Holidaze or Holiday Stress
Holiday Stress, are you pulling your hair out over finances or panicking over the number of calories you’ve swallowed during the holiday festivities? You’re not alone. The holidays can be stressful. People can easily become overwhelmed with shopping, crowds and family commitments. The end-of-year holidays are certainly a happy time for most of us, but the stress of the season puts many of us on such an edge that we wish it would all just go away.
What Causes Holiday Stress?
Holiday stress cannot necessarily be boiled down to one root cause. In truth, there are generally many reasons why stress pops up during the holidays. It is usually a culmination of all these factors that leads to serious issues with increased stress.
1. There isn’t enough time to do everything
2. You’re pressured to create the “Perfect” Christmas
3. Family visits aren’t always pleasant
4. Food woes lead to weight-loss worries
5. Work can become significantly more demanding as the weather wears down
People who feel stressed during the holidays should evaluate how they spend their time, decide what they want the holidays to mean to them, and keep their expectations for the season realistic. This can mean a variety of things to different people. If you are concerned, you can try to unwind and relax with some cannabis-indica at the end of your night. During the day if impairment is a problem for you, try to relieve your stress with a little CBD to bring you to a manageable state.
Stress and the Endocannabinoid System
The endocannabinoid system, the part of our brain that is responsible for how we behave, feel, think and respond, is greatly affected by chronic stress. Over an extended period of time, chronic stress will interrupt the production of these important cannabinoids, leading to mood swings, breakdowns, and depression. Scientists at the University at Buffalo’s Research Institute were researching chronic stress and the endocannabinoid system when they noticed something unexpected.
We know that certain compounds in cannabis – THC and CBD – have the ability to mirror our own chemical responses found in the endocannabinoid system. However, scientists found that cannabis has the ability to combat depression specifically caused by chronic stress.
THC and CBD can essentially replace the chemicals missing from an individual’s endocannabinoid system and act as a mood stabilizer, effectively erasing the depression. These results pair well with findings from research showing that marijuana compounds have a distinct effect on levels of the neurotransmitter GABA, which plays a key role in the anxiety response. GABA is an inhibitory neurotransmitter that acts as a brake on anxiety, counterbalancing the effects of excitatory brain chemicals like glutamate. Early research suggests that compounds in marijuana, particularly cannabidiol (CBD), enhance GABA’s effects with moderate downsides. (CBD has an impressive research profile in several areas, anxiety among them.)
Fight the Benzo dependency
Benzodiazepines, the mostly commonly used prescription anxiety meds, also affect GABA levels. The meds are effective at quickly delivering what users are seeking – an anxiety extinguishing calmness.
If you have access to the right type of cannabis medicine, use it. You have access to something the majority of society does not. Take the win, sit back and enjoy the holidaze.
Check out Dabbin Dad for all your strain information. Know your medicine.
