CBD and Focus: How Top Students Can Get an Edge

Getting to the top of your class takes hard work, dedication, and grit. And maintaining that hallowed position is no easy feat either. As any A+ student knows, one of the essential elements of success is maintaining focus. But between adjusting to young adulthood, navigating the intricacies of college life, and dealing with the distractions of dorm dwelling, concentrating is not always easy.

Fortunately, CBD might be the secret weapon you need to get an edge.

What Impacts Concentration

Several factors can inhibit concentration, including stress, lack of sleep, your environment, and distractions, such as pop-up notifications on your phone or computer screen. Depression, anxiety, pain, and other ailments can make concentration difficult too.

As with anything, the best way to “cure” your difficulty concentrating is to find and address the source of the problem. Factors like environment and on-screen notifications can be changed relatively easily. The other stuff might take more effort. But the good news is CBD may help you tackle all of the above.

How CBD Works in the Body 

CBD influences the endocannabinoid system (ECS), a complex network of endocannabinoids, receptors, and enzymes. It is responsible for regulating processes and functions such as mood, memory, stress, sleep, appetite, reproduction and fertility, and maintaining homeostasis throughout the brain and body. If the ECS is not functioning correctly, your internal systems may be thrown off-kilter, impeding your wellness and performance abilities. CBD, which supplements and mimics the cannabinoids the body produces, helps the ECS work like a well-oiled machine. In doing so, it can help you stay on your game, even amid external distractions and stressors. 

Happy Hormones 

Dopamine, also known as “the happy hormone,” is a neurotransmitter that plays a role in memory, focus, and mental clarity. When we don’t have sufficient dopamine, our concentration abilities drop. Over time, dopamine deficiency can also exacerbate or contribute to ailments, including depression and dementia. CBD can help to maintain healthy dopamine levels by influencing the CB2 receptors in the ECS, thus helping us to sustain emotional balance and focus. 

Not-so-Happy Hormones 

When you’re stressed, you might find it almost impossible to concentrate, leading to even more stress as the precious hours tick by, woefully unproductively. It’s a vicious circle. CBD may help you break free. 

Research shows CBD can reduce the hormone cortisol production, also known as the “stress hormone.” Produced by the adrenal gland, cortisol is key to several physiological processes. But too much of it can yield harmful effects, including poor mental health and increased blood pressure and heart rate. Over time, the impact of chronic stress can lead to even more severe health concerns, including an increased risk of heart attack, stroke, and dementia. 

A study published in The Permanente Journal in 2019 is one of the more recent clinical research examples showing CBD is specifically beneficial for reducing the stress response in people with anxiety disorders, such as Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) and Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD). 

Anxiety disorders are particular medical conditions characterized, in part, by chronic stress, excessive worrying, and fear that persists for more than four weeks, and usually more than six months. While these illnesses are different from stress, the symptoms are similar, and, as research indicates, CBD may help with both. 

Healthy Sleep Cycles & Consistent Energy  

Just as the inability to concentrate is, for busy students, inextricably linked to stress, so, too, is insomnia or difficulty sleeping. Unfortunately, the stereotype of the chronically fatigued student walking zombie-like from class to class, only to inevitably fall asleep in a particularly uneventful lecture, is an all-too-real one you’ll probably either witness or embody yourself at some point. But as much as this trope is fodder for many a comic movie moment, the effects of sleeplessness are not so humorous at all. 

Chronic insomnia or exhaustion can lead to a host of mental and physical health concerns, ranging from irritability, increased appetite, and inability to concentrate to depression and memory loss. 

Obviously, none of the above are conducive to studying or acing your exams. But the good news is CBD has been proven to support healthy sleep cycles and stable energy levels. Not only could CBD help you get more quality ZZZs, but it can also keep you going throughout the day. 

Ready to Try CBD? 

If you’re ready to try CBD, we recommend Bespoke’s 3C tinctures for help managing stress and anxiety or Comfort for better sleep. Serenity, available in capsule form, is another excellent option for maintaining a healthy stress response and overall emotional balance, designed specifically for women. And Active is our choice for extraordinarily active individuals, including student-athletes. As with any supplement, talk to your doctor before adding CBD to your health regimen.