Alcoholism, or alcohol abuse, has devastating consequences to one’s daily life. The phrase “alcohol abuse” describes a drinking pattern that has a negative impact on an individual’s personal life. It could apply to a single night of binge drinking that forces a person to miss work the next day, or it could allude to much more serious cases in which abuse behaviors are displayed on a daily basis.
The American Society of Addiction Medicine describes alcoholism as a main, chronic disease whose development is influenced by genetic, psychological, and environmental variables. Symptoms of the disorder, which is often fatal, include a persistent failure to manage drinking levels, continued misuse of alcohol despite negative effects, fixation with alcohol as a drug, and so on.
CBD For Alcoholism
To comprehend how CBD works to relieve the symptoms of addiction and withdrawal, we must first comprehend how alcohol works to establish neurological dependence. These structures serve a functional role in the implementation of typical self-care behavior in healthy persons; that is, if we’re dissatisfied or unhappy, they alert us that a behavioral change is likely in order.
The interesting thing about all of this in terms of cannabis is that all of these reward areas in the brain — the amygdala, basal forebrain, and so on – have a high density of CB-1 receptors. These receptors play an important part in implementing sensations of reward, happiness, and overall well-being, among other things.
A 2014 study compared the distribution of CB-1 receptors in alcoholics and social drinkers. Researchers discovered that alcoholics have a much lower prevalence of CB-1, even after long periods of abstinence. This was in stark contrast to social drinkers, who had a healthy presence of the receptor after the same time of abstention.
What Does The Research Say About CBD And Alcoholism?
More research is needed in order for CBD to become a standard treatment option for alcoholism and/or other kinds of abuse and addiction in the future, as is the case with most forms of medicinal cannabis.
An animal study was conducted in 2018 to assess the anti-relapse potential of a transdermal CBD formulation in terms of drug craving, anxiety, and impulsivity. The researchers utilized rats who had previously self-administered alcohol and cocaine. The rats were given transdermal CBD at 24-hour intervals for seven days as part of the study.
The researchers then looked for context, stress-induced reinstatement, and experimental anxiety. CBD was demonstrated to diminish drug-seeking in both context- and stress-induced situations without causing tolerance, sedation, or impairment with normal motivated behavior.
