Suggestions to Manage being in ‘Lockdown’ Plus Cannabis and CBD For Anxiety and Self-Isolation Under Quarantine
Cannabis and CBD can assist with serious anxiety by helping to keep your mind and body calm, while under self-Isolation or in mandatory quarantine. There are also other steps you can take to stop a slide into a deeper and more debilitating depression.
The Anxiety and Depression Association of America has recently come out with some timely advice. This has been to help deal with the long periods of being forced to stay at home under the current pandemic. It can be emotionally challenging if this is by order rather than choice. In a recent article by Arti Gupta PsyD, titled ‘Managing Isolation and Anxiety During Quarantine’, she gives point summary suggestions on how to manage anxiety. I give my comments:
1. Reframe “I am stuck inside” to “I can finally focus on my home and myself”
This is a great suggestion. If you have to stay put then you can make this a golden opportunity to read that book you always meant to read, but haven’t. Or start a self-improvement course you thought would be good, and my favorite suggestion is to start meditation and see what happens!
You might just change your life and outlook to be more than ready to face life challenges when the isolation is over. I can also suggest reading Dr Joe Dispenza‘s books and follow his meditation program. ‘Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself’ as a great starter in using your time to work on yourself.
2. Stay close to your normal routine
Don’t wallow or mope around the house. ‘Dropping the ball’ on daily living is not an option. Keep a routine going for your day, just as you would normally.
Being house-bound does not mean that you can’t order your day into tasks. This will help you to stay positive and motivated, and time will fly!
3. Avoid obsessing over endless Coronavirus coverage
Best advice! Turn off the news and stop trawling social media.
Take this opportunity to detox from the ‘news’ and social sites. The world will still be there when your quarantine is over.
Make this your time, not the media and social media’s time over you.
4. A chaotic home can lead to a chaotic mind
Your outward environment is a reflection of your inner state.
If you keep busy and keep order in your mind with tasks and projects for yourself, you will probably find it easier and natural to keep you and your home clean and ordered.
The reverse is true too, if you make the effort to keep a clean tidy house, your mind will feel clean and tidy too!
5. Start a new quarantine ritual
The villa shrine in my garden now gets daily flowers and incense in my ritual 🙂
I totally agree with this point. Ritual can be based around your personal religious beliefs or spiritual leanings. I already mentioned meditation as a personal development tool that quarantine gives the perfect opportunity to start.
I personally see prayer as talking into the receiver and meditation as quietly listening for the reply. If you don’t listen for the advice, what is the point of prayer?
Ritual Can Help You and Others Feel Better
As I write this, I am stuck in Bali and cannot leave here, as many other people are currently stranded in other locations around the world. A ritual I have adopted is to place flowers and incense on the Hindu shrine for the villa complex and also the small shrine in my house. I am not Hindu, but I felt that these shrines should not be silent.
I pray for the protection and happiness of everyone in our community and especially the animals in Bali during this difficult time. I have found the local people and other foreigners around me have noticed this ritual of mine. They have responded positively with kind comments to me. It has made them feel somecomfort and a little happier to see the shrine full of flowers again in this challenging time. For that alone, it is worth it.
If you are stuck at home, perhaps you can light a tea-light candle in the evening, put it in the window and send out a personal prayer in your own way? You may well find that this lifts you mood and helps you to feel less fatalistic about what is happening in your community and to you.
6. In the US use Telehealth as an option to talk to a professional
if your anxiety becomes unmanageable you may need to talk to someone about it that can help you overcome a more serious level of anxiety. Arti Gupta suggests reaching out for help, if you find you are not coping. This is a great point and I wholeheartedly agree with it.
If you are on your own, then this can be a really difficult time. Talking to someone, especially a trained and caring professional in the psychology field, may be very helpful. If you are feeling overwhelmed by anxiety and need a professional ear then keep this in mind.
Arti gives the suggestion of contacting telehealth where you can have a video chat that is compliant with HIPAA privacy legislation. This is the link: ‘psychologists offering telehealth options’
7. CBD and Cannabis to manage anxiety and depression in quarantine
I am adding this point last, but it does not mean it is the least useful action to take. In part it is because I must make it very clear that it is not in Arti’s article and therefore not her point and not necessarily endorsed by her. But, this is very helpful advice and could be important. Consider it in partnership with the other great points she has raised in managing quarantine, lockdown anxiety.
For some people under quarantine, the temptation may be there to use alcohol or prescription medications to manage anxiety or depression. This may undoubtedly lead to other very undesirable side effects and these will probably be poor remedies over the long term.
Plant based cannabis therapeutics (CBD and dry herb cannabis) can be used to alleviate stress and anxiety without unduly impacting the body and mind. In fact the opposite can be expected when they are used wisely.
Dry Herb Cannabis with THC or CBD?
Dry herb cannabis of the correct strain or hybrid, based on the THC vs CBD balance, can help. You may want to feel relaxed with a mellow peace of mind, or you can lift your creative drive in a positive sense. If Cannabis and THC makes you feel uncertain, then CBD can help you function better with no psychoactive effect.
When it is simply anxiety that has been inhibiting your daily routine, CBD is the easiest remedy to use. You will probably find you wil also sleep better and as a bonus you may feel free of some forms of pain. If you are trying out meditation for the first time, you may find it easier to quiet the mind using CBD when your anxiety subsides.
For those who are more experienced and adventurous, the right strain of cannabis with active THC (eg. dry herb or marijuana) can help relieve stress. You may want to improve your creativity, or just need help to relax and feel mellow while getting through the time. Be aware that there are many strains with different effects, so you will need to do your homework. You will of course need to be in a location where it is legal, where as CBD is legal to use in nearly all states now.
My suggestion would be to stick with CBD if you are unsure. You can use CBD in a vaporizer, take sublingually (drops under the tongue), or take as a capsule. You can get CBD flower nugs (herb) for vaping or cooking, but better to just keep it simple.
Be aware that vaping CBD will give you the best and most efficient take-up rate for your body. This is more efficient and faster than consuming it as capsules or drops, but if drops and capsules are your thing, these will work too.
Conclusion
Arti finishes her article with the statement: “Letting go of illusions of control and finding peace in the fact that you are doing your part to “flatten the curve” will certainly build mental strength to combat the stressful situation the whole globe is experiencing.”
It is my belief that CBD and cannabis can be valuable aids in ‘letting go and finding peace’ while also building ‘mental strength’ to endure in a stressful situation of confinement.
Namaste
