Over the past 4 months, our lives have been drastically challenged as a result of the global onslaught of Covid 19.
We have had to come to terms with living life in the new “normal” as we have been confined to our homes in a national lockdown and readjust our lives. Working from home, homeschooling the kids and tackling strict social distancing guidelines have all become an integral part of our daily life.
Many livelihoods have been severely affected by jobs being furloughed and ALL travel plans, holidays and sporting events have been cancelled. Birthdays have been spent alone and there are frustrations of not even simply being able to hug your loved ones, I could go on!
All of our lives have dramatically changed and we are still unsure of when daily life will resume back to normal. Even now, as lockdown restrictions start gently being lifted, life is still not normal.
When can I hug my 75-year-old mum? When will it be safe to travel to work on public transport? Do I wear a mask when I go to the shops? What do the R numbers mean? The rise in death rates? We question everything that maybe we took for granted before Covid 19 and think twice about making any plans. It can all be so overwhelming.
All this uncertainty coupled with daily life changes we have had to make, can lead to anxiety and generally feeling down. This is entirely normal, I mean with all this going on it’s hard not to feel anxious and worried?
The mental health charity SANE has seen a 200% increase of calls to their helpline since the lockdown began. SANE has also revealed to ITV NEWS that 85% per cent of the people who have rung the helpline during the lockdown are new callers.
Mental health has for the last few years been spoken about more openly and is not such a stigma anymore.
However sadly for some, it still isn’t easy for them to deal with even during these uncertain times.
Furthermore, there are actions we can take to lessen the stress of anxiety and depression. Exercise is proven to reduce anxiety and stress, so how can exercise help mental health? For example, it can help with:
- Better sleep patterns - making you feel tired at the end of the day.
- Happier moods physical activity releases feel-good hormones known as endorphins that interact with receptors in the brain, runners sometimes refer to a ‘runners high’ after completing a run.
- Managing stress, anxiety or intrusive and racing thoughts – exercise also releases cortisol which helps manage stress.
- Being active gives your brain something else to focus on and can take you away from the dark place that this situation can take you to.
Exercise isn’t the only thing we can do to help cope with anxiety and depression. The past couple of years have seen the emergence of the cannabinoid. In particular, Cannabidiol (CBD). Many clinical studies have been undertaken on CBD surrounding the positive impact it has on anxiety, cognition, movement disorders and pain relief.
So what is CBD? CBD is found in the Cannabis and Hemp plants. The CBD is extracted and then isolated from other cannabinoids present in the plants, especially the cannabinoids such as tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) that gives you the “high”.
CBD is widely sold in the UK and comes in many forms ranging from Oils, Vapes and even CBD Gummies. It can also be found sold the high street in stores such as Boots and Holland & Barrett.
Things can only get better right? So go for a run or a walk and try taking some CBD.
