For this month’s HiVi Office Hours on cannabis & mental health, we were joined by Meghan Watson M.A. RP, a Registered Psychotherapist and the founder and owner of Bloom Psychology & Wellness, a therapy practice based in Toronto. Her practice focuses on education and support for individuals experiencing struggles with understanding their emotions, managing stress, and establishing healthy relationships. During our segment, Meghan shared reflections, skills, and tools on how to manage difficult feelings, set boundaries, and exercise mindful self-compassion through a body liberation and self-acceptance lens.
Cannabis and CBD can be effective in addressing myriad physical and mental health issues, both chronic and acute. Cannabis and CBD can also be used to optimize your overall feeling of well-being. Meghan and I both advocate engaging in an open dialogue about cannabis with members of your holistic healthcare team.
It is important to seek out a holistic practitioner that highlights your individual values, goals, and preferences as a patient, concerning clinical decision making. From this perspective, paramount are factors such as honoring the dignity of patients and their families, acknowledging their cultural and ethical sensitivities, sharing clinical decision making between the patient and the health care team, and upholding the autonomy of the patient in making medical decisions.
People should be empowered to heal themselves. When patients come to my clinic asking about integrating cannabis into their health and wellness routine, I evaluate everything from prescription medications, recent blood work, imaging, and take a full history and physical exam. I perform medical cannabis evaluations in the context of a full-scope general and holistic medical practice.
The pandemic has taken a unique toll on mental health. “Setting clear boundaries around your personal space is very important,” says Meghan, and “saying YES to the things that matter— to help create energy, independence, and self-sufficiency.”
Types of boundaries:
1) Emotional and Relationships
2) Physical
3) Spiritual
4) Intellectual (i.e. at work)
5) Sexual (consent and safety)
6) Time and energy
A major challenge for anyone looking to incorporate cannabis into their health routines or to use it to treat a chronic or acute condition is speaking to a healthcare provider about it. If you are on prescription medication, it is crucial to find reliable, medically-responsible guidance around cannabis use. When you are supplementing with cannabinoids they can interact with meds and make their effects more powerful. The key is to integrate cannabis mindfully, creating a safe environment, and optimize your health and wellness journey.
Q &A:
1. How to use cannabis for my ADHD? Is cannabis going to make it worse?
For my ADHD patients, I always give the analogy that it’s like having a Ferrari for a brain and bicycle pedal as brakes. There is a small study in Germany that showed cannabis therapy “improved concentration and sleep, and reduced impulsivity, in ADHD symptoms.
In my clinical practice, I find that some patients may use cannabis to help with focus. There is a lot of stigma behind cannabis— that it makes you unproductive and just sit on the couch and veg out. On the contrary, certain cannabis strains help my patients enhance their productivity, stop the noise and excess chatter. There is also a lot of anxiety behind ADHD. Working with your health provider in creating a game plan on how to micro-dose cannabis throughout the day instead of chasing the ADHD and anxiety symptoms is helpful to avoid over-consumption. Check with your health provider before adding cannabis to your stimulant medication. It is possible to use cannabis mindfully; in a way to amplify the creativity and uniqueness of your brain activity and be more accepting of yourself.
2) How do you recommend cannabis use for trauma and PTSD, specifically intimate partner violence?
Topicals can be helpful especially if there was physical trauma involved. Topicals may ease tissue inflammation and localized relaxation can be achieved.
Some patients can experience hyper-vigilance, fear, and excessive feelings of panic if certain types of cannabis strains are used. Working with a psychotherapist and health professional may be helpful. It is important to not only use cannabis as a way to deal with trauma symptoms but to enhance and understand how you are experiencing trauma symptoms. Cannabis can be used to soothe yourself in conscious ways so that you can physiologically feel like you are in control.
I hope you can join me for the next HiVi monthly office hours in April!
Wishing you the Best in Health!
Dr. June Chin
Learn more about Dr. Chin and her practice here.
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