Cheri Ward was only twenty-one when she was involved in a tragic car accident that took the lives of her best friend, twenty-one year old Stephanie Martin and her cousin, twenty-two year old Tara Ward. They had been on their way home from a friend’s birthday dinner when they were hit by a drunk driver. Stephanie was killed instantly and Tara was air lifted to a nearby hospital but passed away as the Life Bird landed. It would be two more days before Cheri would wake up and learn the fate of her friends. “It felt like it was all a dream,” she says. “A very bad dream she couldn’t wake up from.”
It wasn’t until she had her first panic attack that she felt as though she needed to talk to someone. “I was sure that I hadn’t dealt with the accident and that was where all the anxiety was coming from,” she said. It was her psychologist that suggested she try CBD and/or CBD & THC. “My regular doctor wanted to give me these powerful medications but I didn’t want to lose time or feel like I was sedated and that’s what the meds were doing to me.”
In 2020, The University of Chicago Medicine surveyed 32,000 women in the US from April 10th to April 24th. According to the results published in the Journal of Women’s Mental Health, 1 in 6 women screened positive for symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and 29% felt depressed and anxious – nearly double the rates pre-pandemic. Cheri said she was finally diagnosed as having PTSD and once she started incorporating CBD in her health routine, she then added THC. “Using a tincture and then taking the gummies at the same time every day as really helped me.” She even admits she was very skeptical. “I thought there’s no way this is going to do what I need it to do,” and she said she was pleasantly surprised. “It has really saved my life.”
Rebecca Abraham, RN and founder of the Acute On Chronic, says CBD and small doses of THC work great for anxiety and depression; not only can it help with day to day anxiety, stressors and depression but it also can help with sexual health, menopause and menstruation symptoms.
Both THC and CBD work in parts of the brain that influence anxiety. However CBD has shown to have more consistent anti-anxiety effects by increasing serotonin which impacts mood and positive feelings. CBG has also become popular as it inhibits GABA re uptake, which can potentially decrease anxiety, lead to muscle relaxation, and tension relief. It can also induce a calm in the brain and body. I can honestly say I never knew what my body was missing until I started taking CBD. Adding THC in small doses was a bonus; A bonus to my overall day to day quality of life. Cheri Ward and almost 51% of American females feel the same.
