Anxiety is a feeling we normally get when faced with a problem at work, before taking a test, or making an important decision. On the other hand anxiety disorder is a mental disorder where these feelings persist over a long period of time and they interfere with a patients ability to have a normal life. Anxiety disorders are further categorized into:

– Generalized anxiety disorder
– Phobias
– Panic disorder
– Obsessive–compulsive disorder
– Post-traumatic stress disorder
– Separation anxiety
– Situational anxiety

Symptoms

The typical symptoms most patients have are:
– Feelings of panic, fear, and uneasiness
– Problems sleeping, cold or sweaty hands and/or feet
– Shortness of breath
– Heart palpitations
– An inability to be still and calm
– Dry mouth
– Numbness or tingling in the hands or feet
– Nausea
– Muscle tension
– Dizziness

Causes

The causes for this disorder can be related to stress and stressful events. Drugs can like alcohol caffeine and benzodiazepins can also cause and worsen anxiety. There can also be a genetic factor as children in families where generalized anxiety disorder is present, are six times more likely to have the same disorder.

Treatment

The endocannabinoid system plays a major role in the prevention of these types of imbalances in the brain.

“Collectively, these data create a compelling argument that eCB signaling is an important regulatory system in the brain that largely functions to buffer against many of the effects of stress and that dynamic changes in this system contribute to different aspects of the stress response.”
Neurobiological Interactions Between Stress and the Endocannabinoid System.

There are a few constituents in the cannabis plant that have ant-anxiety efects; cannabidiol (CBD), delta-8-tetrahydrocanabinol (delt-8-THC), cannabigerol (CBG), limonene and linalool.

CBD has been known to have a strong anti-anxiety effect and with the right dosage can block these feelings altogether. Especially if used as a whole plant extract made from plants that also have a high percentage of the terpens limonene and linalool. High CBD or hemp strains are ideal for this type of treatment.

“These results suggest that CBD reduces anxiety in generalized social anxiety disorder (SAD) and that this is related to its effects on activity in limbic and paralimbic brain areas.” Zuardi et al. 2011

Vaporisation or tinctures are the preferred methods of use, due to the precise titration a patient can achieve and quick onset of their positive effects.