Mental Health Day(s) and a short story (Change is Change)

What is a mental health day(s)? We’re familiar with the term sick days; assuming that one is physically ill and cannot attend to their work duties. But what about mental health days? Are they a practice in your organization? Are people comfortable saying, “I need to take a mental health day”, without being afraid of stigmatization, and being treated differently. How do you know you need a mental health day?

“I don’t have any (diagnosed) mental health issues, so I don’t need mental health days”

… but what about times your levels of stress are through the roof, you feel down, not yourself, it’s getting worst every day, you find it hard to get motivated or be effective at your job and daily living…

You may need to take a mental health day or two, or more.. as many as you need! Call it what you want, but take time to bring yourself to a balanced state of mind. Mental Health days are not just for those who are diagnosed with mental health issues!

Mental health applies to EVERYONE!

 

Right here is where I ramble on for story time. Preface: I live in Canada and I work in the field of Social Work. This is important to note, because it is relatively easier for me to talk about mental health related issues openly and without fear of judgment. Self-care practices are incorporated in our work life and encouraged in our daily life. At work, we have a committee that focuses on self-care education, and organizing self-care activities.

 

About a year ago, I was suddenly thrown out of balance in the sense that many changes were happening, and they were happening quickly, all at once. There was no time to process, or adapt. Mind you, the most of the changes were good, some neutral, and some not so good, Keep in mind that change is change, no matter the context. It could be great change, like say, a promotion that you’ve been waiting for, or a newborn baby (or puppy)! All sound like great things, but change means adapting to, or finding a new normal.

 

When all these changes were happening to me, and around me, it took me time to process, and maybe I wasn’t processing. I found it more difficult to focus on work, and be effective at my job. This is a problem! As a social worker, I need to be well to be able to help others through their process of change. But I wasn’t well.I thought I’d just wait it out as usual, but little things were getting to me. Bare in mind that I’ve had years of experience struggling with depression and anxiety, so I thought, it comes and goes… but it didn’t quite go. I started to feel like I was going to have panic attacks, my body was tensed to the point I was in excruciating pain for weeks.

 

One evening, while I was facilitating an anger management group program with a colleague, I felt my body telling me that a panic attack might be coming on. I left the room and took a few minutes to myself. I think I cried, I don’t remember. I went right to my Manager, and said, “I think I’m burning out”. She looked at me, clearly shocked. (In her mind, I was usually the one that colleagues went to when things weren’t going well, but in such a supportive environment/family, we all went to each other). She took a few moments and said, “Well then, we’ll have to figure something out”. She used the word “we”, letting me know that I wasn’t alone in this.

Note: My manager knew I was talking about Compassion Fatigue and Vicarious Trauma. In addition, she knew about an incident that had recently happened to a client of mine, and other events that were changing in my personal life.

We both agreed to reflect and discuss this issue in depth at a later time.

 

After reflection, I decided that I needed a break, but at the same time knew that completely removing myself from work would cause more stress. (I love the work I do). I approached her with a plan; a three day work week. We discussed what that would entail, and how my responsibilities would be altered during this time. I then spoke to my doctor and got a note. My manager went above and beyond to make sure I was not getting a pay-cut, and advised that I would be able to use my sick days and vacation days if needed to make up for the time I was missing. So for three months, I worked a three day week, and then a four day week for a month after to ease into the normal five day work week that I have. My manager, and collegaues were all very supportive and continued to check-in with me.

 

Back to this week….

I felt something coming on. I wasn’t feeling myself again, so I decided I need to take a day! I called in sick, and I thought to myself, I want my Manager to know that I’m being proactive and taking a mental health day. This needs to be normalized.

This was the email correspondence between us.

In two sentences, she gave me reassurance, showed empathy and genuine care, for me as a person, and then an employee.

I am truly blessed to have this kind so support at work, and in my personal life.

 

In addition to taking a day off, I let some of my friends know that I wasn’t doing too well, and if I seemed distant or unresponsive it was me taking time I needed. They were all unsurprisingly supportive, and check-in appropriately until they were sure I was doing better. This doesn’t only happen when I’m down, but ALL THE TIME. I am truly blessed.

 

My boyfriend, Lance, was amazing! He had the day off and we spent it together. He put in effort to understanding how I felt, and somehow just knowing what I needed from him that day. He always takes such good care of me, and respects my emotions, even when they are all over the place!

 

I am just so grateful. I feel blessed.

 

 

 

The Weed Trinity

Hi(gh) There!

So in my earlier blog I was rambling on about knowing your weed. It is the best way to get the most out of your weed.

Weed is so diverse and multi-layered. So for personal use, I break it down to the 3 most important factors that I’ve deduced with countless nights of endless research. Fine I just thought of it right now.

Oh right.. note: I’m writing this post under the impression that you, dear user/reader/human-bean, have access to medical/legal marijuana and are able to choose strains to purchase. For those of you buying weed off the kid down the block, you don’t really have choices, but this information is good to know too. 🙂

Anyway, to recap from the last post because you probably didn’t read it, here it is… The Big 3, The High-three, The Three Commandments, The Burning Three (like the burning bush..heheh), ooo… post in comments if you have names for this. I’m sure it’ll be better than anything I came up with.. but for now, let’s just call it..

The Weed Trinity:

1. THC/CBD %

THC: the stuff that gets you high

CBD: doesn’t get you high but has amazing medicinal properties!

Let’s start with THC; the stuff that gets you high. So the first thing to do is know your tolerance. my tolerance is pretty low, so something with a lower THC percentage (in my opinion lower than 12%) gets me high, but I’m still able to function relatively as per usual (so not that great). anything between 12% – 18% is pretty mid range. And anything over 18% is pretty high I suppose. But these are really just my experience. note that even though my tolerance is low, I do smoke/ consume anything between 0-27% THC depending on what I’m using it for. so basically this section is pointless and self-explanatory but I rambled anyway because that’s what I do.

Conclusion: High THC%, the higher you get! (you’re welcome for this insightful insight!)

Ok.. Let’s go to the stuff I really love; CBD.

“Why do you love it if it doesn’t get you high?”, you ask. For someone like me who can’t really function while high, CBD is a LIFE SAVER! I use weed mostly for medical reasons, so CBD helps reduce my anxiety, stabilize my mood (yes, my psychiatrist says that my mood is not stable… I’d be offended if he wasn’t so darn accurate!), increases energy, reduces pain, and so on. The uses of CBD are not limited to those I’ve listed.

I call CBD an “Anti-everything+ “

I’m not going to go into all it’s uses and how it acts as  tumor/cancer prevention and so on, but I urge you to do a quick Google search that would tell you all the crazy amazing health benefits. I’m not even anywhere close to being health conscious but the amount of benefits… blows my mind!

I have CBD in both oil form and dry herb. Oil just takes longer to activate, where else vapourizing or smoking is instantaneous. I prefer the oils because it’s easier to use especially when at work, and I find the effects longer lasting.

So to wrap up this section that I thought was going to be way shorter, watch for the percentages. Use different percentages throughout the day for different levels of high… Yes, I stick by that sentence. Oh and one more thing…. there are strains that are low/high, and strains that are balanced, so you get a nice balance of THC and CBD. I prefer the balanced strains for day use.

 

       2. Sativa/ Hybrid/ Indica

Short version:

Sativa: Let’s get active! So it’s more of an upper in a sense. Use it when you want to move around, get creative (I find that some strains are really good for creativity), it’s uplifting. The only thing I’m cautious about because I do struggle with anxiety, is that if I’m not being active, smoking a higher THC sativa can cause anxiety and paranoia, and a sense of restlessness. So definitely a go to when you want to be up and about. I find these great for morning/ day use.

Hybrid: A combination. Watch for dominance; sativa or indica dominant. It’s nice in a sense that it gets you up and going, and then mellows out. so it’s usually perfect for evening use, and then mellowing out into the night.

Indica: ‘Sleepy time weed’ as I call it. I sometimes have trouble sleeping and a high THC indica that mellows me out and hugs me like a cloud is ideal! I use it mostly for sleep, but it’s also great if you’re relaxing on the couch, and winding down for the day.

 

3. Method of Ingestion

So we have a few methods going on… I’m going to break it down to inhalation and oral ingestion. Note that the way you ingest weed has affect on the psychoactive effects. For example, smoking usually gives you more of a head high, but vapourizing and oral ingestion usually produces more of a body high.

Inhalation

So here we have every method of smoking, and vaping. Using a vapourizer is said to be the safest form of inhalation. I don’t really have anything to say here other than don’t burn stuff especially if you;’re smoking indoors or in bed. I say this from experience, knowing how easy it is to burn holes in your sheets/mattress. Also, NEVER forget to fill your bong with water; OUCH. And when you’re hitting the bong, inhale appropriately so you don’t get disgusting bong water in your mouth and out your nose; this actually didn’t happen to me! But it did happen to someone i knew. No one could help because we were all falling off the chairs (and deck) laughing. Oh well. Just be safe is my point!

Oral Ingestion

You know how people say, “you can’t overdose on marijuana!”. Technically you can. You get really sick. Just ask a friend who ate 5 magic cookies because “nothing (was) happening!”. He ended up puking for 24 hours. Not fun.

Be patient. It can take up to an hour to start feeling the psychoactive effects of edibles/ oils.

 

I’m just gonna make a quick note about CBD oils and using them topically.  I sometimes put it in my hair and in my scalp. I don’t know if it does anything but my hair feels soft. Keep in mind that CBD does have anti bacterial, anti-inflammatory, etc. properties that could help with some dermal issues, but look into it more if you’re planning to use it.

And… If you’re feeling adventurous, try a little bit, just a little, during intimate times. yup. O.

 

The End.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why Isn’t This Weed Getting Me High?

Why Isn’t This Weed Getting me High?

So picture this…  it’s a quiet evening. You sprawl out on your couch with the television playing a mindless show in the background. You pick up a beautifully rolled joint. You admire the great job you did rolling it. You baptize it. Spark it. And you start smoking. You keep smoking and smoking and smoking… till your living room is partially hot-boxed.

You then ask yourself the most important question you’ve ever asked in your entire life…..

Why Isn’t This Weed Getting Me High?

One of two things could be happening here.

1. You’re smoking oregano (apparently that happens!)

OR

b. You’re smoking weed that contains high CBD and low THC.

Either way it sucks because you’re not getting high.

 

To avoid unfortunate situations such as this, you need to

KNOW YOUR WEED!

Due to the complexity of weed and scientific jargon that I cannot comprehend or pronounce, I’m going to break it down to the basics. In my opinion, there are 3 important variables when choosing your strain. Please note that the following are mostly personal opinions, not fact, but can be considered fact because my opinions are high valuable, in my opinion.

Anyway here it is…

The 3 most important factors when choosing the right strain for the right purpose.

1. THC/ CBD %
2. Sativa/ Hybrid/ Indica
3. Method of consumption

 

Follow my blog for specifics on ‘The Weed Trinity’. I should be writing this blog at some point, soon-ish.