CBD & Anxiety

A PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE

Growing up I can still remember people describing having anxiety and not being able to grasp the concept. Panic attacks, social phobias, even depression, they all seemed like made up things. I grew up with an old school directive: life can be hard and unfair, just deal with it. And I was good with that. It made perfect sense to my adolescent mind and I responded to suggestions of the contrary with the tough guy mentality I had embraced. Stop crying about it. Man up. Or worse. But as I got older things began to chip away at these beliefs and my ignorance gave way to understanding. People in my life who I knew to be strong were suddenly admitting openly about things that I thought were manufactured in fantasy rather than grounded in reality. As I learned more about mental health, how much we now know, and maybe more importantly, how much we don't, it became abundantly clear that the treatment of these conditions needs to be reassessed.

One of my family members has dealt with a crippling form of anxiety for years and while her medication helps neutralize the condition, it also seems to neutralize everything else. As she puts it, "Feeling like a limp noodle and not wanting to get out of bed is the trade off for stopping a full-blown panic attack." Trading one set of complications for another is hardly a solution, but that's the compromise she's had to make. Last year I asked if she'd ever considered any forms of alternative medicine, and that there had been encouraging reports on the effectiveness of CBD. Now outside of the PHD I've been granted from the University of Google, there were no medical grounds for her to trust my diagnosis, but she did anyway and the results were incredible. The same benefits that came from her medications, with none of the side effects. None.

Health and wellness touch each of us differently. This was just one case, but it did align with the literature that was available. CBD can be extremely effective in treating certain anxiety related conditions. Since then, I've continued to promote cannabidiol to my family and friends, always with the emphasis on doing their own research first and gaining a clear understanding of what they will be putting into their bodies. It's also important to express that CBD is not a cure as some people have tried to claim. Until further studies and clinical trials have been conducted, it's not appropriate to make definitive statements about the capabilities of CBD. However, that moment will be upon us very soon, and we're at a critical point where we need to start embracing the health benefits of cannabis rather than rejecting it. I believe it's important to start having real discussions and putting them into action, as there are millions of people who stand to improve their lives right away as a result.

Scott Walker, Chroma Global Technologies