What is Post-Traumatic Stress?

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a chronic psychiatric condition that occurs after exposure to a traumatic, life-threatening event(s). Being on the front lines of combat, veterans and their families are no strangers to the debilitating effects of PTSD, or to the fact that conventional medications have historically been ineffective in treating this complex condition.

Enter Cannabidiol (CBD), the molecule that is anything but “conventional.” We started CBD Path because we’ve seen firsthand how CBD has impacted the lives of our loved ones during their struggles with uncomfortable aspects of PTSD: from insomnia and nightmares to anxiety, flashbacks and intrusive thoughts and feelings of guilt and avoidance.

Veterans and PTSD

According to the U.S Department for Veterans Affairs (V.A.), between 11-20% of veterans in recent wars suffer from PTSD— more than twice that of the civilian population. The severity of the condition varies over time, and it can linger long after service in combat has ended.

In a 2016 patient survey, over half of the veteran population surveyed reported taking five or more medications for treatment, with a subset of veteran respondents taking as many as 11 different medications. And most of these are laden with harmful side effects that worsen the condition and prolong its hold on our loved ones.

Conventional treatments (and why they don’t work)

Antidepressants are the most commonly prescribed treatment for PTSD sufferers, yet only 18% of veterans taking antidepressants reported any improvement in their symptoms. In many cases, pharmaceutical drugs can make PTSD symptoms, such as anxiety, sleeplessness, and nightmares even worse.

Other drugs prescribed for PTSD include narcotics, mood stabilizers, anticonvulsants, sleep medications, and even tranquilizers. None of these medications interact with the Endocannabinoid System (ECS), which is partially responsible for reconciling and sorting emotional memories. CBD on the other hand, does.

How CBD might help

While research is still developing in this area, the patient study mentioned above found that veterans overwhelmingly found relief from all five major PTSD symptom categories using CBD- rich cannabis (hemp). Of course, this is only one study, and doesn’t qualify as clinical evidence, but it is a promising start. Other pre-clinical studies (that we’ll link to below) have opened the doors to rigorous scientific inquiry into this molecule.

• Recent research has uncovered a link between the endocannabinoid system (ECS) and emotional memory processing, a function that is typically hijacked by PTSD.
• CBD acts like a chemical messenger that lets the brain know what the body is missing. It sends signals by interacting with a number of channels in the ECS system. Among researchers in the field, ECS is believed to be implicated in the body’s anti-depressive, anti-anxiety, and pain-relieving mechanisms.
• CBD may reduce cortisol (the stress hormone) levels that tend to be chronically elevated in PTSD patients.
• CBD is of interest to researchers for its potential addiction-combating properties.

Check out our dosing guidelines for more information on how to start your journey with our CBD products.

Read more:

National Institute of Mental Health PTSD fact sheet

Effect of cannabidiol on plasma prolactin, growth hormone and cortisol in human volunteers

Cannabidiol in the Treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Case Series

Cannabidiol as a Therapeutic Alternative for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder: From Bench Research to Confirmation in Human Trials

2016 Care by Design PTSD Patient Survey

Treating PTSD with CBD

Department of Veterans Affairs PTSD basics

Cannabidiol as an Intervention for Addictive Behaviors: A Systematic Review of the Evidence