CBD and Anxiety in 2015: Promising Signals, Mostly From Single Doses

The authors reviewed preclinical experiments, human laboratory studies, early clinical reports, and epidemiological findings on CBD and anxiety. It reads as a narrative synthesis rather than a formal systematic review. Study designs, doses, and populations varied widely, and the abstract does not report a risk-of-bias assessment or meta-analysis. The strongest human data involved acute dosing in experimental paradigms, not long-term treatment trials.

By 2015, public interest in CBD for anxiety outpaced clinical evidence. This review pulled the scattered studies into one place and clarified a gap: encouraging acute signals with very limited data on sustained use in people with diagnosed anxiety disorders.

CBD is often discussed as an anxiolytic, and this review is one reason why. It lined up consistent preclinical findings with early human signals under acute dosing. The translation problem remains: animal models are not the same as people with chronic anxiety, and single-dose lab tasks do not establish whether multi-week CBD use changes day-to-day symptoms, sleep, or functioning. Without standardized products, dosing ranges, or long-term outcomes, the 2015 evidence base supported potential rather than established therapeutic effects.

Narrative review without reported risk-of-bias grading or quantitative synthesis. Heavy reliance on preclinical work and acute human experiments. Few studies in patients with diagnosed anxiety disorders. Minimal data on repeated or chronic dosing, dose-response, or functional outcomes. Funding and conflicts not reported in the abstract.