Paranoia is a mental disorder affecting millions. When you develop paranoia, you typically begin to distrust people and you illogically anticipate people to maltreat you.
Some of the common symptoms of paranoia include lack of trust, hyper watchfulness, low capacity to forgive, and being too sensitive toward criticism.
Paranoia can cause you to appear disconnected from the life around you, it can complicate your life, and make it hard to have healthy relationships.
Paranoia may be managed in various ways including therapy and medication. But, scientists have learned that CBD oil may have a therapeutic contribution that helps treat paranoia.
How CBD for Paranoia Works
In the 80s, scientists discovered that every living organism with a vertebral column has an endocannabinoid system (ECS) that regulates numerous physiological functions.
The endocannabinoid system is composed of cannabinoid receptors located throughout the body. CBD molecules typically interact with cannabinoid receptors to achieve a positive therapeutic effect. The range of CBD effects includes minimizing symptoms of paranoia.
Improves sleep quality: one of the main causes of paranoia is lack of sleep. People who fail to get sufficient sleep usually become irritable, and display a range of paranoia symptoms like distrusting people, suspecting people of ill intent, and being super aggressive. But, CBD ingestion is one of the ways to improve sleep quality. You may take some CBD a short while before hitting the bed to experience the ultimate sleep-boosting CBD effects.
Reduces anxiety: paranoia is a type of anxiety, and while it’s normal to be anxious sometimes, especially when struggling or feeling threatened, constant anxiety is unhealthy. CBD may help with calming your mind and minimizing anxiety, thus eliminating paranoia.
Manages psychotic disorders: some psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia and paranoid personality disorder might cause someone to develop inaccurate perceptions about life, thus triggering paranoia. CBD administration is one of the ways to mitigate psychotic disorders like schizophrenia. Constant CBD ingestion boosts the positive effects.
Minimizes drug abuse: drugs like alcohol, LSD, and cocaine might trigger paranoia. Many drug addicts are susceptible to exhibiting paranoia symptoms. CBD has been suggested to aid in minimizing drug dependence. It achieves this by exerting a modulatory effect on the neuronal circuits involved in drug addiction. By overcoming drug addiction, you’re in a greater position to fight off the symptoms of paranoia.
Slows down memory loss: memory loss is a common symptom of certain mental disorders like Alzheimer’s, and memory loss can trigger paranoia. It’s not uncommon to see dementia patients hiding their valuables when someone is around, as they fear being stolen from. Long-term CBD application is associated with minimizing various symptoms of Alzheimer’s, like memory loss, as it counteracts neurotoxicity, neuroinflammation, and oxidative damage.
Does Marijuana Cause Paranoia? Can CBD Help?
Some people ingest marijuana without experiencing any paranoia, while some people ingest marijuana and then experience bouts of paranoia.
According to research, excessive marijuana consumption might trigger paranoia and a range of anomalous experiences. This is due to THC activity in the system.
But, considering that CBD contains anti-paranoia properties, you can merge both CBD and marijuana to achieve an elevated experience where you get the best of both sides.
For instance, if you’re into cannabis joints, you may put some CBD kief on the end of the joint, thus allowing the CBD to counteract THC effects.
Also, you may choose cannabis strains that feature high levels of CBD content.
The Takeaway: CBD Helps Reduce Paranoia
CBD is a nonaddictive major compound of cannabis. It’s present in both hemp and marijuana and has been suggested to have diverse therapeutic benefits. One of the benefits of CBD is managing paranoia symptoms. Constant CBD administration may help with reducing the symptoms of paranoia, typically by remedying the root cause.
Sources
- Englund, A., Morrison, P. D., Nottage, J., Hague, D., Kane, F., Bonaccorso, S., … & Kapur, S. (2013). Cannabidiol inhibits THC-elicited paranoid symptoms and hippocampal-dependent memory impairment. Journal of psychopharmacology, 27(1), 19-27.
- Mackie, K. (2008). Cannabinoid receptors: where they are and what they do. Journal of neuroendocrinology, 20, 10-14.
- Shannon, S., Lewis, N., Lee, H., & Hughes, S. (2019). Cannabidiol in anxiety and sleep: a large case series. The Permanente Journal, 23.
- Davies, C., & Bhattacharyya, S. (2019). Cannabidiol as a potential treatment for psychosis. Therapeutic advances in psychopharmacology, 9, 2045125319881916.
- Prud’homme, M., Cata, R., & Jutras-Aswad, D. (2015). Cannabidiol as an intervention for addictive behaviors: a systematic review of the evidence. Substance abuse: research and treatment, 9, SART-S25081.
- Cheng, D., Spiro, A. S., Jenner, A. M., Garner, B., & Karl, T. (2014). Long-term cannabidiol treatment prevents the development of social recognition memory deficits in Alzheimer’s disease transgenic mice. Journal of Alzheimer’s disease, 42(4), 1383-1396.
- Freeman, D., Dunn, G., Murray, R. M., Evans, N., Lister, R., Antley, A., … & Morrison, P. D. (2015). How cannabis causes paranoia: using the intravenous administration of∆ 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) to identify key cognitive mechanisms leading to paranoia. Schizophrenia bulletin, 41(2), 391-399.