Click here
Addiction CBD Featured Global / Local Health Mental Health Pain

First Ever Medical Cannabis Trial For PTSD Vets Commences In Australia

ptsd
Written by Steven Bridge

Post-traumatic stress disorder is a nasty condition that affects many people. Those who suffer most are often army veterans who have served on tours; fighting to protect the safety of others.

It’s a long and reasonably well-established theory that medical cannabis and CBD are useful in the treatment of mild-to-severe PTSD. PTSD is characterized as a mental disorder caused by exposure to traumatic events in life. Invasive thoughts, negative emotions, and horrific nightmares are just a few of the symptoms suffered by people who develop this condition.

An exciting new medical cannabis trial in Australia was just launched – the first of its kind for the country. Three hundred participants who have PTSD are taking part in the study; all of whom have PTSD and have not responded well to pharmaceutical treatments. Most of the study participants are veterans who’ve seen action in their lives and need some relief from their symptoms.

Dr. Sharron Davis, the head researcher leading the study, told reporters that conventional medicine was often a waste of time when it comes to PTSD. “It can present itself in lots of different ways, so it’s very difficult to find a treatment that is going to treat all of the symptoms of PTSD,” she said, according to an ABC report. “We have to be able to show the Therapeutic Goods Administration that these people have tried everything conventional medicine has to offer,” Davis added.

ptsd

Participants will be given CBD for 5 weeks

Participants are to be given highly concentrated CBD oil. As Jo Patterson, spokesperson for BOD Australia, a global health company, explained, the starting dose will be 5 ml. “They might be on the product for up to five weeks — obviously it’s an observational trial, so they’ll assess the benefits that the product is offering the patient,” she said. Patterson believes that CBD should become a legal health supplement, akin to olive leaf oil and other similar oils. “I would like to see CBD-only oil reclassified — it has no psychoactive effects whatsoever,” Davis said.

Michael Handley, a former soldier in the Australian army, also spoke to ABC about his condition. “You are in this big rut, this big hole, everything seems to be closing in, and you just feel half the person you used to be,” he explained, “I was continually getting aggressive at little things — I would tend to walk away and just isolate myself.”

But tragically, like so many people, Handley wasn’t offered a natural and healthy compound like CBD to treat his PTSD; he was given pharmaceuticals by his doctors, which had a negative effect on him. “Some of the meds I’d take I would take at night time, and I wouldn’t wake up until after lunchtime the next day,” he explained, “I was becoming, in a sense, addicted to these opiates and abusing them.”

Handley’s case highlights a massive problem which is rapidly spiraling out of control. That problem is more like a crisis and is even considered an epidemic by some in the US. Many doctors freely hand out strong and dangerous medications, such as opiates, leading to eventual addiction.

And while most have their patients’ best interests at heart, others do not. That means that veterans and even a person involved in a car accident could quickly become addicted to prescription medications which can destroy lives. That’s sad news from everyone apart from the pharmaceutical companies profiting from the drugs.

It’ll be interesting to see the outcome of this new Australian trial, in the hope that it could see some positive results for those who have PTSD.

Have anything to add? Your voice matters! Join the conversation and contribute your insights and ideas below.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

About the author

Steven Bridge

Having been a cannabis and CBD aficionado for many years, Steven spends much of his time opposite a shiny MacBook, researching, exploring, understanding and creating interesting reading for people interested in knowing more about CBD, Vaping, Cannabis Strains and Delivery Methods, and just about anything related to magical green herbs that help people with anything from sleepless nights to pain.