Table of Contents
Table of Content
PTSD is short for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, a condition that is estimated to affect 10% of people at some point during their life.
It is a chronic psychiatric condition that can develop after experiencing a potentially traumatic event and can have a wide range of symptoms, including sleep issues, mood and emotional disturbance and flashbacks.
What is PTSD?
One mental health condition brought on by a stressful experience is post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Long-term or recurring trauma is linked to complex PTSD (CPTSD). In addition to PTSD symptoms, people with CPTSD may also have other symptoms.
Four categories are used to classify symptoms:
- avoidance
- invasive recollections
- adverse shifts in mood and thought patterns
- alterations in emotional and physical responses
These include memory issues, sadness, anxiety, sleeplessness, flashbacks, nightmares, avoiding discussing or thinking about the traumatic experience, and violent conduct.
Use of other pharmacological therapies for PTSD?
Many pharmacological therapies (usually anxiolytics and antidepressants) for those suffering from PTSD (including KLORIS Co-Founder Pedram) have been fairly limited, inefficient or come with unpleasant side effects.
Some of these side effects can include nausea, blurred vision, constipation and diarrhoea, and some medications, such as Paroxetine, can result in withdrawal symptoms, including sleep disturbances, intense dreams, anxiety and irritability if stopped.
The Endocannabinoid system has already been shown to play an important role in the regulation of emotional behaviour, so it follows that investigation into the effects of compounds like CBD, which interact with this system, would be interesting for PTSD researchers, especially given the good safety profile of CBD.
Benefits of CBD for PTSD
Indeed, some recent studies on rodent behaviours and a small-scale human trial have shown that CBD can help process the eradication of traumatic and painful memories and block them from reconsolidating. More expansive human trials for this are now pending.
There is much excitement amongst veterans of war, victims of sexual trauma and other traumatised people suffering the harrowing symptoms of PTSD that this much-needed research could show further positive potential for CBD due to its effect on the human Endocannabinoid system.
For references see:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6066583/
