Addictions often start harmlessly. For example with a few tablets. But once you become addicted to a drug or something, it becomes even more difficult to get rid of it. Quite a few fail and destroy their lives and those of their families with their addiction.
Now CBD, of all things, is supposed to help those affected with withdrawal. That sounds paradoxical at first. Especially for people who still equate CBD with marijuana, skuff (pronounced skaff ) or hash and think of it as an intoxicating drug. But also for many who previously only knew the active ingredient as a health-promoting hemp extract that helps with stress, for example.
In fact, the cannabinoid is now increasingly recommended to combat addictive behavior. It is said to help addicts quit certain substances while reducing their withdrawal symptoms.
If you take a closer look at how addictions work, you can also understand how CBD can work here ( What is CBD and how does it work ). We provide you with all the information.
What is an addiction?
Addiction or dependence is now recognized as an illness by most institutions. The reason for this is always the same - a misdirection of the reward system in our brain. If you take a certain substance or engage in a certain behavior, your body releases happiness hormones. These trigger a pleasant feeling that brings us deep satisfaction. Addiction arises when the body continues to long for this state and gets used to it through regular release of happiness hormones. The increased hormone levels then become the new normal and the desire to put the body in this position permanently creates a dependency.
Addictions can be reinforced by various things. On the one hand, certain rituals encourage people to slip into dependence. The first cigarette in the morning will be particularly familiar to many people. But difficult phases and low blows (e.g. a bereavement in a close environment) can also cause addictions and make them worse.
What types of addictions are there?
There are many different types of addictions. A basic distinction is made between substance-related and behavioral addictions.
With the former, as the name suggests, you become addicted to a specific substance. These can be certain foods, alcohol, caffeine, tobacco or even illegal drugs such as THC, cocaine, heroin and ecstasy. In contrast to these substances, there are various behaviors that one can become addicted to. Many people probably immediately think of gambling. But addiction to sex, porn, shopping, surfing the Internet or video games is also well known and not as rare as many people think.
At first glance, some of these addictions seem more harmless than others. But just because certain addictions do not have health-threatening or even life-threatening effects, they should not be trivialized.
How does CBD help with addictions?
CBD can be used to support withdrawal from all of these addictions. The latest studies have now found out exactly how this is possible. Cannabidiol activates a specific serotonin receptor (5HT1-A-serotonin) in the brain. This ensures a mood-enhancing effect and a feeling of well-being. Similar to satisfying an addiction - only in this case the feeling of satisfaction is not triggered by a specific substance or behavior, but by CBD .
In addition, there is concrete evidence that the hemp extract of the hemp flower has an influence on the human reward system. This is normally activated when the addiction is practiced. CBD can ensure that the release of messenger substances is suppressed and the reward system is therefore not stimulated. The effect that would normally occur with addiction does not occur. If this is the case over a long period of time, you can wean your body off the increased hormone levels to which it has become accustomed.
CBD against withdrawal symptoms
But CBD can help with withdrawal not only through the functionality explained above. The valuable cannabinoid also plays a major role in the treatment of withdrawal symptoms. Depending on the addiction, these are more or less severe. For example, anyone weaning themselves off hard drugs may struggle with the following withdrawal symptoms:
- stress
- depressions
- anxiety
- irritability
- aggressiveness
- insomnia
- Sweats
- Tremble
- nausea
- Vomit
CBD is known to have pain-relieving, calming and relaxing effects. It also counteracts depressive phases and anxiety attacks, which means it can curb many of the side effects typical of addiction.
Of course, the cannabinoid also has the big advantage that it itself is not addictive. If you now assume that this should be self-explanatory, then we will unfortunately have to disappoint you. In fact, this cannot be said about every medication that has been used to combat addictions. An example would be methadone. The synthetic opioid used to treat heroin and morphine addicts has a high addictive potential and often leads to addiction itself.
Studies on the topic
If you still have doubts, we would like to introduce you to a few more studies. In fact, researchers are now so convinced of the withdrawal-promoting potential of CBD that its use has already been investigated for a wide range of addictions.
In 2013, for example, research was carried out into the extent to which CBD has an influence on the consumption of another cannabinoid - the intoxicating THC. The researchers concluded that cannabidiol can blunt the effects of THC. The paranoid effect in particular is significantly inhibited. There is also evidence that CBD can reduce cravings for THC . This means that hemp extract plays an important role in the withdrawal from marijuana or hashish.
In addition, a few years ago the extent to which CBD could be used to combat opiates was investigated. Opiates such as morphine are a serious drug with withdrawal symptoms often amounting to great physical agony. Researchers found that CBD also has potential for use here. They tested this using mice that had been previously trained to take morphine. They were then treated with CBD and the effect that was already explained above was seen: the cannabinoid inhibited the rewarding effects of morphine. CBD also helped with the anxiety disorders that often occur as a withdrawal symptom of opiates.
A third study from 2013 looked at alcohol addiction - one of the most common addictions worldwide. A serious consequence of years of alcohol abuse is so-called neurodegeneration. This is the decay of nerve cells. The study mentioned now showed that CBD can positively counteract exactly this decay. In fact, researchers demonstrated that cannabidiol can inhibit neurodegeneration by almost 50%.
Many other studies show similar success when using CBD against addictions. They also give hope for further breakthroughs. And we are advancing the recognition of cannabidiol as a drug against addiction with every step.
