How Cannabis Successfully Combats PTSD
Dr. Mike Hart has been successfully treating
PTSD with medical cannabis and lifestyle
interventions for the past three years.
Here’s how.
One of the top reasons why many turn to
cannabis is stress management.
By Anna Wilcox 23.04.2017 (Herb)
A progressive voice in Ontario’s medical
community, Dr. Mike Hart has earned a
reputation for successfully treating post-
traumatic stress, chronic pain, and
neurological conditions with both medical
cannabis and rigorous lifestyle interventions.
He first started using the herb in the clinic
three years ago.
He said “The primary reason why I initially
got into it was to combat the opioid epidemic.
I saw a lot of patients using opioids and they
were just not getting adequate relief.”
However, for those with post-traumatic stress
disorder (PTSD), access to this simple green
herb can make the difference between
drowning in hypervigilance and full
engagement with the present.
One doctor has seen the transformative
powers of cannabis firsthand.
Cannabis: a safer alternative
Patients with post-traumatic stress disorder
can experience an array of debilitating
symptoms.
From night terrors to hypervigilance, living
on the cusp of a chronic fight-or-flight state
can make even simple tasks like walking
through a crowd overwhelming.
“They also had a variety of different side
effects, a lot of fatigue, a lot of constipation,
low sex drive, a million different things going
on. I found that cannabis was a much better,
safer alternative.”
After continued training and research into the
plant, he stumbled upon a wealth of research
suggesting that cannabis is effective in
treating post-traumatic stress disorder.
Then, two years into his practice, he was
approached by the Canadian cannabis
advocacy group, Marijuana for Trauma.
He soon began assessing and healing veterans
with medical cannabis treatments and lifestyle
interventions.
How do CBD and THC treat PTSD?
According to the U.S. National Centre for
PTSD, seven to eight out of every 100 people
develop symptoms of post-traumatic stress.
Canada has some of the highest rates of
PTSD, with an estimated 9.4 percent of the
population experiencing some form of the
condition.
With numbers like these, finding safe and
effective treatments and therapies for the
disorder is a must.
It’s well-known that cannabis is a powerful
painkiller. However, that’s not the only thing
the herb can do. Unlike many of the
conventional PTSD treatments, which include
powerful sedatives, antidepressants, and anti-
anxiety medications, at least two different