Typically, when we hear the term “post-traumatic stress disorder” (PTSD), we automatically think about veterans, who are often the most heavily impacted by the frightening effects of PTSD. But we know that PTSD can develop after a very stressful, frightening or distressing event, or after a prolonged traumatic experience.
Antuanette Gomez is a PTSD sufferer and while she experiences some of the “typical” PTSD symptoms like numbness, anxiety, and a mix of physical and mental issues, as a victim of sexual assault, she was also experiencing pain during intercourse and sexual anxiety as well. It was after listening to a doctor speak about CBD and PTSD at a Women Grow Summit, she started to truly understand the volume of people living every day in pain – not just physical, but mental. Her next step was to begin working with Soldiers of Creation, a gender inclusive resource center in Toronto that helps survivors of assault.
In the months after Gomez was raped, she used the center as a resource to learn about her own trauma and discovered that cannabis would become a pivotal catalyst for her own healing. She conquered sleepless nights by learning to calm her troubled mind – she has a vaporizer next to her bed, and finds that smoking/vaping cannabis was the fastest way for her rape-induced-PTSD anxiety at night.
Her low libido was a result of the shame and guilt from her rape, and sex was painful. She and her partner talked about the experience together and learned how to communicate. Unfortunately, that didn’t eliminate the physical pain she experienced during intercourse, and once again, cannabis provided a potential solution. Gomez tried cannabis suppositories, usually recommended for women with endometriosis and fibroids, and found they gave her back her sex drive, but also helped her reproductive system truly relax and she was elated.
Today, Gomez is the founder of Pleasure Peaks, a company specializing in Cannabis Pleasure Counselling among other services. They help people learn how cannabis can be used for pain, but also for “pleasure management.” Pleasure Peaks partners with Soldiers of Creation, who also call her an educator in their practice. Pleasure Peaks sells a “Sisters Pipe” for which 50% of each sale goes back to Soldiers of Creation. Gomez has found a way to not only get her life back, but make her negative experience one that makes her stronger AND fuels her career to help others.
To learn more about cannabis and sexual health, please visit the website below.
(Photo courtesy of Antuanette Gomez)
