CBD MAY HELP YOUNG PEOPLE WITH ANXIETY

Cannabidiol, or CBD – the non-psychoactive component in cannabis – could be a promising therapy for treatment-resistant anxiety in adolescents and young adults, a new Australian study shows.

After 12 weeks of CBD treatment, study participants ages 12 to 25 reported an average 42.6% reduction in anxiety severity and impairment compared to pre-treatment, the research led by Australian youth mental health service provider and research institute Orygen found. Study participants took between 200 and 800mg of CBD per day, depending on observed effectiveness.

The study was published today in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

The researchers used two rating scales to assess treatment effectiveness: self-ratings which found a 42.6% reduction in anxiety symptoms, and the standardized Hamilton Anxiety Rating, which recorded a 50.7% reduction in anxiety severity.

The study was small, including just 31 participants, but importantly focused on those who did not show progress with other anxiety treatments, including at least five cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) sessions. Participants did continue to receive CBT treatments throughout the 12-week study, however.

The study was funded in part by the Lambert Initiative for Cannabinoid Therapeutics at the University of Sydney, a philanthropically-funded research program specializing in the development of cannabis-based therapies.

This is a hopeful but still early study,” said Steven C. Hayes, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist, and professor at the University of Nevada at Reno, who was not involved in the research. “Any open trial is just a beginning, but you have to start somewhere, and this is a start.”

“A handful of studies, some controlled, has shown benefits of CBD on anxiety-related problems, so the results fit with what we know so far about cannabidiol,” he added.

One benefit to CBD is that it appears to have few side effects at low to moderate doses, such as those used in the study.

“Our pilot study found that cannabidiol not only helped to reduce anxiety symptoms but it was also very well tolerated – the most common side-effects were mild sedation and mild fatigue, but that was at the time when doses were increased and usually went away after a couple of days,” lead study author Dr. Paul Amminger, PhD, said in a press release.

“We did not see side-effects like suicidal thoughts, irritability or sleep problems, which are not uncommon in people taking SSRIs.”