CBD for PTSD: How to Effectively Deal with It

Seven out of every ten people you will meet today have experienced a traumatic event in their life.

It could be anything from losing a loved to sexual abuse and even the dark treacherous world of military combat.

At first glance, they are regular people with dreams and hopes. Regular people, safe from the burden of their experiences. About two of these seven people will suffer PTSD or are suffering from this.

PTSD also known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, is triggered by a terrifying event.

Symptoms could develop a month or even years after the event. After such events, anyone would have trouble adjusting to normal life.

The situation crosses over from difficulty to adjusting into PTSD when the situation persists for months and symptoms interfere with everyday life.

Not to mention, the symptoms will also worsen with time especially if they are left untreated.

The first thing you may notice with PTSD is the constant flashbacks. You will constantly think back to that day when you experienced or witnessed a traumatic event.

It will consume your entire life.

You will experience physical reactions all over again like goose bumps due to fear. It will be like the event is happening all over again. The fear and experience never dulls, it only gets more vivid.

Another symptom will be avoidance of places or situations. For example if an accident happened at a specific place, you will avoid that route.

You might even avoid getting in cars and only use bikes and the train.

It will be inconvenient but in your head, you will think that avoiding this thing will prevent recurrence. This is not healthy as it means you are not facing your fear, and instead your fear is paralyzing you.

PTSD patients are prone to behavioral changes. Such as becoming a more short-tempered person, or you might develop self-consciousness or a low self-esteem.

You may even lose interest in things you used to love because you just cannot find the motivation anymore.

Your brain is so overloaded with fear and thoughts of the event that there is no energy or room for adhering to social ethics.

These symptoms will bring about insomnia and nightmares.

Lack of sleep will of course make you even crankier than you usually are which only works to worsen the situation.

You might also suffer depression and develop suicidal thoughts.

In fact, the world loses a good number of the brave men and women of the military to suicide. Which is an astounding statistic.

This issue requires more attention especially with Veterans Day a few months away.

A study was done to look into the neural symptoms of PTSD. It was found that PTSD patients had a dysfunctional glutamate system.

It was concluded that the metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 would be an effective therapeutic avenue for PTSD.

Science has proven that CBD is an effective influencer of glutamate action, by affecting glutamate synaptic plasticity and memory formation.

This is great news but requiring of more scientific backing. It is promising especially with the adverse side effects of current PTSD treatments.

Combating Anxiety and Depression

PTSD is a form of anxiety, that stems from an anxiety about a past event and the fear can be paralyzing to say the least.

According to an NIH study, CBD is effective for reducing anxiety.

CBD triggers the action of anandamide, which is a endocannabinoid that is responsible for curbing anxiety.

It provides a brief moment of bliss that allows you to look at the situation without the cloak of fear blinding your perception.

The 5-HT1A receptor is responsible for production of serotonin, which is another helping agent in clearing the anxiety fog.

CBD also triggers GABA, which is an inhibitory neurotransmitter that provides a calming effect.

Once the anxious feelings have cleared, you can even calm yourself off the edge into complete PTSD oblivion.

The same processes are applicable in ensuring you do not slip into depression.

Depression will bring about by feelings of despair that will usually come with PTSD, but the depression can also be brought about by a lack of a support system.

With CBD, a support system might not be entirely necessary, as the negative thoughts will be abated. CBD brings on a more uplifting mood, by bringing about feelings of well being and joy.

Suicide is usually the last step. Society is doing a better job at handling depression than it did before. There is more support now but a lot still needs to be done to ensure that patients have enough and that they never find their way to the noose.

With CBD reducing the emotional impact of past events, if you are suffering from PTSD you will be able to focus on getting past all of it.

Sleep Better

There are several reasons why you would be unable to sleep well with PTSD. The first is the constant flashbacks and nightmares.

To take care of that problem, scientists have come up with a way to get rid of learned fear to inhibit retention of aversive memories.

It is called extinction learning.

This is the gradual decrease in response to conditional stimuli. CBD has been found to be a great contributor to this mechanism.

It is done through regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, which is known to be riddled with endocannabinoid receptors.

Some Israeli scientists injected cannabinoid agonists into the amygdale to help support this stance.

It was found that there was a reduction in corticosterone (scary stressor marker). It was therefore concluded that the endocannabinoid system is a viable avenue for extinction learning.

CBD can also reduce the REM sleep stage. It is at this stage of sleep that nightmares and other vivid dreams happen.

A study in Canada with 47 test subjects, had 34 of them experience reduced or completely ceased nightmares after the use of CBD.

There were reduced daytime flashbacks, better quality sleep and no night sweats.

The reduction was gradual but after six months, a majority could go without the CBD and still sleep through the night devoid of nightmares.

The subjects could also sleep for longer. It is as if their brains had completely forgotten about the paralyzing fear they once harbored.

PTSD Accompaniments

Often, PTSD patients see to numb the fear, or alternatively, block it out for a few hours. All in order to forget about the traumatic experiences.

This is the reason for so many substance abuse cases in the PTSD pool. As if they did not have enough on their plate, right?

You are not to be blamed, you are just trying to defend yourself from your own past. No one can be faulted for a defensive move.

CBD breaks the reward mechanism for the drugs used. It rewires your brain so that the drug no longer provides relief as it did before.

You will cease to relate freedom from the condition to drugs.

There is a higher risk of cardiovascular issues for PTSD patients, since they suffer a great deal of stress going through the motions every day.

The heart is constantly required to send distress signals in reaction to conditional stimuli. This constant need to put your heart into high gear damages it with time.

With CBD, after the anxiety and attacks are taken care of the heart can start to repair and recover from the problem.

PTSD will surely knock your endocannabinoid system out of sync. Functions will be disrupted making for some weird reactions like bloating and some other strange ones.

CBD is meant to promote homeostasis. The endocannabinoid system will be rebalanced after all has been restored.

The first step is to combat the symptoms then the process of restoration can begin.

CBD Products That Provide Relief

The most probable product for a PTSD patient will be one with high bioavailability and quick action.

One that can be popped as soon as the breathing becomes erratic and the first bead of sweat forms. This means that it will be about vaping and sublingual delivery.

You can use a CBD capsule, oil or a tincture under your tongue. This quick delivery will have your turned around before you delve too deep.

This is an important point for people who are only having a hard time adjusting. They can keep the problem from escalating into full-fledged PTSD.

Once the condition has been diagnosed, it is important to have a set treatment regimen in place.

Get a prescription tailored to your symptoms. If it’s pills, ensure to keep to the prescription. Your physician might advise some edibles.

The point is, do not use CBD as a painkiller, you should only use it when needed. Only stop using after it has been determined that the PTSD has cleared. Even then, have an emergency stash.