3 ways cannabis can help you with anxiety and stress

Anxiety manifests itself in many ways for me, for example I tend towards foot in mouth syndrome. I frequently feel like crawling under a rock for some dumb thing I blurted out!

However I’m also an open book. Because I’m so open it gives permission for others to be open with me as well. It’s how I know all moms struggle with anxiety and bouts of depression. We feel vulnerable because these small people are so very dependent on us for their well-being and our own well-being is dependent on theirs as well. That alone is anxiety inducing enough, now add in chronic exhaustion and all the other life stresses that pop up like death of a loved one, illness or financial hardships and you’re now in the red for your mental health.

Stress + exhaustion = the fuel anxiety needs to thrive

Chronic exhaustion makes you feel weak, feeling weak leads to feeling powerless which then leads to bad anxiety. This is can be very traumatizing for your body as stress and anxiety can raise blood pressure and put you at high risk for illness and disease. It doesn’t help that we send our kids to a factory of germs every day, we end up getting numerous colds and flu viruses our taxed immune systems have a difficult time fending off, which then compounds the problem further. It’s not easy being a parent!

3 ways cannabis can help

I’ve been managing stress with cannabis. It helps me relax which drastically reduces my stress, possibly saving me from having more serious health issues.
How?

1. Relaxation
Cannabis relaxes you and elevates your mood, helping you cope with deeply stressful situations. You can find space to laugh and that will help release bottled up tension and calm your whole system down.

2. Arousal
Cannabis heightens your senses, putting you in the mood for bedroom play. This leads to more sex and/or masturbation which releases even more tension. Plus more sex with your partner strengthens your bond, giving you more stability.

3. Creativity
Creativity and appreciation for art are also heightened with cannabis. It doesn’t have to be literally drawing, it can be journaling your thoughts or coming up with an interesting new recipe, redecorating a room. It also helps you appreciate and dive into art like a good book, an art exhibit or the theatre. Basically it helps you get your mind off of your worries and onto something enriching for your soul.

There’s right way and a wrong way to manage anxiety with cannabis

The same way a glass of wine can help you unwind but a whole bottle will make things much worse, too much THC can increase anxiety so it’s important to start low and go slow. Look for lower THC strains that are high in CBD. Strains that are 5% or higher of CBD and 10% or lower of THC is a good place to start. Keep in mind the amount of THC in a strain is only one factor that comes into play, terpenes also make some strains feel more relaxing than others. There’s still much research needed on terpenes and their effects however keeping a journal of your cannabis strains will help you get an idea of what works for you and what doesn’t.

How to keep a cannabis journal

Some companies provide the terpene profiles for their strains, write down the terpenes listed, the % of CBD and THC and how that strain made you feel, including how much you took. Eventually you’ll see a pattern of what works best for you. We can’t always get the same strain, so we have to buy whatever is available, if you have a record of what percentages of THC-CBD works for you, combined with the terpene profile, you can then find a strain with a similar profile to buy.

For more information on starting with cannabis visit our pages on Weed 101