Stress affects everyone at some point in life however, for some, it can be constant due to a variety of things such as stressful environments, Timed deadlines, people or even self-given.
Stress can build barriers and prevent you from doing specific tasks you could’ve done previously. Stress puts a lot of pressure on people, which can fluctuate moods and productivity. CBD is an excellent way to redress the balance in our internal systems, and here we are to find out how!
What is stress?
Stress is your body’s physical response to mental or emotional pressure. Just like pressure, it can sometimes be difficult to relieve as it builds up
While stressed your body will go into a “fight or flight” state with decisions feeling like they have a heavyweight behind them. Under stress, the release of hormones and chemicals will take place to attempt to prepare it for physical work.
Smaller doses can be helpful. However, some people can fixate on stress and can cause themselves more stress as a response. This doesn’t make stress useless, as it can help people perform much better; however, learning about stress and coping mechanisms can help you feel calmer and more controlled.
In the past year, 74% of people have felt so stressed they have been overwhelmed or unable to cope. This is a figure that too many feel unknown but, to others, is too known.
- feeling anxious
- feeling afraid
- getting angry or aggressive
- feeling overwhelmed
- feeling irritable or frustrated
- feeling depressed
Worried about stress?
Understanding stress can be extremely difficult due to stress being very personal to the person. For example someone could be experiencing major stress but due to knowing how to cope with their own stress it is less harmful to the person. However, someone who doesn’t know how to deal with their stress it can cause multiple different negative effects in other areas of their life such as mood swings, motivation and in some cases has led to depression which can also be caused by people not realising they are stressed.
What about CBD and stress?
Cannabinoid receptors make up the bodys internal endocannabinoid system (ECS.) Listed below are cannabinoid receptors which work with CBD
- CB1 receptors, which are mostly found in the central nervous system
- CB2 receptors, which are mostly found in your peripheral nervous system, especially immune cells
Cannabinoid receptors make up the internal endocannabinoid system (ECS) which CBD will help regulate and work with:
- appetite and digestion
- metabolism
- chronic pain
- inflammation and other immune system responses
- mood
- learning and memory
- motor control
- sleep
- cardiovascular system function
- muscle formation
- liver function
- reproductive system function
- stress
- skin and nerve function
How can CBD help?
CBD will interact with internal endocannabinoid receptors. This will impact all the processes listed above. Processes such as sleep, anxiety, pain, mood and many more can be affected by CBD. Continued studies are showing CBD to be more benefitial to those with stress or anxiety.
When it comes to specific symptoms, CBD can assist in maintaining a state of well-being. The current research on endocannabinoid system demonstrates that the endocannabinoid system does not “activate” until an imbalance in the body has been discovered. Once the system is balanced the system will turn off.
When reaching homeostasis bodily systems are to balance out themselves. An example of this can be an athlete applying pressure to their body leading to pains and inflammation. This sends homestasis out of balance therfore leading to the endocannabinoid system to “activate” with the system trying to restore balance. Taking cannabinoids as a supplment can help with the process.
To finalise, When struggling with stress multiple daily changes can help improve the life quality of a person. Noticing your stress “triggers” and using strategy although the stress will be there it can have less of an impact on your day to day life. While using these strategies CBD can be a great way to add to your daily wellness plan!