Cannabis-based treatments mitigate symptoms and promote quality-of-life improvements in patients suffering from anxiety-related disorders, according to the findings of a systematic review published in the journal Psychiatry Research.
A team of Australian researchers reviewed 57 studies assessing the use of plant-derived and synthetic cannabis formulations in patients with either generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), social anxiety disorder (SAD), or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Despite substantial heterogeneity amongst studies, most papers nonetheless reported cannabis preparations to be effective at reducing anxiety symptoms.
“Among studies with a low relative risk of bias studies included in this review, 69 percent reported improvements in anxiety symptoms and quality of life following medicinal cannabis use,” researchers reported. “Among high-quality trials that investigated GAD, there were consistent reductions in anxiety scores reported. Similarly, qualitative findings highlighted improvements in both symptom relief and sleep quality, especially for participants with PTSD.”
The study’s authors concluded: “Across a range of anxiety-related disorders, most high-quality studies found that medicinal cannabis reduced anxiety symptoms in individuals with GAD, PTSD and SAD. … Future studies should investigate how medicinal cannabis can be integrated with standard treatments, such as Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs), traditional anxiolytics and cognitive therapy for anxiety-related disorders.”
Survey data reports that some 70 percent of consumers who use cannabis for self-medication purposes do so to address feelings of anxiety.
Full text of the study, “Medicinal cannabis in the management of anxiety disorders: A systematic review,” appears inPsychiatry Research. Additional information on cannabis and post-traumatic stress is available from NORML’s publication, Clinical Applications for Cannabis & Cannabinoids.