PTSD and Medical Cannabis

Clif Otto

Many of us have heard about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in one form or another. Either through direct contact with friends and family members, or through national media reports of veterans gone out of control. Regardless of the source, the fact is that PTSD is a chronic medical condition that is about to become an even larger national health issue as more and more of our veterans return from war with this debilitating disease.

The difficulty in treating PTSD is reflected in the variety of treatment modalities and prescription medications that have been used in attempts to reduce the severity of this condition. Individual psychotherapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, and Group Therapy are among the non-medical treatments that have been tried with limited success. Anti-depressants, sedatives, and anti-psychotic medications have also been employed with limited benefit and serious side effects. Currently the U.S. FDA has approved two anti-depressants for the treatment of PTSD. These are Zoloft and Paxil, both of which have limited efficacy and produce remission in only about one-quarter of patients. Such medications have also been found to double the risk of suicidal thinking and suicidal attempts in patients 24 years or less, which pertains to a large percentage of our returning young veterans.

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