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This article first appeared on SundayScaries.
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There are so many benefits of being your own boss. Whether you get to curl up at home and work in the comfort of your pajamas or get the thrill of running your own store, the life of an entrepreneur is more often than not a rewarding one.
However, it can also come with its fair share of stress and anxiety. After all, when you have no boss or superiors to take the bulk of the responsibility for missteps, you find yourself taking on high-stakes situations without anyone to help you out.
Sometimes, anxiety can feel like a never-ending, incurable curse. As soon as you finally get past a major project, something else comes up that you immediately need to start chipping away at. It can feel like there is no relief or real solution, and you may even wonder if a career as an entrepreneur was truly worth it.
Well, please know that your career is worth the challenges, and there are steps you can take to manage your stress and overcome anxiety. One safe, legal, and effective option can be cannabidiol oil (CBD oil).
Sure, you might be thinking that smoking up before a big meeting with new clients could impact your performance or make your anxiety worse, but CBD is not the same as THC cannabis products. Okay, so they both come from the cannabis plant, as does marijuana, though the effects of CBD are totally different. THC is a psychoactive chemical that affects your brain function and makes you feel high, whereas high-quality CBD products will actually have little to no traces of THC, meaning getting high is an impossibility. In fact, your morning cup of coffee will have stronger psychoactive effects than even a strong dosage of CBD.
For years, research into CBD was minimal, in part because people wanted to know more about how THC worked more so than CBD. Now that research is starting to pick up, studies are showing positive results associated with CBD, including helping to relieve anxiety, stress, and insomnia.
In fact, CBD is already known to aid a multitude of mental and physical illnesses, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, chronic pain, Alzheimer’s disease, Dravet syndrome, and is a natural anti-inflammatory. So why can’t it help relieve chronic stress and the symptoms of anxiety?
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How Stress and Anxiety Impact Your Daily Life
Our public understanding of mental health has historically been subpar, to say the least. Although we now know that over 40 million Americans have a mental illness, there was a time not long ago when many of the most common psychiatric disorders did not have a name or an effective treatment.
Now, we are starting to understand the ways in which our emotional well-being influences other aspects of our physical health. Even if you have not been diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) or any other mental illness, it does not mean that great amounts of stress and pressure will not put a strain on your relationships, your work performance, and your health. Here are just a few ways in which stress and anxiety have very real impacts on our lives:
- Sleep patterns, including insomnia and nightmares
- Irritability and depression
- Fatigue and low energy
- Problems with memory and attention
- Breathing problems
- Muscle pains and aches
- High blood pressure
- Digestive health problems similar to symptoms of IBS
- Anxiety and panic attacks
- Loss of libido
- Higher likelihood of poor coping mechanisms, such as substance abuse, self-harm, and a poor diet
Many of these symptoms can not only impact our personal lives but can have a direct impact on our career as well. It’s hard to make a good impression on new clients when we are constantly crabby or trailing off mid-sentence because our focus is poor. It can be hard to have a productive work day when we are battling fatigue and a bout of digestive troubles.
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How CBD Can Help
Everyone experiences anxiety and stress differently, so everyone has a different treatment that is right for them. While some people might benefit from a prescription medication or behavioral therapy, other people might feel more comfortable pursuing holistic, all-natural options. Although CBD might not be the right treatment for everyone, research has shown that CBD can help with anxiety and stress in a number of ways, including:
- Stress Management: Numerous studies have shown that CBD can increase emotional resilience, reduce feelings of anxiety, improve learning, and boost your mood. This, in turn, could also treat some of the nastier symptoms of stress, such as headaches and indigestion
- Sleep Quality: Sleep is an essential element of our health. Anxiety and stress can make it harder for us to fall asleep and stay asleep and, in turn, a poor sleep schedule can make our anxiety worse, causing a vicious cycle. As entrepreneurs, we sometimes tend to make our sleep patterns worse with unhealthy habits, such as taking our work home with us, spending too much time on screens before bed, or sleeping and working at irregular hours. Studies have shown that by improving your sleep schedule, CBD can have a tangible impact on your stress levels
- Energy Boosting: On top of helping with your sleep, CBD is also known to improve your energy and wakefulness throughout the day, which can help you stay productive and avoid the pile-up of responsibilities that lead to stress in the first place
If stress and anxiety have been impacting your life, you should remember that you are not alone. Millions of Americans struggle every year with an anxiety disorder, and all of us can relate to the feelings of being stressed and overworked. Even if you take CBD to alleviate stress, it is important to take care of yourself by making such lifestyle changes as a healthy diet, consistent sleep schedule, and time for leisure and unwinding.
You should also speak to your doctor if you believe that you might have an anxiety disorder. Together, you can create a treatment plan that might include CBD as well as therapy, medications, and/or lifestyle changes. Ultimately, your career should be one of the joys in your life. With the right support, it does not have to be a source of unnecessary stress. Whether you go for CBD vape, CBD gummies, or a CBD tincture, the effects of CBD are there for all to see.
RJ Plant 