Cannabis sanity during COVID.
If you haven’t been following COVID news these days, I don’t blame you. The last (almost) two years have burned people out. We’re over the bans, variants, lockdowns, and political nonsense (me, me, me – DONE). It only stands to reason that waves of breakout cases and stressing over your vaccine’s/body’s resiliency to the virus are enough to drive someone fucking nuts. Not surprisingly, mental illness has deviated pretty far from normal in young people, racial/ethnic minorities, essential workers, and caregivers (paid, or unpaid). Globally, depression rose 28 percent – anxiety, around 26 percent. While the percentages may seem small, they’re really not. Those percentages, folks, add up to be nearly 130 million people. When we factor in who’s actually reporting (affluent, advanced countries), this number is (likely) much higher (less advanced countries don’t report in on that level).
I know, WTF. Why speak to the proverbial elephant in the room. Because, the proverbial elephant will take a giant shit on the floor if not allowed outside. Airing frustrations and grievances is normal. Admittedly being stressed and overwhelmed is also normal. I prefer to tackle these things with an iron sword. While dealing with anxiety-grief-depression-anger-frustration may not be on anyone’s bucket list, not dealing lands you in a proverbial world of shit.
Chronic stress leads to something called fight-or-flight response. For anyone who’s gained weight during the pandemic – it’s not entirely your fault (no, really). Stress eating aside (guilty), chronic stress leads to weight gain (good ole’ cortisol). Weight gain often exacerbates stress. Lovely, right. A nice little, negative feedback loop. Really – the bottom line is that none of this is healthy. Emotionally, or physically.
How do I propose we deal – well, we deal. Do not take that as me being callous – rather, introspective. If we constantly hyper focus on the negative, we forget to see the silver linings (no matter how small). For example – my daughter was online for school. ALL of last year. I worked from home. With some family help, my daughter actually thrived. Her reading, math, language, and writing skills were off the charts. It’s a year I spent with her that I will never be able to recreate. While not every moment was puppies and rainbows, I’ll never regret that period of time. Frankly, her return to the classroom was an adjustment for both of us. For me, the time was special.
Coping with COVID stress isn’t easy, but I find that limiting my exposure to news media (far too much negativity), staying busy, having a routine, and connecting with close friends has become an outlet. Cannabis use to take the edge off – yes, please.
Back to mental illness: medical cannabis patients with mental illness reported a staggering 91 percent increase in use (data collected from half a dozen major universities who conducted these studies). Of that subset, over half (65 percent) reported daily use. Interestingly, the jury is still out on patients who significantly increased their usage (friend, or foe). While I wouldn’t suggest replacing your medications with cannabis, there may be something to be said for this phenomenon – given the significant increase in use (beating out alcohol consumption by quite a bit, as well).
Yes, I am a daily consumer. Shocking, I know. It doesn’t mean I sit around stoned and stare at the wall. As I said, I stay busy, have a routine, and stay connected with family and friends. What I have noticed about daily use is that I feel a little less, well, agitated. I’m much more appreciative of what (or, who) is around me. My daughter’s freakishly weird kid shows are actually funny (in all fairness, we had Beavis AND Butthead). Plus, I have gotten back into playing board games with her, family, and friends. I love throwing safe, impromptu dinner parties (I know, how very 1950’s of me). Generally speaking – I have learned to slow the fuck down, and smell the roses (bud, whatever). Prior to the pandemic, I was always going. Not because I necessarily wanted to – I felt compelled to. I traveled for every-single-school-break. I attended each-and-every-birthday-party for my daughter’s friends (we once had six in a five week span). Do I see this as healthy, now – not one bit. I was constantly stressed, on the run, and totally run down.
As we enter the last month of 2021, I’m curious to see what 2022 brings. As much as people have tried to block out the last two years, I’ve taken the time to reflect over them. Frankly, I am 100 percent grateful to be where I am at. This doesn’t mean that each day is a perfect day – that’s impossible. What it does mean is that I’m grateful for fortitude, resiliency, and the ability to actually take my life back (on some level).
The glass can either be half full or half empty. It’s really up to you to shape your perspective on that.
~SM