Cannabidiol in Anxiety and Sleep: A Large Case Series

Summary & key facts

Researchers looked back at medical charts from a psychiatric clinic to see if cannabidiol, or CBD, helped with anxiety or sleep when added to usual care. They studied 72 adults, and most people with anxiety felt better within a month and stayed better. Sleep improved for many at first but went up and down over time. The study was not a controlled trial, so it cannot prove CBD was the cause of the improvements.

Key facts:

• The study was a retrospective chart review at a psychiatric clinic. That means researchers looked back at records of patients who were already treated, rather than running a controlled experiment.
• The final group included 72 adults. Of those, 47 people came in mainly for anxiety and 25 for poor sleep.
• About 79% of people with anxiety showed lower anxiety scores within the first month. Those lower scores mostly stayed lower over the time doctors tracked them.
• About 67% of people with sleep problems had better sleep scores within the first month. Sleep improvements often varied over time and were not steady for everyone.
• CBD was given in addition to the patients’ usual treatments. The study does not show CBD worked on its own, because there was no comparison group that did not take CBD.
• CBD was well tolerated by most people. Only 3 patients had problems that made CBD not well tolerated. The authors say controlled clinical studies are still needed to test whether CBD really helps.

Abstract

CONTEXT: Cannabidiol (CBD) is one of many cannabinoid compounds found in cannabis. It does not appear to alter consciousness or trigger a "high." A recent surge in scientific publications has found preclinical and clinical evidence documenting value for CBD in some neuropsychiatric disorders, including epilepsy, anxiety, and schizophrenia. Evidence points toward a calming effect for CBD in the central nervous system. Interest in CBD as a treatment of a wide range of disorders has exploded, yet few clinical studies of CBD exist in the psychiatric literature. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether CBD helps improve sleep and/or anxiety in a clinical population. DESIGN: A large retrospective case series at a psychiatric clinic involving clinical application of CBD for anxiety and sleep complaints as an adjunct to usual treatment. The retrospective chart review included monthly documentation of anxiety and sleep quality in 103 adult patients. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Sleep and anxiety scores, using validated instruments, at baseline and after CBD treatment. RESULTS: The final sample consisted of 72 adults presenting with primary concerns of anxiety (n = 47) or poor sleep (n = 25). Anxiety scores decreased within the first month in 57 patients (79.2%) and remained decreased during the study duration. Sleep scores improved within the first month in 48 patients (66.7%) but fluctuated over time. In this chart review, CBD was well tolerated in all but 3 patients. CONCLUSION: Cannabidiol may hold benefit for anxiety-related disorders. Controlled clinical studies are needed.

Topics

Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research Sleep and related disorders Sleep and Wakefulness Research

Categories

Health Sciences Medicine Pharmacology

Tags

Anxiety Cannabidiol Cannabis Environmental health Medicine Pediatrics Population Psychiatry

Substances

Cannabis

Conditions & symptoms

Anxiety Sleep disorder Anxiety or worry Poor sleep