CBD provides anxiety relief and calming effects for many of its users.
Unlike smoking marijuana with THC, which can cause paranoia and worsen PTSD symptoms, CBD can soothe the user.
Calming anxiety and stress are extremely beneficial to PTSD management.
Some PTSD reactions include the following:
- Detachment
- Emotionally numb
- Exaggerated startle
- Inability to control emotions, including sadness or anger
- Recurring nightmares
- Inability to sleep
- Hypervigilance
- Substance abuse.
Cannabidiol blocks long-lasting behavioral consequences of predator threat stress: possible involvement of 5HT1A receptors.
Recent Studies on Cannabinoids and CBD’s Effect on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
PTSD patients saw a 75% reduction in PTSD symptoms, as measured by the Clinical Administered Post Traumatic Scale, when they were using cannabis compared to when they were not.
Evidence from human studies indicates that CBD found in cannabis has considerable potential as a treatment for anxiety disorders.
A review of published evidence finds that cannabinoids help PTSD patients manage the condition’s three major symptoms (re-experiencing, avoidance and numbing, hyperarousal) and helps improve sleep in those PTSD patients suffering from insomnia and nightmares.
Studies
- The endocannabinoid system provides an avenue for evidence-based treatment development for PTSD
- Reductions in circulating endocannabinoid levels in individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder following exposure to the world trade center attacks
- Enhancing cannabinoid neurotransmission augments the extinction of conditioned fear
- Modulation of Fear Memory by Dietary Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids via Cannabinoid Receptors
- CBD blocks long-lasting behavioral consequences of predator threat stress: Possible involvement of 5HT1A receptors
- Stress switches cannabinoid type-1 (CB1) receptor-dependent plasticity from LTD to LTP in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis
- Mitigation of post-traumatic stress symptoms by Cannabis resin: A review of the clinical and neurobiological evidence
- Cannabinoid modulation of fear extinction brain circuits: A novel target to advance anxiety treatment
- The endocannabinoid system and extinction learning
- A current overview of cannabinoids and glucocorticoids in facilitating extinction of aversive memories: potential extinction enhancers
- Cannabinoids and traumatic stress modulation of contextual fear extinction and GR expression in the amygdala-hippocampal-prefrontal circuit
- Non-antidepressant long-term treatment in post-traumatic stress disorder
- The anxiolytic effect of cannabidiol on chronically stressed mice depends on hippocampal neurogenesis: Involvement of the endocannabinoid system
- The Use of Medicinal Marijuana for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Review
- CBD Modulates Fear Memory Formation Through Interactions with Serotonergic Transmission in the Mesolimbic System
- Bidirectional Effects of CBD on Contextual Fear Memory Extinction
- CBD disrupts the consolidation of specific and generalized fear memories via dorsal hippocampus CB1 and CB2 receptors
- The effectiveness of Cannabidiol Oil for Pediatric Anxiety and Insomnia as Part of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Case Report