Fast, Efficient Cannabis for Anxiety Prescription via Easy App

Cannabis for Anxiety: A Script Assist Patient Journey 

Meet Emily, a 28-year-old lawyer and medical cannabis patient 

In the heart of Central London, Emily, a 28-year-old lawyer sits at her desk. Now successfully using medical cannabis for anxiety, her journey to eventually conquering her personal struggles are reflective of a society at large coming to terms not only with the prevalence of psychiatric and neurological conditions, but the multitude of different treatment options available outside of traditional licensed medication (not only cannabis for anxiety), and the emerging body of evidence supporting these.  

Whether anxiety levels are indeed rising, or whether the taboo around seeking help for anxiety is in fact simply diminishing fast, recent statistics suggest that a huge number of the UK population live with anxiety daily.  

The Mental Health Foundation, for example, reports that up to around 60% of UK adults have experienced anxiety so bad in the last two weeks that it’s interfered with their daily tasks.

up to around 60% of UK adults have experienced anxiety so bad in the last two weeks that it’s interfered with their daily tasks.

Data suggests that anxiety is substantially higher in the younger age groups. The 16- to 29-year-old age bracket is the most likely to report symptoms of anxiety.

Gender disparities are also increasing, with women being increasingly more likely to suffer from anxiety than men. One study demonstrated that 37.1% of women reported high levels of anxiety versus 29.9% of men.

Gender disparities are also increasing, with women being increasingly more likely to suffer from anxiety than men. One study demonstrated that 37.1% of women reported high levels of anxiety versus 29.9% of men.

37.1% of women reported high levels of anxiety versus 29.9% of men.

Want To Learn More About Cannabis and Anxiety, Including a Review of the Scientific Evidence? Continue Reading.

Feeling anxious for the first time 

Emily was never an anxious teenager. She did great at school, but whilst at university in Birmingham studying History, she started to feel highly anxious before exams, which slowly turned into more persistent worries about her future and her career.  

Anxiety was something I don’t think I felt in any real sense until my second or third year at university. I remember staying up the entire night once worrying about what would happen if I failed my exams and couldn’t get a job

Emily

University was also the first time that Emily tried cannabis. At the start, cannabis helped her relax but she smoked too much on a couple of occasions and felt even more anxious. Since those first experiences, she didn’t really consider the effects of cannabis for anxiety until years later.  

The fact that small amounts of THC (the psychoactive compound in cannabis) seemed to help Emily’s anxiety, but larger amounts made her feel more anxious is something that we’ll return to later during our review of scientific evidence. 

However, data recently published in the Drug and Alcohol Dependence Journal showed that 7.5mg THC significantly reduced self-reported distress. By contrast, 12.5mg THC increased negative feelings.

Emerging data, as we’ll understand not only supported Emily though her journey to finding cannabis but sets the scene for an increasing number of private doctors in the UK prescribing cannabis for anxiety. 

Want to Find a Doctor That Can Prescribe Medical Cannabis for Anxiety?

Managing anxiety through law-school 

After university Emily took a year out, spending half her time helping her mum and dad out in the family business and the other half travelling around Europe by train. Having always had an incredible power of recall, she eventually decided she wanted to be a lawyer.   

It was during her one-year law conversation course, that her anxiety got quite a lot worse. The highly competitive environment combined with the long hours meant that she slept less and worried more. Practising mindfulness helped but she often found her overpowering anxieties made concentrating difficult.  

Her academic performance remained outstanding, meaning that nobody was too concerned about her when she mentioned she wasn’t sleeping too well. 

The first few months were hell. I constantly felt anxious about failing and studied far too hard as a result. I was always top of the class, but I was barely sleeping.

Emily

Emily, always known for enjoying a night out (her words not ours!), started to find herself drinking more and more, eventually drinking most days. 

At first, I justified it to myself as lovely way to try and unwind. I’d have a bath and a glass of wine after I’d finished studying in the evenings. But around the time of my exams, I’d be having another couple of glasses before I went to bed.

After her flatmate made a comment about the number of wine bottles stacking up in their kitchen, something triggered in Emily.   

I realised that I had pretty much become dependent on alcohol to get me to sleep and that I needed to get some help.

Emily went to her GP and for the first time started telling a healthcare professional about her journey. Emily’s GP quickly diagnosed her as having anxiety and prescribed her some SSRIs. After some initial side-effects, they worked well, and she sailed through most of the last half of the year. 

After feeling sick as cat for a few days, those anxiety meds changed my life. It was the first time since school really that I felt calm most of the time, and I slept wonderfully.

However, during her finals she started feeling anxious again, and her moods began to swing. 

It felt like I’d totally lost control of my emotions, and at the worst time possible. It was the first time that anyone close to me, apart from my mum and dad, started to see that something was going on that they didn’t clearly know about.

Emily felt as if she was coming apart. One of her friends suggested she’d go back with Emily to her GP, who prescribed her some benzodiazepines to help her get through her exams and referred her to a psychiatrist. Medical cannabis for anxiety was not yet even a remote possibly. 

The [benzodiazepines] worked brilliantly for me. My anxiety had always made me work hard, and when combined with feeling calm during my exams, I absolutely aced everything.

She knew, however, that benzodiazepines weren’t a long-term solution, and she needed to find something sustainable. Her psychiatrist at first tried switching her to a different SSRI, which worked well for a few weeks but then dropped off and then tried her on an anti-depressant.   

The [anti-depressant] totally knocked me out and was horrendous. I lay in bed exhausted thinking the weirdest thoughts. It was horrible.

Emily stopped taking her antidepressants, but this left her feeling helpless at a crucial time. 

In the middle of all this chaos I’d somehow managed to get a training contract at a London law firm. I came off all my meds two weeks before my first day.

Realising that Emily’s mental health wasn’t stable enough to withstand the highly competitive pressures of her training contract, her flat mate persuaded her that she needed to take some time out, no matter what. 

I called up the firm that had offered me a training contract and said I’d decided to go backpacking and could they please delay my start date. They pretty much told me to go to hell. Knowing what I know now, I should have just been honest, and it would have been fine.

Ready to Find a Doctor That Can Prescribe Medical Cannabis for Anxiety?

Taking a much-earned break 

With the pressure off Emily felt a great deal calmer but remained fragile and feeling like she needed a real break. 

In the end I did decide to go backpacking. I was pretty anxious in the run up to leaving London but kept telling myself that everything would be fine as soon as I was lying in a hammock in Vietnam.

She enjoyed her trip, only ever feeling anxious when she needed to move onto the next destination. 

I managed my anxieties pretty well whilst travelling. I found myself staying in places longer than most people would, because I was much happier just lying on the beach rather than worrying about where I was going to stay next and how to get there.

In Cambodia, Emily tried cannabis again.  

I was scared actually. When I tried cannabis in my first year of university it ended up being pretty bad for my anxiety, but I was in a hostel in Cambodia and about 6-foot from my bunk if I’d have needed to crash out!

Finding it relaxing and sociable Emily only ever used small amounts and discovered that cannabis for anxiety was something that she wanted to find out more about when she got back to the UK. 

I knew that medical cannabis was legal, but I had no idea if you could actually get cannabis for anxiety. I knew enough about anxiety and anxiety medication to know when something was working for me though.

Ready to Find a Doctor That Can Prescribe Medical Cannabis for Anxiety?

Emily’s first prescription for cannabis for anxiety 

Emily found a medical cannabis clinic online soon after she arrived back in London, and instantly found that she had a great connection with her psychiatrist. 

It was the first time I actually understood how many people used medical cannabis for anxiety, and that you didn’t need to smoke it or inhale it. My psychiatrist suggested that we start off only using a high CBD, low THC oil, starting with a low dose and slowly increasing over time if I needed to.

Emily found that the high CBD / low THC oil worked brilliantly for her, both reducing her overall anxiety levels and helping her sleep better. Since titrating up to a dose that worked for her, Emily has been on the same product, at the same dose for the last two-years.  

Although I still feel pretty anxious around certain trigger points, for example travel or client-deadlines, it’s never debilitating anymore. My sleep is almost always fine, and I live my life confident that my anxiety is properly under control.

Importantly, Emily much prefers the side effect profile when using cannabis for anxiety, rather than any if the prescriptions medication that she was prescribed previously. 

I don’t really have anything that I would actually call a negative side-effect from using medical cannabis. If I up my dose enough it would eventually increase my anxiety levels, but my dose has been stable for the last couple of years.

Ready to Find a Doctor That Can Prescribe Medical Cannabis for Anxiety?

Moving to Script Assist 

Whilst Emily found a product and dose that worked for her fairly quickly, she found the overall experience of being with a medical cannabis clinic rather frustrating, due to the frequency of errors, delays and out of stocks.  

The first clinic I was with kept getting my medication to me after I had already run out. To be fair I think they were pretty new, but they weren’t organised at all. The second clinic I was with let me down so badly over Christmas one year that I kept my eye out for an easier solution.

In June 2023 Emily connected with a Script Assist doctor and has since enjoyed a totally seamless patient experience. 

Script Assist changed my entire experience. I no longer have to worry about whether or not my medical cannabis prescription is going to turn up on time. I simply request my repeat through the app, which my doctor accepts. A couple of days later the App prompts me to pay and if I pay in the afternoon then I receive my medication the next morning, even over Christmas!

Here at Script Assist we’re extremely proud of helping patients like Emily, using cannabis for anxiety, receive their prescription hassle and stress-free, month-after-month. 

Want to Find a Private Doctor For a Medical Cannabis Prescription for Anxiety?