We’ve seen some discussions in the community around CBD use and managing ADHD symptoms, but the topic was really only brought to our attention by someone we were chatting with on Reddit. After they asked about it, we wanted to spend some time looking into it and clarify what we currently know about CBD and ADHD. There’s a lot of talk about CBD helping out with a whole variety of challenges, so we thought it was about time that we addressed the chat going around about ADHD and CBD.

Since this is a pretty big topic, we’ve mostly stuck with an overview of the basics. That said, we made sure to include a bunch of studies, resources, and further reading if you want to dive a bit deeper into the topic.

What is ADHD?

First and foremost, it’s important to define what exactly ADHD is. Since this is a very large and broad topic, we’ve done our best to summarize everything. However, if this is something that interests you, you should definitely do more research than just what we’ve mentioned here.

According to the Canadian Association of Mental Health, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common disorders in young people, though it can often impact adults as well. There are many different kinds of ADHD, and symptoms will vary depending on the individual. More broadly, symptoms can be broken into three main categories: inattentive, hyperactive, and impulsive. Inattentive symptoms tend to be more about distraction and lack of focus, while hyperactive behaviours are more about having trouble sitting still. Impulsive behaviours are exactly what they sound like.

One interesting thing to note is about the term ADD, which is sometimes used as well. Turns out, this term is largely outdated and refers solely to the more hyperactive behaviours associated with ADHD. While it’s still used in conversation, it was replaced with a more nuanced ADHD diagnosis.

The American Psychological Association, the folks responsible for creating the DSM-5, have a lot of ADHD resources on their website. These might be worth checking out if this is something you’d like to learn more about.

The Science

Just like a lot of things when it comes to CBD, the science is still pretty new. We don’t have a whole lot of research about CBD and its impact on ADHD at the moment. Most conversations about the topic tend to be more anecdotal than grounded in research. While we don’t want to disregard anyone’s experiences, we also like to make sure we’re not making any claims that can’t be proven. That said, hopefully anecdotal reports can help direct some of our research initiatives in the future.

What research we do have into the effects of CBD on ADHD are somewhat inconclusive. One study using Sativex, a cannabis-based pain medication with equal parts THC and CBD, found overall improvement in symptoms compared to a placebo group, but wasn’t enough to definitely declare that CBD is more effective. Another study investigating CBD’s potential use in a variety of mental health challenges ranked CBD as a grade B recommendation for the treatment of ADHD (with grade A being the most recommended).

When it comes to body chemistry more specifically, this study looked into CBD, ADHD, and the endocannabinoid system (ECS). While expressing concern over the side effects of common ADHD medication, the study found that through the ECS and the way CBD impacts CB1 receptors and anandamide production (and therefore dopamine levels), it may have the potential as a treatment with fewer accompanying side effects. This is because many of our theories about ADHD currently revolve around the idea of dopamine deficiency, which, when out of whack, can impact our body’s reward system, our ability to focus, concentrate, and it can impact our executive functioning. For more information about how CBD affects our bodies and the ECS, check out this post here.

This study, surveying adults diagnosed with ADHD who are also cannabis users found an association between heavy cannabis consumption and the stopping of ADHD medicine, though this isn’t necessarily CBD specific and discusses the impacts of other variables, such as other cannabinoids and terpenes. On a similar note, this study found that people with ADHD diagnosis, when not using cannabis, were more likely to exhibit stronger hyperactive-impulse symptoms. This may support the connection between relevant cannabinoid receptors and regulatory control, like with the previously mentioned study on the ECS.

Overall, however, as this literature review notes, there’s hasn’t been enough research done in regards to CBD and ADHD for us to make any conclusive claims yet.

Another thing to note is that while we still aren’t sure about the overall impact CBD has on ADHD, CBD may have the potential to help mitigate many of the symptoms of ADHD individually, such as anxiety, which we discussed in a previous post, or help with focus and concentration, which we discussed more here.

Since ADHD is commonly discussed in regards to children, it’s also important to note that as of right now, we don’t have any conclusive research that speaks to the safety of using CBD in pediatrics, especially over the long term and how it impacts neurocognitive development.

The Link Between Cannabis Use and ADHD

Leaving the realm of just CBD for a second, there has been an association made between cannabis use and ADHD. More specifically, children diagnosed with ADHD are much more likely to use cannabis or other substances later in their lives. This has been supported with several studies, which seem to suggest that children diagnosed with ADHD will often grow up and ‘self-medicate’ with cannabis products, though this isn’t restricted to solely CBD. For example, one study, surveying adults about their ADHD symptoms before and after consuming cannabis, found that they exhibited less symptoms after consumption, which could potentially imply a further connection.

ProjectCBD conducted an interesting survey within the community as well, finding that out of 263 people who reported using CBD to help with ADHD, the small majority of these struggled with more inattentive ADHD types. They also found that according to those surveyed, CBD seems to be most helpful when it comes to staying on task, minimizing distractibility, and mitigating irritability.

Medication interactions

On the note of mental health disorders and medication, it’s important to keep in mind that CBD can interact with certain medications and substances. Put simply, CBD can change the way certain medications are metabolized by our system. Essentially, CBD has been found to either increase the amount of medication remaining in your body, or diminish it. Either this means that medication isn’t there when you need it to be, or you’re possibly risking an overdose. While being on the lookout for grapefruit warnings is a good start, it’s always best to check in with your doctor and local health authorities in order to ensure you’re being as safe as possible.

Since CBD and medication interaction is a much larger topic, we’ve spoken about it in more detail here.

TL;DR

While there’s a lot out there from research to anecdotal reports that suggest CBD may potentially be effective at helping to manage symptoms of ADHD, we won’t know anything for certain until we develop our science a little more. Hopefully, with such a clear connection being drawn between people with ADHD and cannabis use, we can use some of these experiences to help pave the way forward for our research in the future.