About six years ago, some colleagues and I published research that indicated that increased time on the social media platform, Facebook, was linked to depressive symptoms among young people. The studies, which served as the basis for the article, were, of course, not conducted during a major global pandemic. So even during the best of times when the economy is booming and people feel relatively safe, they tended to suffer from mental health consequences as a result of spending too much time on social media.
I didn't seek entrepreneurship in the THC-Free CBD business at first. It was something my partner, who is an addiction physician, nudged me towards while working in corporate America. When the coronavirus hit, we saw our friends and family suffering from anxiety and stress due to job loss, staying at home, lack of exercise, and uncertainty. We knew we had to do something to help, without relying on medication. If you go to a doctor and complain about anxiety, stress or depression, he/she will probably recommend medication as the first line of treatment. They bypass natural remedies, because they don't teach about them in medical school. That is where the problem lies with most people. We identified a problem where doctors did not look at viable alternative treatments and we wanted to change that.
I've been in extended isolation before with nine months of temperatures hovering around minus 35 degrees, blizzards, and months of inescapable darkness. The lack of privacy, the mundane nature of the days, and the interpersonal pressure of living with 17 other people was extraordinary.
Since I can remember, I have always had anxiety, and travel brought it out in full force when it came to packing for a trip. Until recently, my control freak process always involved pulling out my suitcase a week in advance, building a check off list with quantities, and planning out two times the number of outfits that I actually needed on the trip. This process made me feel safe.
What we are going through as a nation and a world is completely unprecedented in our lifetime. Other than finding reputable advice on COVID-19 from the CDC and WHO, we are all looking to one another for support to create a daily road map for this uncharted territory we are all traversing with high anxiety. Everyday, we are stuck wondering how we will get through this experience and questioning if we are making the right decisions or not. It is nervewracking. I know these feelings well, as I endured them for more than a year after the onset of PTSD back in 2016.
If you're feeling stressed by the current global crisis, you're not alone. After all, our sense of normalcy has been upended almost overnight. Health worries, economic fears, "social distancing," and uncertainty about the future have created in many of us a sense of deep unease. Add to that a 24/7 news cycle focused almost exclusively on the latest information (or misinformation) about the crisis, and it can start to seem like everything is spinning out of control.