By Pat Anson, PNN Editor

After a year and a half of social distancing, masks and isolation, are you feeling emotionally burned out from the pandemic?

If so, you’re not alone. A recent survey of over 1,000 workers found that over half reported they were fatigued, depressed and had trouble concentrating.  Another study in the UK found that healthcare providers and other essential workers were particularly at risk of depression due to the stress of COVID-19.

With that in mind, researchers at the University of São Paulo in Brazil recently conducted a study to see if daily doses of cannabidiol (CBD) could relieve emotional exhaustion and burnout symptoms in a cohort of 120 frontline healthcare professionals.

Half of the study’s participants received 300mgs of CBD oil daily for four weeks. The other half did not receive CBD. All participants were evaluated weekly by a psychiatrist and encouraged to exercise.

The research findings, published in JAMA Psychiatry, found that participants who received CBD treatment had a significant reduction in emotional exhaustion and burnout compared to those who did not. CBD consumption was also associated with less anxiety and depression, but had no impact on post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD).

Five participants in the CBD group dropped out of the trial after suffering from serious adverse events, mostly elevated liver enzymes. Those cases resolved after CBD of discontinued.

“This randomized clinical trial found that the efficacy and safety of daily treatment with CBD, 300 mg, for 4 weeks combined with standard care was superior to standard care alone for reducing the symptoms of emotional exhaustion, anxiety, and depression among frontline health care professionals working with patients with COVID-19,” researchers reported.

“Burnout among health care workers is an important issue for health care systems, with a direct impact on quality of care. No pharmacological treatment is currently available for the prevention or treatment of burnout symptoms and emotional exhaustion among frontline health care professionals working with patients with COVID-19… Therefore, the results of the present study could have a relevant impact on the mental health of health care staff worldwide.”

The researchers said more placebo-controlled trials were needed to assess whether CBD could be used more broadly as a mental health treatment.

Previous studies have also found that medical cannabis reduced symptoms of depression. A 2020 study conducted in New Zealand found that people consuming up to 300mg daily in CBD oil reported significant improvement in their pain, mobility, anxiety and depression. Some also said they slept better and their appetite improved.

Another 2020 study found that 95% people who smoked or inhaled cannabis through a vaporizer reported a decline in depression within 2 hours. Cannabis with high levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) was particularly effective in reducing depression.