You want to buy weed online because the grapevine is awash with stories of cannabis helping post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) sufferers, but as your finger hovers over the ‘buy’ button, you start wondering if that’s true or just another urban legend. Well, you can go ahead and make your purchase.

A growing body of evidence suggests that cannabis expedites recovery from PTSD, tamps down feelings of anxiety, and helps extinguish traumatic memories. For instance, a 2020 study dubbed ‘The Long-Term, Prospective, Therapeutic Impact of Cannabis on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder’ that involved researchers from several institutions, including the University of Pennsylvania and the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, found that sufferers who used cannabis saw a significant reduction in PTSD symptoms. Better yet, they were 2.57 times more likely to recover from PTSD than non-users. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment funded the study.

But what are the mechanisms underlying the therapeutic effect of cannabis on PTSD sufferers? To answer this question, a group of researchers from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, decided to look at how cannabis interacts with the amygdala, a part of the brain that associates emotions such as fear with particular responses. They were building on previous research by a group of academics from the psychology department of the University of Washington, which had already established that chronic cannabis users showed reduced emotional arousal and a dampened stress response to negative imagery.

Their findings showed that cannabis tamped down threat-related amygdala activity. In addition, cannabis activates a region of the brain known as the medial frontal cortex (mPFC), which maps events within a given emotional and social context and improves linkages between this brain region and the amygdala. These changes altered how PTSD sufferers perceived their environment, allowing them to react to events more in the way non-sufferers would.

In a study published in 2020, researchers from the Federal University of Parana in Brazil reported finding another mechanism: low doses of cannabis extinguish the intensity associated with memories of a traumatic event, making it possible for new memories to overwrite the old in a process known as extinction learning; the extinction learning process in PTSD sufferers is impaired. This finding goes some way in confirming a similar hypothesis by the late Yale associate professor of psychiatry, R. Andrew Sewell. Animal studies have shown that cannabis stimulates an endocannabinoid system receptor known as CB1 that improves extinction learning. Curiously, people with PTSD have a compromised endocannabinoid system, which may explain why they have an impaired extinction learning process.

These studies seem to confirm reports by several sufferers, including military veterans, that cannabis ameliorates PTSD symptoms. So, if you are planning to buy weed online in the USA – or elsewhere – or want to sample something from your favorite virtual dispensary (laws permitting) because you believe it will help with your PTSD, the evidence seems to back you. However, you should consult a medical professional for additional advice (on the right dosage, suitability, side effects, and alternative treatments, for example) before you consider making a purchase.

Sources
The Long-Term, Prospective, Therapeutic Impact of Cannabis on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/can.2020.0056?journalCode=can

Cannabinoid modulation of corticolimbic activation to threat in trauma-exposed adults: a preliminary study
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32162103/

Blunted stress reactivity in chronic cannabis users
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00213-017-4648-z

Effects of ∆ 9-tetrahydrocannabinol on aversive memories and anxiety: a review from human studies
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32842985/

New Research Reveals Why Cannabis Helps PTSD Sufferers
https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilyearlenbaugh/2020/09/17/new-research-reveals-why-cannabis-helps-ptsd-sufferers/?sh=712fa018179a

PTSD Sufferers Who Used Cannabis Were 2.5 Times More Likely To Recover In A Recent Study
https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilyearlenbaugh/2020/12/22/ptsd-sufferers-who-used-cannabis-were-25-times-more-likely-to-recover-in-a-recent-study/?sh=f1ff4b743213

As a veteran with PTSD, cannabis helps me fight for myself in ways other treatments fail to
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/cannabis-ptsd-treatment-cbd-mental-health-us-army-a9258241.html

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