Cannabidiol reduces the anxiety induced by simulated public speaking in treatment-naïve social phobia patients.
The trial people cite for CBD and social anxiety used one 600 mg pharmaceutical dose in 24 people before a lab speech task — does that tell us anything useful about taking CBD daily for my anxiety?
Suggestive but preliminary. Not settled. how we score evidence
Caveat on this rating: Conducted by the University of São Paulo CBD group (Zuardi, Crippa, and colleagues). The 2011 record carries no conflict-of-interest statement, but the same group's later publications disclose that several of these authors are co-inventors on a CBD patent that the university has licensed to pharmaceutical companies, so independence from a commercial interest in CBD cannot be assumed.
One cannabidiol product is FDA-approved: Epidiolex (plant-derived purified CBD oral solution), indicated for seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, Dravet syndrome, or tuberous sclerosis complex in patients 1 year and older.
Twenty-four never-treated patients with social anxiety disorder received a single 600 mg oral dose of CBD or placebo 90 minutes before a simulated public speaking test; the CBD group reported significantly less anxiety, cognitive impairment, and discomfort during the speech than placebo, ending up close to the untreated healthy comparison group. This is a one-dose laboratory challenge in 24 people, not a treatment trial — it says nothing about whether taking CBD over weeks improves social anxiety in daily life.
Worth asking
The trial people cite for CBD and social anxiety used one 600 mg pharmaceutical dose in 24 people before a lab speech task — does that tell us anything useful about taking CBD daily for my anxiety?
Source
Cannabidiol reduces the anxiety induced by simulated public speaking in treatment-naïve social phobia patients. — Bergamaschi MM, Queiroz RH, Chagas MH, et al. (2011)
Reputable peer-reviewed journal
Read the source: https://doi.org/10.1038/npp.2011.6
DOI: 10.1038/npp.2011.6
How this was scored
- Study design
- Randomised controlled trial
- Funding
- Funding not disclosed
- Published in
- Reputable peer-reviewed journal
- Sample size
- 24
- Preregistered
- No
- Conflicts disclosed
- No
- Independent of proponent
- No
- Retracted
- No
Read the full scoring rubric, including what it can't tell you.
Published August 19, 2026.
Where we put this study in context
Questions
How strong is the evidence behind this?
Resolv rates this source "early signal". Suggestive but preliminary. Not settled. It scores 50 out of 100 on our published rubric. One caveat travels with that badge: Conducted by the University of São Paulo CBD group (Zuardi, Crippa, and colleagues). The 2011 record carries no conflict-of-interest statement, but the same group's later publications disclose that several of these authors are co-inventors on a CBD patent that the university has licensed to pharmaceutical companies, so independence from a commercial interest in CBD cannot be assumed. The score is calculated from recorded facts about the source — study design, funding, publication venue, sample size, preregistration — not typed in by an editor.
What is the source for this?
Cannabidiol reduces the anxiety induced by simulated public speaking in treatment-naïve social phobia patients. — Bergamaschi MM, Queiroz RH, Chagas MH, et al. (2011). Published in: Reputable peer-reviewed journal. DOI: 10.1038/npp.2011.6. The full source is linked on this page so you can read it yourself.
Who paid for this research, and does that matter?
Study design: Randomised controlled trial. Funding: Funding not disclosed. The researchers were not independent of whoever benefits from the result. Industry sponsorship is one of the most reliably measured biases in medicine, which is why funding carries real weight in the score rather than sitting in a footnote.
Is cannabidiol, cbd, hemp extract, cbd oil, epidiolex, full-spectrum hemp FDA approved for this use?
No. Its current status is: Not FDA-evaluated for this use. One cannabidiol product is FDA-approved: Epidiolex (plant-derived purified CBD oral solution), indicated for seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, Dravet syndrome, or tuberous sclerosis complex in patients 1 year and older.
Is this medical advice?
This is information to bring to your prescriber, not medical advice and not a reason to change anything on your own. Nothing here is an instruction to stop or reduce a medication. If you are in crisis, call or text 988.
This is information to bring to your prescriber, not medical advice and not a reason to change anything on your own. Nothing here is an instruction to stop or reduce a medication. If you are in crisis, call or text 988.