Patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) who use medical marijuana report that treatment alleviates anxiety, helps establish regular sleep patterns, and stabilizes mood swings.
Medical Marijuana and PTSD
Patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) who use medical marijuana report that treatment alleviates anxiety, helps establish regular sleep patterns, and stabilizes mood swings.
Florida patients are eligible to receive a medical marijuana recommendation for PTSD
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a severe anxiety disorder that patients may develop after seeing or experiencing something distressing, such as an assault, combat, accident, or natural disaster. The brain’s normal fight-or-flight response becomes altered and the patient continues to feel stressed and anxious long after the event.
According to the National Center for PTSD, about seven to eight percent of the population will experience PTSD at some point in their lives. Approximately eight million adults have PTSD during any given year.
The course of PTSD varies. Symptoms typically begin within three months of the traumatic incident, but can sometimes start years later. Symptoms must last more than one month and be severe enough to interfere with relationships or work to be considered PTSD.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, patients must demonstrate the following for at least one month to receive a PTSD diagnosis:
Re-experiencing symptoms include:
Avoidance symptoms include:
Arousal and reactivity symptoms include:
Cognition and mood symptoms include:
Multiple studies and countless PTSD patient testimonials champion medical marijuana’s ability to soothe anxiety, calm aggression, alleviate sleep disorders, and stabilize mood swings.
Several studies speak to the potential of cannabidiol (CBD) – a nonpsychoactive marijuana compound – and its ability to counteract anxiety. As New York University psychiatrist and researcher Esther Blessing summarizes:
“I think there’s good evidence to suggest that CBD could be an effective treatment of anxiety…”
According to psychiatrist Sue Sisley:
“I think the most intriguing thing is that a single plant can provide monotherapy for this whole constellation of [PTSD] symptoms.”
Research suggests PTSD patients may be deficient in anadamine, an endogenous cannabinoid compound. This deficiency could skew performance of cannabinoid receptor CB-1, which is charged with deactivating traumatic memories and helping us to forget.
Scientists claim CBD delays the re-uptake of anadamine and its inhibition by certain enzymes. Surprisingly, that’s not all.
A 2016 Frontiers in Pharmacology study found that CBD may also reduce learned fear – a condition that triggers the fight or flight response at inappropriate times – by decreasing fear expression, disrupting memory reconsolidation, and enhancing extinction (the process by which exposure therapy inhibits learned fear).
Now Florida patients can use medical marijuana treatment to help with PTSD
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