How to Overcome the 'Sunday Scaries' with CBD

There's a certain kind of stress that descends before the work week begins. The weekend fun has vanished, and the weekdays ahead seem filled with business, bills, appointments, and other obligations. That anticipation can bring on the "Sunday scaries," a specific nervousness that can sometimes haunt the rest of the week.

Fortunately, studies show that CBD (cannabidiol) has promise for addressing such stressors, and related conditions like insomnia and stress relief.

And one CBD company is boldly owning the agita of Monday's impending doom by using its very name. Sunday Scaries launched in 2017 with a laser focus on how CBD may help with mental health and emotional difficulties. And it's doing so with a message of honesty, humor, and a hefty dose of community spirit.

From Scary to "Scarefree"
Friends and business partners Mike Sill and Beau Schmitt co-founded Sunday Scaries after co-owning a restaurant and bar together in San Diego's Hillcrest neighborhood. They found themselves overworked and constantly stressed out.

Sill recalls that working six days a week left him spinning and unable to enjoy his sole day off. When he called his hard-working sister Caroline, she related and told him it was a case of the Sunday scaries.

"We both realized we just couldn't relax," says Sill. "We constantly had all the stuff going on in our heads about who we should be as people, how we were performing, and how we should do better. Basically, we were our own worst critics. But I found it comforting that she was dealing with this too, and she was able to put it into words that I immediately just got."

When a friend introduced Sill and Schmitt to CBD, they found a new sense of calm and relaxation. It didn't take long for the pair to start exploring the hemp-derived compound legalized by the 2014 Farm Bill (and expanded by the 2018 Farm Bill).

They soon discovered the business opportunity for a specific new take on CBD, taking a fun, personable approach to dark issues.

"Sunday Scaries has two main taglines," says Sill. "The first one is 'Don't worry; you're not alone.' It's about mental health awareness because people think they're suffering alone, but they're actually not. [We believe that] as long as you can go out there and find ways to make yourself laugh and build connections with other humans, you can understand that problems like low self-esteem and excessive worrying are very common. I think 40 million Americans suffer from anxiety, and those are just the ones that are diagnosed."

"We also have the tagline 'CBD For a Scarefree Life.' So instead of 'carefree,' it's 'Scarefree,' and that's because life can be so scary," says Sill.

Stress Monsters vs. Gummy Bears
The Sunday Scaries online store takes the brand ethos to the next level, with fun fonts, bright colors, and direct tag lines that get to the heart of the brand, like, "Enjoy your days like you enjoy your coffee: without a nervous freaking breakdown."

It's like your funny BFF is explaining CBD's benefits by translating it into a real-life scenario. There's even a Scary Quiz to help you zero in on the best product for you – and yes, it involves the Seven Dwarfs, superpowers, and the Spice Girls.

So why the monster style?

"Anxiety itself is this bold, striking dark shadow; a monster in the closet that seems really scary," says Sill. "So that's how we styled the Sunday Scaries packaging. You have this fearful logo; it's black, it's scary, like how we perceive anxiety. But if you honestly look into anxiety, it's really all in your head. Like you're working up nerve-racking scenarios that may not even exist, and that's what's scaring you.

"So, what we put on the outside of our bottles and bags is this juxtaposition, where from the outside, this is a scary thing. But when you open the package, you find playful, multicolored gummy bears, and it's like, 'Oh, it's not so bad.' That's our ode to people opening up and our effort to help shine a light on mental health awareness," says Sill.

Unwind, Feel Better, Be Your True Self
Every Sunday Scaries oil, gummy, and edible is THC-free ("broad-spectrum"), so you won't have any psychoactive high. And products like the flagship Sunday Scaries CBD Gummies, Vegan AF CBD Gummies, and fruity punch-flavored CBD oil also include D3 and B12 vitamins.

"We did a ton of research and worked with our formulators to figure out how we could incorporate other vitamins to make people feel energized, and also to try to amplify the effects of CBD," says Sill. "Vitamin D is sometimes called the 'sunshine vitamin' and can help with energy and focus. And B12 has also been known to help destress."

The brand also sells Unicorn Jerky, candies with 10mg of CBD in each little sugar-coated rainbow flag. Admittedly, the Unicorn Jerky is upbeat and colorful. Better still, $1 of each pouch sold is donated to the Trevor Project, the LGBTQ suicide hotline, in honor of Mike's sister Julia, who passed away in 2011.

"It's our way of reminding people to be their awesome selves, no matter how they're born or how they choose to live their lives," says Sill. "We hope we can help them express their true feelings and ultimately eliminate their self-doubt."

Ready to shake off the Sunday Scaries? Visit sundayscaries.com.
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