Mila Jansen
If you have ADHD, you’re likely familiar with how difficult it can be to get a good night’s sleep. Sleep deprivation often leads to frustration, irritability, impatience, and challenges with focusing or paying attention, all of which can significantly affect your academic performance and overall well-being. Given these challenges, you might wonder: can cannabis offer any help in improving sleep?
Do you struggle with bedtime, night waking, and early morning? Do they have trouble getting sleepy? These symptoms are often linked to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD. Luckily, CBD may be able to help you get a good night’s rest.
What is ADHD?
ADHD is a condition that affects how a child or adult manages and executes tasks, such as paying attention, focusing, and behaving. Those with ADHD may have difficulty sitting still, staying still, and tend to fidget a lot. Adults with this condition may have a hard time staying organized. It is a disorder that affects a person’s ability to control inappropriate and impulsive behaviors. ADHD can cause trouble sleeping, making it hard for sufferers to get a good night’s rest. They may suffer from daytime sleepiness, irritability, or even depression if they are not sleeping well at night. The good news is that medical researchers are beginning to explore a connection between ADHD and insomnia.
What causes ADHD?
The cause of ADHD remains unknown, but there are a number of diagnoses through adulthood that are commonly associated with ADHD. These conditions include anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. All of these conditions can cause symptoms of ADHD, but the exact cause is still unknown. While the causes of ADHD remain unclear, we are beginning to understand more about the symptoms. The most common symptoms of ADHD include hyperactivity, inattention, and impulsivity.
Can CBD Help with ADHD and Sleep?
People with ADHD often have trouble falling asleep because their minds are racing. Some of them may even experience night terrors, in which they wake up screaming while delusionally believing they are still awake. This goes to show how important sleep is for normal functioning and why this is an important issue for those living with ADHD.
Sleep issues often cause secondary symptoms like forgetfulness, agitation, irritability, and headaches. Adults with ADHD may notice issues like waking up too early, and restlessness. The reasons such sleep problems are the same for both children and adults: they’re a result of underlying difficulties like hyperactivity, impulsivity, and anxiety.
Cannabidiol (CBD), a naturally occurring cannabinoid ingredient found in marijuana and hemp, has been gaining momentum in the treatment of a number of chronic conditions, including sleep disorders and ADHD. Alternatively, cannabis plants also generate THCa in their natural state, which has been showing potential due to its calming effects in various therapeutic applications, including anti-inflammatory effects, and pain relief. So, neurodivergent people who have trouble relaxing their symptoms when bedtime arrives can consider THCa Flower in Ohio (or in the locality). It can potentially help with relaxation and reduce the restlessness often associated with ADHD.
As a non-psychoactive phytocannabinoid, CBD has anticonvulsant, anti-inflammatory, antiemetic, antipsychotic, anxiolytic, and antipsychotic properties, making it a promising therapeutic agent in the treatment of ADHD.
The mechanisms of action of CBD on ADHD may include the modulation of the endogenous endocannabinoid system, thereby decreasing overactive dopaminergic transmission, increasing adenosinergic tone, and regulating the release of neurotransmitters and neuropeptides.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) can cause problems falling asleep at night and sleeping through the night. Without sleep, ADHD symptoms can worsen. But a recent study shows that combining CBD with your current ADHD treatment may help to ease symptoms.
Bedtime is often one of the more challenging times of day for people with ADHD. They have a hard time calming down and falling asleep and often find themselves restless and hyper as soon as their head hits the pillow. Fortunately, there is help. You can go to the doctor to find out if you have ADHD. Doctors can also provide advice on treatment options and ways to alleviate the symptoms when you need to relax the most.
