From night owls to stressed out parents, millions of people around the world suffer from insomnia. With 30?35% of adults in the United States showing symptoms of insomnia, experts are calling insomnia an, ?epidemic. ?
There?s good news though ? and yes? it comes from the Cannabis plant.
With supporting medical research and mountains of testimonials, cannabis-derived CBD has proven to be effective in improving symptoms of insomnia.
Because of this unique benefit, some are now faced with an ironic concern:
?If CBD helps you fall asleep, does CBD make you sleepy? If it does, will it affect my mind set if used during the day??
To the average person, it?s easy to assume CBD would make you sleepy, especially if you?re familiar with the powerful sedative effects of using marijuana or THC.
After all, how could CBD help alleviate sleeping disorders like insomnia without making the user sleepy?
Keep reading to find the answer and learn some surprising facts about CBD that you may have never known.
Let?s start off by talking about what CBD is and how it works.
What Is CBD?
CBD (Cannabidiol), is one of over sixty cannabinoids found in the Cannabis plant including THC, the cannabinoid responsible for delivering the psychoactive effects associated with getting high.
While the two cannabinoids share many similarities, one of the distinct differences between CBD and THC is that CBD does not get you high. Because of this, CBD has opened the door to the many medical applications of the Cannabis plant.
How Does CBD Work?
CBD can be used in a variety of ways including through consumption, sublingual absorption, and inhalation.
Once administered, CBD enters the body where it then interacts with a network of receptors located throughout our body. This network is known as the Endocannabinoid System (ECS) because these receptors are known to only interact with cannabinoids such as CBD.
It?s the relationship between CBD and the ECS that allow CBD to provide relief for dozens of medical conditions, including stress, anxiety, and insomnia.
Now, this brings us back to the topic at hand?
Ironically, not at all.
While CBD has shown to be effective in alleviating symptoms of insomnia, how it works to do so may be different than you imagined.
Instead of administering sedative effects like THC or sleeping pills, CBD combats insomnia at the source.
How Does CBD Help with Sleeping Disorders?
At the root of today?s insomniac epidemic is not a genetic disorder or some contagious sickness. It?s the same thing behind cancer, high blood pressure, and so many other illnesses?
Stress.
With the strain of increasing demands from technology, employers, and the economy, along with skyrocketing health conditions and unhealthy lifestyle choices, stress levels are at an all time high.
While periodic levels of stress can cause minor headaches and mood swings; prolonged stress has been linked to serious health conditions like cancer, high blood pressure, anxiety, depression, and more.
CBD might just be the answer to this epidemic.
How CBD Relieves Stress
In simplest terms, stress is the result of how a person responds to a situation.
For example, someone cuts you off on the freeway. You could respond to the situation (which experts call your ?stress response?) by simply brushing it off and not letting it get to you, or you could get upset, honk at the guy, and even try and cut him off. The second scenario would undoubtedly increase your stress levels.
While there are numerous factors behind a person?s response to a situation, the process of responding is a psychological process that occurs in the brain.
Without getting into the technical details, the activity in the brain can be described as a series of energy signals constantly being transferred throughout the body to make our body work. Some of these signals tell our arm to move, while others are the response to a situation that was perceived to be stressful.
A normal, healthy brain will have functions in place to manage how we respond to stressful situations; however, if the brain is off-balanced or there?s too much going on, the brain will get overloaded and this function will not work properly.
Without a stress response system in place, a person could perceive a situation with minor danger (like walking up the stairs) as a very dangerous situation, causing them to respond in an excessive and negative manner (they become afraid of going up the stairs). Over time, a poor stress response will have compacting effects on a person?s stress levels.
As people fall into a stress pattern, they naturally try to find ways to deal with it. More often than not, ?dealing with stress? includes taking medication, drinking, partying, or all of the above While these options may provide temporary relief, the relief is brief and often leads to even worse problems.
CBD is completely different.
Remember when we talked about the ECS earlier? Well, a majority of the receptors in the ECS are concentrated in the brain and the central nervous system.
Studies show that when CBD interacts with these receptors, cognitive functions improve and the brain is able to respond to stressful situations more effectively. As a result, negative behavioral output is mitigated and the stress cycle is negated.
By improving the brain?s capacity to respond to stressful situations, CBD helps alleviate current stress levels, while serving as a preventative measure against future stress.
Brief Summary
It goes without saying, but CBD is absolutely amazing. The potential to improve the health and lives of so many people around the world is honestly inspiring. If you know someone whose life can be improved by CBD, don?t hesitate to share your knowledge with them.
So to summarize this article: Does CBD Make You Sleepy?
Not at all. It combats insomnia and other sleep-related disorders by improving and restoring our stress response. Instead of tossing and turning over a dirty look someone gave you, take some CBD, relax, and get some sleep!
