We’ve all seen the jokes about the effects of cannabis on memory and brain function but it seems that marijuana users may have the last laugh.
Results from an Israeli research study into the use of cannabis as a memory suppressant, suggest that THC, the active constituent in cannabis, might have the power to prevent or treat post-traumatic stress disorder- which, in the US at least, has grown to almost epidemic proportions in the population of service-men returning from wars in the Middle East.
Post-traumatic stress disorder is a condition in which the patient continues to suffer from stress symptoms months after going through a traumatic event like a car accident or a terror attack. Symptoms include reawakened trauma, evasion of anything that could remind the patient of the trauma, and mental and physiological disturbances
In the study rats, who are known for their love of dark places, were given electric shocks when the entered a darkened region of their cage. It didn’t take long before they became afraid of the dark area and began to remain in the brighter part of the cage. Researchers then stopped giving the shock treatment and the rats slowly returned to the dark area. The researchers measured the length of time between the shocks stopping and the rats returning.
A new group of rats were used for the next phase of the study. In this experiment the rats were once again shocked as they entered the dark area of the cage but this time they were also placed on an elevated grid. Most animals, including rats and humans, avoid walking over elevated grids, which they find distressing. Not surprisingly, it took longer for these rats to trust the dark region again.
A third group of rats were treated in the same way as the second group, except this time a synthetic THC-like compound was injected into their brains – into a region associated with fear. This group of rats, who had effectively received medical marijuana, returned just as quickly to the dark scary spot in the cage as the rats in group one.
Dr Akirav, who supervised the study said, “the results of our research should encourage psychiatric investigation into the use of cannabinoids in post-traumatic stress patients.”
I wonder how many PTSD patients have already discovered this therapeutic use of cannabis for themselves?
Christophe,
I was just thinking about the post I made a while back and thought Id check back to see if there were any responses. I guess there were, lol.
I respect your opinion, but I can not discern what exactly that opinion is. The essence of your initial post was that PTSD is not a real disorder. I dont know what scientific basis (if any) you have to come to that conclusion, but in your response posts you seem to be changing, or clarifying (not sure which) your stance to state that it is a “bona-fide” ailment, but that there is no need to treat it with psychiatry.
It seems your new opinion is that patients with PTSD should first consult a neurologist? Well, Im no brain surgeon, but I do know that the way I felt and acted, not to mention the hypertension (abnormally high blood pressure) when I came home from 2 years in combat were not caused by a physical malady. What exactly would the neurologist have done to alleviate the symptoms I was experiencing? Lobotomy?
I also consider myself a “tough guy.” The last thing in the world I would ever tell anyone is that I was seeing a psychiatrist, but if I would’ve known I had PTSD when I was punching out walls and having waking nightmares I would have been in their office as many times a week as they recommended. To say that psychiatry is a quack profession is just as degrading and offensive as the initial statement that PTSD isnt real.
Any one with even a shred of knowledge about psychology knows that most “mental disorders, are bioneurological anomalies, treated b chemical, behavioral, and cognitive therapies.
Spoken like a true disciple of the Therapeutic state. The current vogue of using speculative theory to justify all manner of “therapeutic” intervention, including involuntary commitment, forced drugging (inpatient and outpatient),and the stigmatizing nature of psychiatric labeling, proves nothing of the contention that (mis)behavior is biologically based. Moreover, the notion that the mind (as in “mental” illness and disorder) can be made ill, is a misuse of language. Medicine plays little if any part in the ongoing mission to codify an ever growing roster of mental illnesses (easier, I suppose, than addressing the underlying moral issue(s)in our given culture). Biologistic-reductive psychiatry is a social institution, whose main aim is to assure the “health” of the social organism, much to the detriment of the primacy of the individual in a freedom loving society.
I’m sorry, but your socio-political argument is going far afield of the intended discussion. Turning trauma into an emergent “medical” issue is neither scientific nor medical. The savvy use of media, has, among other manipulations, made for a glut of mentally ill, collecting disability checks, and whatever else such respective groups care to extract from society. Yes, an individual has a right to drug himself up to forget, but not the right to drag the rest of society into paying for millions of the so-called mentally ill. This is political manipulation, not the recognition of a medical emergency.
I can tell you DO NOT have PTSD.
Sorry, but is this some self-serving litmus test of exclusion? I am not questioning whether real suffering takes place. I am only trying to shift attention to the politicization of mental illness, writ large. If, indeed, those vested professions were really interested in aleviating human suffering, I very much doubt that shrinks would be calling the shots. There is a field of neurology that addresses REAL brain ailments, why not PTSD? What exactly is the standard ationalization of treating PTSD as a “disease”, when there are no disease markers, like most every other codified mental disorder? Yeah, you left-leaning, statist psychs are morally and ethically bound.
Chris, when I smell blood, and see their pale frightened faces, hear their screams, and I’m driving to the mall, you have the nerve to tell me I have been “labeled.” The best thing that ever happened to me was the realization that I had PTSD, a specific, diagnosable, disorder, – the only issue now is getting the medicine that helps, legalized – that won’t be easy as Shell/RD, Squibb, Monsanto, DuPont, and Exxon, and the rest have been buying our politicians that allow us to stay sick, broke, and in a polluted world so they can earn a buck of our suffering.
Brough to by the US government purveyors of Junk science that said Global warming is a myth – Hey, isn’t that what the AntiChrist is supposed to do, deceive and destroy our world – Well, GW and his marionette cheney sure “walk like a duck…” Somebody should check their scalp for sixes!
I can see another war brewing, this one though is the people protesting voting to stop the Fascism that has perpetuates the racism, and lies, and greed, which makes criminals out of its citizens at the highest rate in the world. Aren’t you proud? Just look at the lies they pump out about Prez Obama – socialism, bring back slavery, destroy our country – these are marginal kooks – AKA rebublicans.
STOP THE MADNESS, AND JAIL THE PERPETRATORS
Chris, go back to the rocks you came out from. I am both a psychologist and a PTSD sufferer, PTSD is real. It is not existential, it has biological components, neurochemical feedback systems, and it is all controlled by our cannabinoid system, which mediates the adrenal glands, the startle response, rapid heart rate, you know, the stuff I have everyday, and the stuff you need to stop spreading the government’s and industries’ lies, ignorance and more lies – what is your agenda? Mom a little rough with you in the tub?
Any one with even a shred of knowledge about psychology knows that most “mental disorders, are bioneurological anomalies, treated b chemical, behavioral, and cognitive therapies.
I can tell you DO NOT have PTSD.
I can also tell someone is in deep denial about something.
The removal of posts on this and other topics, does more to blur the truth, than to ostensibly remove those posts by crackpots and provocateurs. Given how so many in present-day culture have come to regard the psych profession as a bona fide medical enterprise, it should be no surprise that dissenting voices would be silenced. After all, our society no longer has the Inquisition, but something much more insidious: psychiatric mystification. This site should be renamed “convenienttruths.com”.
Sorry, I mean to say pathophysiological states, not the double-negative “abnormality” :^).
I, too, am a vet, and I not an aspiring, deranged cult leader. However, the argument that I making is that, among so many other mental illness and disorders, PTSD has been subsumed as a psychiatric disorder. No one cares to question the motives and designs for this medical codification. If you would like an interesting perspective on the current critique over PTSD treatment, look at Julian Arbor’s “Torture in America”(?), on Youtube. She is a licensed clinical psychologist who has succumbed to brain damage from being labelled with a psychiatric illness, rather than a medical one. Yes, most mental illnesses and disorders are not the result of pathophysiological abnormality. However, the psychiatric profession still maintains its position that it is indeed treating human suffering. With nothing else to justify why shrinks do what they do, aside from the disengenuous, and cynical pronouncements of the profession, its time people turn on to its abuses. Just like what has come to pass with the lies about our beloved plant.
It took time to heal and Im much better now. I’ve learned to suppress all those emotions, but in doing so I’ve became a shell of the man I used to be. Im no longer a daredevil, nor am I as good of a husband. I dont live for today anymore. Anyone who has a even a shred of basic human decency who is forced to make decisions in the field like myself and the many soldiers and marines on the frontlines right now will be changed by the experience forever. We will never be the same, but I would have really benefitted from some counselling when I was going through the rough times, had any of the Army or civilian doctors I had seen even suggested it. I didnt put 2 and 2 together to realize I had an easily diagnosable condition for a long time. I thought I was just a crazy vet who needed to be put to pasture to calm down. I was partially right, but the time to heal would have been significantly less if I had counselling, and maybe a little pot to smoke, lol.
The response from Christophe sounds more like the ranting of a deranged cult leader than of that of an intelligent man with something worthwhile to share.
I have to agree with the synopsis of this study. I smoked plenty of marijuana when I was younger and before the Army, but since my time as an infantryman i haven’t smoked. I wasn’t allowed to in the Army, and my post-military career is far too important to me to risk getting into an on the job incident and getting a urinalysis (1 in a billion chance, but still…). Its been 10 years since I last used marijuana.
Ive always had issues with insomnia, and when I smoked pot I was fine. I would only smoke before bed and I always got great rest. When I was in high school I was diagnosed with depression and perscribed anti-depressents and sleep aids. One to wake up, one to go to sleep. They were toxic chemicals that altered me in ways that I was not comfortable with. A normal 16 year old should not be on Paxil and Trazedone. No one should be on Trazodone!
Now I understand that in the 90′s EVERYONE was prescribed anti-depressants, and the problem has gotten better, but my point is this; I had symptoms of depression due to lack of sleep caused by insomnia. Trazodone is commonly used as a sleep aid, but its widely known that it can cause vivid hallucinations. Anti-depressants like Paxil swirling through the brain of an average kid who just needs better sleep is not an ideal scenario either.
I wish my doctor could have legally prescribed Marijuana in that situation. I did end up having a hallucination when I was taking Trazodone and burned a 3″ hole in my pants (and my leg) with a cigarette while I was riding in the passenger seat of a friends car. I immediately stopped taking the anti-depressants and consulted with my doctor about the situation.
I told her the whole story. My parents insisted I stop smoking pot, it was a gateway drug, no son of mine, all that jazz, it was their duty as parents and i understood that clearly. Thats when I came to see her initially about the insomnia. I told her that when I smoked I was fine. I was well rested, fully functional in school, great grades, three sports, symphonic band, (I was at school at 6:30am everyday for morning band practice, and left at 7pm after footbal/track/wrestling) but when I stopped the problems with insomnia started, and my grades started slipping as well.
I told her that the drugs she prescribed caused intolerable side effects and that I still did not believe I was depressed. She agreed, and hesitantly told me that Marijuana was known to be a good solution to the problems I was having, but told me that I was “self medicating.” She also said that if I were an adult and medical marijuana was legal she would definitely prescribe it, but the laws were not in place at that time. I told her that I would start “self medicating” again, and never took another anti-depressant. It was the best medical decision I ever made for myself!
Now that Im older I really wish I could start using Marijuana again. Not just to get high, I really miss the deep sleep I got when I smoked before bed. I could start again, its not like its not readily available, and the state just passed legislation to decriminalize possession of less than one ounce, but I just cant risk being persecuted if I get into an accident at work. It wouldn’t matter if I was high or not (of course I wouldn’t be) the urinalysis is all that would be seen.
BUT, if we had laws like California, I could legally consume marijuana for insomnia. Maybe I’ll move!
And, more on topic, I did have PTSD when I returned home from three back to back combat deployments and an infantryman in the Army. At that time the Army was not acknowledging the presence of the illness during our mandatory checkup by psychiatrists upon returning home. I went for a checkup after I got home and found that I had severe hypertension. I was 24 years old, in prime physical condition (I worked out 3hrs a day 4 times a week, and ran every day) and had to take medication to lower my blood pressure. I awoke abruptly hearing air raid sirens and mortars exploding nightly. I punched a hole in the wall next to my bed (on the opposite side of my wife) while I was asleep and never even woke up, my wife knew better than to wake me up when I was having nightmares. I broke down several times regretting everything I had done, and all the lives that I had destroyed while trying to do my job with the goal of creating peace, and every time I learned that a young man I had talked into joining my unit was wounded or killed.
It took time to heal, and Im much better now. I’ve learned to suppress all those emotions, but in doing so I’ve became a shell of the man I used to be. Im no longer a daredevil, nor am I as
I suffer from post traumatic stress disorder and the only thing that helps my deal with the horrible thoughts, memories, jekel and hyde actions, relieve pain from where bones broke, and keep a normal appetite is Marijuana. Unfortunately in Maryland you have to be dying in order to get a card and I strongly disagree with this part of our “medical marijuana” law.
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I sure that the population of erstwhile test rats out there with PTSD will be pleased by this piece of research.
My main contention is that PTSD is a thorough medicalizing of what is essentially an existential issue, one that politicians- and the public- favor to have made into a social issue, not unlike so many other invented mental illnesses. The fact that the medical-psychiatric complex has a vested professional interest in globalizing human affect as potentially psychopathological, has resulted in a glut of pharma R&D, a growing roster of sick in our culture, and the politicization of medicine writ large (certainly as it obtains with community mental health policy).
Moreover, it does not cease to amaze me that so many individuals, principally those who have availed themselves in assuming the sick role (read: diagnosed with some form of “mental illness”), and who have unquestioningly accepted the white-coated ones’ pronouncement of PTSD as a “bona fide” disease, are angered when confronted with the omissions and inconsistencies within any “public” dialogue over psych labeling and stigmatization. The notion that existential difficulties are somehow less compelling and, worthy of our collective pity and attention, makes nothing short of being labeled acceptable: such is the religiosity over psyche mystification our modern-day culture assumes. As with almost all other labels of mental illness and disorders, which, are no more than problems of living, for so many, elevating PTSD as a hot-button issue has its noted socially and politically strategic affects. Factually, whether PTSD is medical-no assay or test to prove such-or not is not the point. The nexus of the debate over PTSD is a sociopsychological phenomenon, just as it is with so many other labeled and codified disorders. The individual in our current socio-political landscape is more likely to find a niche in this cuture of the sick (read:mentally ill and disordered). The confluence of politics and psychiatry-and its allied professions-has created the lumbering leviathan, consuming millions of lives in its path. This is, in short, what our culture has wished for, and is now burdened with: the Therapeutic state.