CBD For Psychosis: 600mg/day Oral CBD Patient Outcomes? 2020 Study

2020 CBD Research

Does a 600 mg/day CBD dose decrease psychosis in ultra-high risk patients?

New Research Says: Mixed Results—Worthwhile To Investigate More

Study Results: Patients at ultra-high risk for psychosis and taking 600 mg/day dose of CBD for one week exhibited an “intermediate” response for:

stress
anxiety
cortisol tests (a chemical measurement of response to stress).

Control groups: The intermediate response of the CBD group was in comparison to two control groups:

individuals not at risk for psychosis (no CBD)
individuals at ultra-high risk for psychosis taking placebo (no CBD)

Testing: Evaluations of stress, anxiety and cortisol levels were made in the context of a high-stress environment—simulated public speaking.

cannabidiol research 2019

New CBD Study Published January 8 2020

By the numbers: A total of 58 individuals took part in this 1-week study.

16 Ultra-High Risk For Psychosis taking 600 mg/day CBD
16 Ultra-High Risk For Psychosis taking placebo (no CBD)
26 Not At Risk For Psychosis (Healthy Control Group/no CBD)

Evaluation process: All participants were evaluated during a Trier social stress test (TSST) which is used to reliably induce stress in human study participants.

During the stress test, One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that the increase in cortisol (a chemical measurement of the increase in stress) was greatest in the healthy control group (no CBD) and lowest in the high-risk placebo group (no CBD).

Results:

The high-risk group taking CBD had an increase in cortisol which fell between the healthy group (no CBD) and the placebo group (no CBD). So, the chemical measure of stress response for the high-risk group taking CBD showed less stress than the healthy control group but a greater stress load than the high risk for psychosis placebo control group.
Evaluations of cortisol reactivity were mixed as well.
Cannabidiol did not appear to change cortisol reactivity during the stress test of individuals at high risk for psychosis.
There were minimal changes in cortisol reactivity between the high-risk placebo group (no CBD) and the high-risk group who were taking CBD.
Changes in anxiety levels and experience of public speaking stress were most pronounced in the high-risk placebo group (No CBD) and least in the healthy control group (No CBD).
As with the cortisol results, the high-risk group taking CBD had an “intermediate” response which fell between the healthy control group and the high-risk placebo group.

Conclusion: “It is worthwhile to design further well-powered studies which investigate whether CBD may be used to affect cortisol response in clinical high risk for psychosis patients and any effect this may have on symptoms.”

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