We get asked all the time about how much CBD to take, whether it’s as effective as cannabis, and how it helps for common conditions like social anxiety. But one thing we’re aware we haven’t really touched upon in any great deal of detail on our blog is which mental health conditions lend themselves to being treated with CBD use. Now’s the perfect time to dive right in and take a closer look…
First things first, we’re not going to be looking at how long does cannabis stay in your blood, or how long does cannabis stay in your system for, because we’re focused solely on CBD. There are plenty of resources out there that will guide you through the use of cannabis with mental health issues, but that’s not our focus right now. After all, we’re the UK’s premier organic CBD brand because we focus on what we do best, and nothing else!
Is CBD is the right option for those with mental health issues
Now that we’ve cleared that common query up, let’s focus on the task at hand: figuring out when CBD is the right option for those with mental health issues. No one will want to categorise themselves this way, but there are of course degrees of mental health problems. Many of us will encounter isolated periods of depression in our lives, most of us live with a general level of background anxiety that we find unpleasant. On the other side of the coin are those of us who are unfortunately unable to work for years at a time due to crippling depression, PTSD and other more complex dissociative conditions.
The first thing to say is that if you are already on medication of any form, whether they be antidepressants, beta blockers, or something stronger like valium, it’s worth consulting your doctor. They are unlikely to ever prescribe CBD, purely because that’s not standard practice in the NHS right now, but they will be able to highlight specific areas of caution related to your personal medication. Take some time to get all of this information so you can reflect on it and you’ll find you can come to a more balanced and reasoned decision than if you simply ordered CBD without a moment’s thought.
Next up, think about how you would categorise your mental health, both right now and historically over the course of your life. This may sound a little dismissive, but it honestly isn’t meant to. We have experienced mental health issues ourselves and know all too well how they can quickly feel all-consuming and become all-pervading. By getting you to think and reflect on the severity of your mental health conditions, we’re not trying to dismiss them, we’re attempting to give you some firm foundations on which to base your decisions. After all, what do you expect from Londonderry’s CBD experts?
The point we’re making here is that in extreme cases of mental health that prevents you from working and stops you being able to function in society, CBD alone will not be enough. You can still take it by all means, but it needs to be used as one piece of a wider process of recovery. Perhaps it takes the edge off the spike in stress that results from social interactions if you haven’t been out for a while? Maybe it calms you just enough to allow you to get through the door for your next therapy session? If you are both honest and realistic with yourself (two things that we know from experience aren’t as easy as they sound) you will quickly figure out the role CBD can play in your journey back to the old you.
CBD For Anxiety And Depression
Now let’s focus on those of you who suffer from really common conditions like depression, generalised anxiety, fear of public speaking that holds your career back, and insomnia. If you categorise yourself as one of the above, or something similar, then it’s highly likely that you’re still able to live a functional life and appear ‘normal’ to many of the people you interact with on a daily basis. The problem is that while you appear happy on the outside, you know deep down within that life shouldn’t feel like this much of a struggle, particularly given how you feel at other times when life is so much smoother.
These are the kinds of cases where CBD is particularly useful, and it’ll certainly stop you having to worry about how long does cannabis stay in your urine. That’s because CBD is legal for use and isn’t currently prohibited by any major employers that we are aware of, while random drug testing is something that is included in many employment contracts.
Using CBD to bind with the stress receptors in the brain that result in higher than desired levels of stress and anxiety is a smart approach. Of course, it will not get rid of the underlying causes of your mental health issues, but it will give you the ability to function to a higher degree in everyday life. This could then make all the difference to your outlook as you’ll find that you can then use all the extra energy you have from no longer being under so much stress to try something new. Some of our Londonderry CBD customers start dating, take up a new hobby, or start work on the side hustle they never thought they would have the energy or motivation to get rolling with. Ideal if you want to give yourself a whole new lease of life simply by changing the way your brain copes and deals with stress.
Another common mental health issue that people often don’t class as mental health is insomnia. The inability to get to sleep in a reasonable amount of time is something that can quickly dictate the rest of your life, causing you untold amounts of stress and anxiety. As you become shorter and shorter on sleep, you increasingly have to rely on short spikes of adrenaline to get you through low periods of energy in the day, which in turn puts you more on edge.
CBD And Insomnia
The role of CBD in treating insomnia is scientifically established, supported by independent experts, and widely cited in the scientific literature on the benefits of CBD. If you want to be able to sleep quickly and deeply throughout the night, taking CBD will allow you to switch off at just the right moment. Insomnia being treated in this way is a classic example of CBD being used to take the edge off so you can get through a difficult event or period of time. You can then find the energy and resolve to dive into the underlying reasons for the mental health drops you’re experiencing when you feel ready.
If in doubt, try to picture CBD as a helping hand, rather than a magical cure-all. If you go into it with this open and honest mindset, you won’t set yourself up for disappointment when you don’t suddenly snap out of a 10-year depression after your first use. Think of CBD as a helping hand from Mother Nature that’s decided to lift your head back above the water so you can start working on the rest of your recovery. You can do this…
Back to Blog