CBD May Reduce Intrusive Thoughts, Anxiety for Patients With OCD

Contemporary Clinic® interviewed Carrie Cuttler, an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at Washington State University, on a recent study she co-authored that was published in the Journal of Affective Disorders on the use of cannabis in treating symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

Alana Hippensteele: What are the implications of your research on the use of THC, CBD, and other compounds in cannabis, such as CBG or CBN, as potential treatments for OCD? Are there any potential benefits to one compound over another?

Carrie Cutler: Yeah. So, we examined whether THC, CBD, or the interaction between THC and CBD might predict the size of the symptom reductions.

We found that as CBD increased, so did the size of the reduction in compulsions. That's actually consistent with a couple of previous animal studies that showed that CBD reduced compulsive behavior in rodents.

In contrast, THC and interactions between THC and CBD really did not predict the size of symptom reductions people reported.

So, these findings suggest that cannabis with higher concentrations of CBD may be more beneficial for managing compulsions. Well, inhaling really any cannabis product might produce perceived reductions in intrusions and anxiety.