CBD - cannabinoid oil - the non-psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, was legalised in the UK in 2018, and numerous companies have capitalised on this. Menwhile, over the last 10 or so years, the taboo around the topic of mental health has eroded away thanks to TV shows, news articles and, sadly, high profile suicides.
It’s easier now due to support groups, changes to work culture and general discussions that people are having, to broach the subject. With this new openness to discussion around mental health challenges, companies like Cancalm are producing CBD and are advertising it as an anxiety-reducing non-prescription medication.
Anxiety reduction is the key purported benefit of CBD, but it is also touted as supporting muscle recovery, alleviating joint swelling and improving memory, along with a host of other alleged attributes.
A month ago, I started taking CBD mostly to see if there might be any changes in my memory. I doubted it, as I’ve had memory difficulties my whole life from an Acquired Brain Injury at birth, and the doctors have always told me that it isn’t going to get any better. So far, they’re right.
The other reason: social anxiety. I’ve worked hard through NHS therapy to overcome issues of anxiety, particularly around women, and I’ve made some progress. It’s an ongoing project. ‘You don’t know until you try’ is the underlying mentality I had when I started taking CBD, but I never expected there to be any difference. I know what the challenges are that I face and the underlying causes of them. Putting the harmless bi-product of a plant into my body and expecting myself to make peace at this point with my past social mistakes – which is basically most of what I can remember – is wholly unrealistic. The NHS have taught me all they can. If Sertraline, Citalopram, Duloxetine and Mirtazapine didn’t do it for me either, CBD won’t.
That’s certainly what I’ve found. I’ve not felt much difference. Family say they haven’t noticed any change; neither have colleagues.
While I did this CBD project I was also, for the most part, working on a photography project too. This involved a lot of standing back, observing, and not being particularly involved in anything I saw. I found this very isolating and the project as a whole brought me down. If CBD was going to do anything to help, it would have been at those moments. I also frequently forgot kneepads, very helpful equipment for photography, so CBD obviously didn’t help my memory either. I probably also for got to take it on some nights, although there’s no way of finding out whether I did or not.
Some people swear by CBD. I’d swear it’s snake oil.
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