Concentration, Anxiety, CBD & the Writer
The old adage “write drunk, edit sober” doesn’t hold much water in the current culture of Dry January and #soberlife. It’s no longer a romantic thought, the lonely writer holed up in their flat, drinking bottle after bottle of gin while tapping out their masterpiece.
Maybe it’s because we’re all trapped inside due to a raging pandemic, or that we now know the negative effects of excessive alcohol consumption on sleep, skin, mental health, damn near everything, but more and more writers are looking for alternative solutions to their concentration and anxiety problems.
Whether you are a freelancer, fiction writer, or on your way to writing the next great screenplay, writers often suffer from anxiety and self-doubt. Deadlines looming and that home office closing in around us cause productivity to lag, furthering the anxiety surrounding our craft.
Believe it or not, humans aren’t meant to normalize to constant negative stress. Stress sets off a chain reaction in the brain that ends in the “fight-or-flight” response that includes “increased heart rate, heightened senses, a deeper intake of oxygen and the rush of adrenaline”. Normally, after this response, cortisol is released which helps restore the energy lost in this exertion. These days though, we are suspended in this high-alert state more frequently and for longer periods. This can be contributed to the state of the world, the constant access to negative information, and the regularity of “doom-scrolling.”
Considering what occurs in our brains during that chain reaction to stress, it is no mystery as to why it becomes more difficult to sit down and concentrate on the writing projects at hand. It is difficult enough to have to explore the dark corners of our minds for concepts, story lines, characters, and conflict (for those writing creatively) without having the shortness of breath and haze-brain that settles after that hour of rage-Tweeting. It is a high enough challenge to properly research and cite the current Freelance project assigned with a 24-hour deadline without finding our eyes drifting off into the distance, trying to remember the last time we socialized with another human being face-to-face.
If the boys from the Beat Generation needed alcohol to formulate a thought, imagine what they’d need nowadays.
How Can CBD Help With Anxiety?
While CBD (Cannabidiol) has a ways to go in the research department to connect its effectiveness with anxiety and concentration, I can say personally that it has helped me greatly in my writing life and through moments when my mind seems to be overreacting to over-stimulation and worried thoughts.
The properties in CBD bind specifically to the serotonin receptor that is said to be responsible for anxiety disorders, and helps regulate our endocannabinoid (ECD) system, an area that is negatively affected by stress, and aids in the release of tension and anxiety.
CBD is often confused with THC, and while they both have the exact same molecular structure, and are found in the Cannabis plant, it’s the difference in how the atoms are arranged that determine the effect on the body. CBD does not provide the psychoactive effect that THC does, but can help with pain relief, stress reduction, sleep, and tension.
Some of that tension can cause fatigue, which you will have experienced if, two hours after waking up, you feel a strong need for a nap. The need to push past that fatigue with more work causes a lack of focus, and the snake continues to eat it’s tail with a
pattern —
Stress over productivity begets anxiety, begets fatigue, begets lack of concentration, begets stress over productivity and, well, you know the drill.
For a writer to sit down and focus it can seem like we need an unattainable amount of peace and quiet. This isn’t always likely, but it is downright impossible if our minds are the main source of unrest. This is a part of the reason I don’t turn to alcohol for clarity, as it provides anything but. Alcohol is a depressant, and can further the downward spiral despite feeling in the moment that it is helping. CBD works to calm my mind and help focus my thoughts to provide a smooth landing for the task at hand.
Who Do I Turn To?
The newest line of CBD products that I’ve discovered and fallen in love with is Seabedee. This is a company built from the ground up by two friends whose insistence on quality and perfection have helped Seabedee stand out amongst a sea of other CBD companies.
Their CBD is made from organically grown hemp on US farms and contain less than .3% THC, giving maximum CBD benefits without the psychoactive effects. Seabedee offers oils, edibles, and capsules, as well as beauty products and animal treats. Look for reviews shortly!