no matter what you did…

You don’t want these thoughts — it feels like an avalanche…

Along with the thoughts come intense feelings of anxiety…

Anxiety is your brain’s alarm system.  When you feel anxious, it feels like you are in danger.  Anxiety is an emotion that tells you to respond, react, protect yourself, DO SOMETHING!

On the one hand, you might recognize that the fear doesn’t make sense, doesn’t seem reasonable, yet it still feels very real, intense, and true…

Why would your brain lie?

Why would you have these feelings if they weren’t true? Feelings don’t lie…  Do they?

Unfortunately, if you have OCD, they do lie.  If you have OCD, the warning system in your brain is not working correctly.  Your brain is telling you that you are in danger when you are not.

When scientists compare pictures of the brains of groups of people with OCD, they can see that some areas of the brain are different than the brains of people who don’t have OCD.

Those tortured with OCD are desperately trying to get away from paralyzing, unending anxiety…”

• International OCD Foundation

“That’s messing with my OCD!” A common phrase that people often misuse. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder isn’t just being slightly irritated when something isn’t straight, or being uncomfortable in a messy room and feeling the urge to clean it. OCD is needing to fix something that isn’t straight and having to clean that room otherwise you drop into a ball of tears feeling disgusting until around you is spotless. OCD is something that entirely consumes you, and until what has taken the mind over is taken care of, you’re in extreme distress.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is an anxiety disorder because of its ability to cause extreme discomfort and distress. Someone with OCD will have reoccurring unwanted thoughts, feelings, or sensations that make them feel driven to do something. Something as simple as not following a routine can cause an episode.

OCD obsessions bring on anxiety which causes the compulsion. The thought or sensation is on repeat in the brain, and until the urge is carried out anxiety is going to get worse. This can make social interactions difficult when these unwanted thoughts come up, and it can be even harder to be at work when anxiety has filled your every being.

To classify your condition as OCD, the compulsions you experience must be time-consuming, like over an hour collectively every day. It has to impair work or social functions and cause you that extreme distress. If you developed this as a child and it went untreated, it will follow into adulthood like all anxiety disorders.

What Causes Obsessive Compulsive Disorder?

There are several parts of the brain that cause anxiety disorders when they malfunction. The hippocampus, the amygdala, and the basal ganglia. When any of these parts of the brain are overactive, they send excessive messages throughout the brain. This causes the constant fears and thoughts that anxiety brings.

Many people try therapy when dealing with their OCD paired with antidepressants. They can learn to react to their fears in different ways, and the antidepressants make the obsessions less severe, calming the brain down. The only issue with typically prescribed antidepressants is there is often a price to pay when taking them. They have side effects that make the condition worse, which can drive people to the edge of their sanity. Side effects and unwanted behavior changes are the main reason people with OCD are switching to CBD, but it is always good to learn about a medication before jumping in.

What is CBD?

CBD, also known as cannabidiol or hemp oil, is a chemical that is found in the cannabis plant and the industrial hemp plant. Many people think it is similar to the chemical THC that is most commonly associated with cannabis, but there are as many differences as similarities between the two chemical compounds.

THC directly binds to a cannabinoid receptor in the brain, CB1. It can do this because it is almost identical to a chemical that the brain makes organically, anandamide. This gives the psychoactive effect of extreme euphoria, overactive appetite, drowsiness, and numbness to pain. In other words, it’s how it makes you high.

CBD doesn’t directly bind to cannabinoid receptors as THC does. Instead, it indirectly stimulates receptors and chemicals through other pathways and receptors. It elevates compounds that are underproduced and inhibits the chemicals that the body overproduces. CBD works with the endocannabinoid system which is in charge of the body’s regulation. This relationship is how CBD can do so many things; it regulates the body.

How Does CBD Help With OCD?

CBD does many things in the brain that relieves anxiety, which in turn can help treat anxiety disorders. One of those things is calming down chemicals that are being shot into the space between neurons.

Typically, the conversation between cells goes from the sending neuron, (the presynaptic cell) to the receiving neuron (the postsynaptic cell). The presynaptic cell emits an electrical pulse that sends out neurotransmitters through the synapses, or the space between the cells. The receiving cells receptors dangle out, binding with the chemicals as they approach. Sometimes, the sending neuron is too excited and will send too many charged neurotransmitters to the receiving neuron. This can cause the receiving neuron to shut down, unable to process all of the information.

CBD elevates chemicals in the brain called endocannabinoids. When they are produced, they travel from the receiving cell to the sending cell, in a process called retrograde signaling. This signaling system sends a message to the sending cell, telling it to either calm down with the signals or to produce more. Making the conversation between neurons regulated which makes your mood more stabilized.

This process happens all over the brain, but it specifically helps anxiety patients by calming down activity in the amygdala, hippocampus, and basal ganglia. The most significant obstacle to conquer when it comes to a mental disorder is the mind itself. It is so powerful and being a species driven by our consciousness; it makes it difficult when our brains are battling against us.  

How Do You Take CBD For OCD?

It can be a little intimidating looking at all the different ways you can take CBD. If you’re wondering if it matters how you take it, it does. If you’ve ever taken medicine before, you might have heard of the terms “Extended Release” and “Immediate Release.”

Extended release is when the medication is dispersed through your system over time. Generally, with conventional drugs, this is a tablet that is designed to slowly dissolve in your stomach and release the chemicals into your system throughout the day. With CBD edibles, this can be food or pills. You can make CBD infused food with hemp oil or CBD isolate, which makes taking medicine a little more delicious.

Immediate release is when medication hits the system hard for a short period of time. Instant relief. Typically this would be a pill that is a gel capsule, designed to quickly dissolve in your stomach and disperse through your system in a short period of time. For CBD, this would be tinctures or e-liquids.

When choosing the type of medicine, you have to look at what you want from the relief. Do you have extreme episodes throughout the day that you need to calm down from instantly? Use tinctures or an e-cig. Do you have a constant subtle anxiety throughout the day that is just waiting to be ruptured? Taking edibles or pills can help you have an overall calmer mind throughout the day.

How Much CBD Should I Take For OCD?

Always, always, always, always, start small when taking any new medication you don’t know how your body will react. If you have never had cannabis in your life, you do not know if your body will have an allergic reaction or some adverse side effect we haven’t discovered yet.

Edibles will be less potent because of their lowered bioavailability. Because the CBD has to go through the violent digestive process, it loses some of its strength. A low dose of an edible for an average adult is thought to be around 10mg. This varies from person to person, so feel free to start smaller.

Tinctures have a high bioavailability because they go straight from the mouth to the bloodstream. Starting with just a few milligrams a day is a good foundational beginning to starting your medication.

If you indeed are thinking about choosing CBD instead of prescription medications, talk to your doctor first. If you are currently on medication, they need to help you get off it if you want to make the switch. It can be deadly to quit medicine cold turkey, and a doctor’s guidance is priceless.

The most common mental health issue we face today as Americans is anxiety. There are many speculations as to why we are so anxious, and why it is getting worse. With over 40 million American’s suffering, can cannabidiol (CBD) help with this anxious epidemic?

As a society, we continually force ourselves to multitask beyond our body’s standard capabilities, and the demands of the new world are just as heavy as the ones experienced by ancient man. We may not be protecting our families from sabertooth tigers, but we are sheltering them from poverty, violence, and poor life choices that have detrimental consequences.

The majority of the population spends most of their time on the way to work, at work, and coming home from work. The other half is sleeping giving several hours a day to get things accomplished that they want or need to. Even smashing in every chore and errand on the weekend isn’t enough. We have a lot on our plates, and the evidence could be in our Google searches.

Anxiety Is On The Rise

One great thing about Google is that it remembers and pockets everything everyone searches, making it easy for researchers and businesses to know what the public is interested in. What it does is recognize keyword phrases that people often use like, “How to” and “Halloween Decorations.”

In 2016, published author and writer for the New York Times Seth Stephens-Davidowitz did research on the correlation between Google searches and the rate of anxiety throughout the United States. He found that the rate that anxiety phrases were searched correlated with survey measures of anxiety. So this leads him to believe that people who are looking for things about anxiety on the internet have anxiety.

The Google searches for anxiety raised 150% from 2004 to 2016. So Stephens-Davidowitz started doing some digging to find out where the jump came from. He noticed that the highest search for panic attacks was found in less educated and poorer parts of the country. When it came to “anxiety and death,” Kentucky had the highest searches. The highest search for anxiety in the country is in Presque Isle, Main, where less than 20% of the residents have bachelors degrees.

He also took into account terrorist attacks, assuming that they would cause a rise in anxiety searches. To his surprise, attacks like the Boston Marathon Bombing and the Orlando Night Club Shooting gave no spike in the searches.

He also looked into politics; something that gets the whole country riled up. When looking at the 2004 George W. Bush vs. John Kerry election, he thought he would see a rise in anxiety searches because of their use of terrorism in their political speeches. He also believed that after Doland Trump had all but secured the final votes, searches would spike sky high, but they didn’t. There was no correlation between aggressive politicians and a rise in anxiety.

He did find two factors that had enormous spikes in searches. One he had suspected, but the other came as quite a surprise.

The first is the major recession. Stephens-Davidowitz found that states that were hit harder had higher searches for anxiety and anxiety-related keywords. This comes to no surprise, as many have discussed the impact the broken economy has on our society’s mental health.

When searching for keywords, Stephens-Davidowitz used a service called Google Correlate which let him see when specific keywords were highest in the same week. His example was in the Christmas season, people are searching for sweaters, hot cocoa, and scarves in the same week. When he examined the keyword panic attack, he found that people were also searching for opiate withdrawals during the same time period.

He also found that the areas with the highest rate of prescription opiates prescribed, they also had the highest amount of panic attack searches. Even though the prescription rates have fallen as we gallantly battle the opioid crisis, the search for panic attacks and opiate withdrawals has continually risen.

Depression Could Be Causing People To Be More Anxious

Psychologist Edward Shorter Ph.D. thinks that there is more to anxiety than google searches. He sees hard data for the incline in anxiety in his everyday job. He believes there is a difference between apprehensiveness and general anxiety disorder. Though, excessive apprehensiveness can turn into a full-blown anxiety disorder. The anxiety he speaks of is a constant anxiety that persists for long periods of time. Some people will have this uneasy, anxious feeling for months, and that is when it becomes a clinical issue.

Shorter recognizes that suicide is not a direct link to anxiety, but more so depression. But he points out that depression’s most common symptom is anxiety. The suicide rate between 1999 and 2013 increased by 24%, which Shorter says is a huge leap. This leads him to believe that while depression and suicide are rising, so is anxiety on their coattails.

Shorter has a different view on how the search results go unchanged during traumatic events. He sees that social media magnifies events, he believes people are using it to communicate fear which is the backbone of anxiety. Because of what people are seeing online they are canceling trips overseas and taking their kids to school even when it interferes with their work schedule. He believes that the search results actually show our lack of evaluation of risks.

How Are We Coping With Anxiety?

Anxiety can be controlling. The gut sensation that something terrible is about to happen that is constant and can make any thought of happiness a fantasy. It causes people to make poor choices, having their brain rattled and unfamiliar with reality. Many fall into risky behaviors like irresponsible sexual activity, heavy drug use, gambling, and violence. They just can’t handle the tingling sensation that covers their body that makes them want to rip their skin off, so they find an escape.

Almost everyone is guilty of looking for an escape. Most people just go to Florida. But when someone is riddled with anxiety, their brain is not functioning correctly. Healthy coping mechanisms aren’t the first things that come to mind, just a quick fix to get out of this metaphorical bodysuit made of crawling bugs.

The most common quick fix is Xanax. It is meant to be a temporary fix for anxiety while you get yourself under control, but a lot of patients find themselves unable to stop taking it. When they take the drug, their body becomes numb to the monster crawling under their skin, their stomach is floating rather than sinking, and their mind is all but stopped. Finally, the race between thoughts has finished, and they can relax. It is very similar to taking pain medication. The soothing relaxation and good feeling that comes from relief, on top of chemicals that make you intoxicated.

But the thing about painkillers and anxiety medications like Xanax is the next day. When you take pain medicine, and you wake up the next morning, and it is mostly out of your system, your pain comes back hard. It multiplies into something unbearable, which is why many people continue taking pain medication.

The same goes for barbituates. The next day, the bugs that once tickled their skin turn into a burning slime that covers every inch of their body. Their stomach might as well be bursting out of their toes because it doesn’t seem to feel like it could go any lower. Their heart rate will also increase, which just exacerbates the problems. Every terrible thought in existence fills their head like a balloon, and they feel like they will inevitably pop at any moment.

So they go and take another pill. They feel normal, they feel okay. But in a few days, one pill won't be enough. Their tolerance will rise and eventually it can become a problem if they aren’t seeking treatment other than medication.

Regardless of what medication you are taking, very rarely is the medicine the sole solution to mental health problems. Counseling, therapy, change in environment, and change in lifestyle also have to be used for treatment to have its full effect. You will always need your anxiety medicine if you let yourself depend on it unless you have a chemical imbalance that cannot be altered without medication.

Commonly people smoke marijuana to self-medicate for their depression and anxiety. Which is ineffective if they are using street marijuana because they don’t know what they are smoking. It can actually be more harmful to their psyche than any good. The problem with cannabis from the street, besides the fact that it is illegal, is that the THC level is too high. (No pun intended)

How CBD Can Help With Anxiety

CBD interacts with a system in the body called the Endocannabinoid System. It is in charge of the regulation of the body, and CBD’s job is to make sure it is running smoothly. For an overactive immune system that causes arthritis, CBD tells the immune cells to calm down and keeps them from spreading from the affected area. If the brain is being overactive from anxiety, it will calm down the neurotransmitters, and block them from over activating receptors in the brain.

CBD Helping With THC Effects

The first thing CBD can do is help people medicating with THC. Many people who experience anxiety from smoking marijuana are experiencing a THC overload. Having too much THC in the marijuana plant may seem impossible to some, but it can be harmful to the brain if not backed by CBD. If your marijuana is making you anxious, sprinkle some CBD isolate over your herb. Or you could medicate throughout the day with a CBD E-liquid pen.

CBD Helping With Depression

If the rise in depression is the cause for the increase of anxiety, medical marijuana can also help solve this issue. CBD works as an antidepressant, increasing the levels of serotonin and endocannabinoids like anandamide that bring feelings of slight euphoria.

Possible Cell Regeneration

The hippocampus has been discovered to be smaller in patients who suffer from anxiety or depression. Animal testing involving mice indicated that CBD could help the hippocampus regenerate neurons. If they find that CBD can regenerate cells in the human hippocampus, they can find a way to help patients who have suicidal thoughts. Individuals who are suicidal suffer from damage to their neural plasticity. By healing that damage, patients could begin thinking more rationally, and we could have a better understanding of depression and anxiety.

Human Studies On Anxiety

There was a double-blind study done on individuals who suffer from general social anxiety disorder. Once administering CBD and a placebo to the subjects, those who took the CBD had noticeably less anxiety. They also ran brain scans to document any chemistry changes, and they noted the changes consistent with antianxiety effects.

During a test with subjects who have anxiety during public speaking, they put their fears to the test. They tested the patient's heart rate and blood pressure while they asked the subjects to perform. They found that the subjects who took CBD had significantly less anxiety in front of the crowd than their counterparts.

If you are exhausted from battling your anxiety, and you don’t want to dedicate your life to pharmaceuticals, talk to your doctor about making a change in your medication. There are plenty of ways to take CBD to help with anxiety. Hemp oil tinctures and E-liquid pens are the most effective for panic attacks or peak moments of stress. Taking CBD edibles or pills can help you have an all-day relief for people who have anxiety all throughout the day. There is something for everyone, and it is entirely safe to use. Check out our shop to find the best fit for you.