Fighting Anxiety with CBD
Fighting Anxiety with CBD
Recently, I woke up to a mad house. My lovely children woke up early and instantly started fighting each other. While this is a normal occurrence when raising children, for some reason at this moment, the yelling, screaming and crying was more than I was ready to handle. I walked downstairs to make some coffee and adjust to yet another day. I’m normally not one to experience such high levels of anxiety at the start of my day. There was no reason for me to feeling so agitated. I thought maybe a little THC would help get over this feeling.
I took a little medicine and went on with my morning. It was about an hour later, when I heard my wife yelling. Apparently, she was being attacked by my little girls who thought it would be a great idea to smother my wife with kisses. While this normally would not be a trigger, for some reason, I felt my mind shift from calm to instant fight or flight. Prior to having my PTSD triggered, my stress level was probably at a three or a four on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the worse. I felt something change, my self-control quickly diminished, and I felt my mind starting to race.
How to Cope
Since 2012, I have actively attended therapy sessions at the Veteran’s Affairs hospital. With some of the therapy exercises I learned, I was able to slow down and recognize what I was feeling. It was at this point, I was able to start attempting to control my breathing and lower my stress. Identifying the trigger was the first step in trying to correct the course. I was quickly able to determine how my body was reacting. This might seem easy from some, but to someone who lives with PTSD, this can be harder than simply saying it. My hands were shaking and I just wanted to put my hands to my head. I didn’t want to shut down. I kept thinking, nothing is wrong, no one is in danger. A few minutes later, I was able to walk into the room with my wife and children and express what I had just gone through. A simple action like talking could help the situation, not only for the individual, but it also allows those around you to understand what is going on. You could leverage situations like this to communicate potential triggers you may experience. In my case it was the yelling that triggered my disorder. There is no known cure for PTSD, but with therapy and medication it can be managed. PTSD or any disorder is not a reason to be ashamed. It takes a strong person to identify and ask for help when they need it.
Cannabidol (CBD)
I felt my stress level slowly decrease, but even after sometime, I still felt uncomfortable. My mind was racing and I felt like crawling out of my skin. I went downstairs to the office and decided to take some medication that would benefit me. Instead of medicating with THC and risking the chance a sativa strain would not assist me in lower my stress level, I was happy to find my emergency medicine. Cannabidol or CBD is a lesser known compound in cannabis that many people are not aware exists. CBD is a component of marijuana and hemp, but it does not produce the psychoactive effects that have made marijuana attractive for recreational use, hence why people are not aware of it. The war on drugs, has taught us that there is no medical value to cannabis. These claims are baseless and false. I was able to medicate with a small dose of CBD cannabis oil and within minutes I was feeling calm and stress free. When I first heard how CBD could assist people with depression and anxiety, I was amazed. I was aware of the effectiveness of CBD to help treat epilepsy, but not its capability to help end an anxiety attack. I needed to confirm this myself and I’m extremely happy I did. This plant still amazes me with its medical properties and the recreational aspects are just starting to be realized by society. This plant should not be illegal, but available to all. Only when the government starts authorizing more open tests and trials will we honestly know the plants’ true potential. If you have similiar experiences, please speak out and help tear down the stigmas. It’s time to correct recent history and set the plant free.
