Cannabis for Grief Management
As someone who has experienced a deep personal loss and found relief through regular cannabis use in subsequent years, I am very interested in the correlation between cannabis and grief management.
Through my own experience, I have come to understand how useful cannabis can be to those navigating a substantial loss. Cannabis allows us to face our new reality with less of the pain and trauma associated with the current moment.
When you’re in the depths of grief, it can feel as though you’re going to be trapped forever. Cannabis can help you to move forward.
When someone we love passes away, many people (and I struggled with this myself) can turn to alcohol to try to dull the pain of a loss. This approach tends to further alienate someone and does not contribute to high personal performance, so over time, drinking due to grief can unintentionally result in loss of control over areas of one’s life.
When I went through my darkest time, months after my friend passed - I felt as if I was just trying to make it from moment to moment, and alcohol was all too tempting because, in my mind, it was an option through which I could “turn off” my brain and my severe, messed up emotions. However, while drinking during nights and evenings would sometimes dull the pain, it was not serving me well in other areas of my life (work success, health, relationships, etc). I remember feeling as if my problems were just piling-on, one after the other, and I just couldn’t catch a break.
After one particularly painful day at work, I went to the doctor to chat with a professional and discuss options for moving forward. I left the doctor’s office with his approval to use cannabis to help deal with my grief, and I was optimistic about the potential to get through the moment in a way that helped me to appropriately remember and honor my friend but also maintain my other commitments.
This transition was a game-changer for me. In retrospect, I can look back at that moment and point to some of the good things that happened afterward - including a work promotion, getting engaged, and a renewed focus on my health and subsequent weight loss - as a direct result of me deciding to kick the booze and opt for cannabis to get through that period.
Using cannabis to help manage grief is a very self-compassionate approach. For me, the quote that is currently on the homepage of this blog really encapsulates what cannabis is able to help facilitate. “Cannabis is like a mirror in that she will show you your true self and hold your hand as your fix yourself.” Getting high doesn’t allow you to avoid your problems, but rather lessens the pain and trauma anxiety, allowing you to review your situation head-on and thoughtfully consider how to move forward. It’s amazing.
Check out my recent podcast interview on the Functional Potheads Podcast, in which host Lotta and I talk about grief and how cannabis helped me traverse tragedy: Goodness Grief
There is a lot of buzz on the internet about the ways that cannabis can help with managing grief. This article in Tonic discusses the grief journey of multiple women who have used cannabis to help them traverse the difficult time after the loss of a loved one. Many of their insights line up with my own experience with cannabis for grief management. One women who had lost her mother shared this, “What I love about cannabis is that it keeps me positive, keeps me focused on the good and not the bad. It's definitely a balancer rather than making you ‘not feel.’ I think it just helps you kind of identify what those feelings are and think about them in a different way.”
This, in my mind, touches on the root of why cannabis is so gracious for those who are experiencing intense feelings of loss - when you’re “high”, you’re not tuning out what happened, but you’re able to look upon the situation with less judgement and sadness. It enables you to find acceptance and become more accustomed to your new reality without feeling prickly and scary.
If you are going through a difficult moment of grief, I am so sorry for your loss. Virtual hugs! Please feel free to comment/reach out if you’re interested in learning more about cannabis for grief… I feel like we might have a lot to talk about <3