Anxiety: Cannabidiol as a Potential Treatment for Anxiety Disorders
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- Preclinical evidence strongly supports the potential of CBD as a treatment for anxiety
- In dogs, anxiety is responsible for depression, aggressiveness, restlessness and destructive and compulsive behaviors; it also impacts dogs’ quality of life in a significant and negative way
- Cats have similar anxiety-related behaviors, with restlessness, trembling, aggression and decreased appetite being the most worrying problems. Isolation and anti-social attitudes are also common
- 68.75% of the studies reviewed demonstrated the anxiolytic effects of CBD
- CBD reduced experimentally-induced anxiety in healthy subjects and reduced anxiety in patients with social anxiety disorders (SAD)
- Systemically administered CBD reduced acute increases in heart rate and blood pressure produced by states of heightened anxiety
- CBD blocked reconsolidation of unpleasant memories in rats and enhanced extinction of fear memories in healthy humans
- Human experimental studies put into evidence CBD’s excellent safety profile and minimal sedative effects