Post-traumatic Stress Disorder: The Use of Marijuana as a Treatment Option
Post-traumatic stress disorder has over the recent years been so prevalent in different populations and mostly between the veterans. Antidepressants are presently being used as the cure for PTSD patients. However, they are believed to produce low reduction proportions and respond gradually towards the disorder (Elliott et al. 60-63).
The Need for Alternative Treatment
Various health organizations have also not endorsed pharmaceuticals as the initial selection for the treatment of PTSD in the veteran inhabitants. Therefore, marijuana has been appraised as the substitute for the management of PTSD after pharmaceutical medication failed and hence validating its practice within various states in the world as the fresh treatment preference for PTSD veterans. Nevertheless, there has been contradictory views concerning the consumption of marijuana for PTSD with the recent evidence being restricted to case stories, observational, and unreliable practices hence leading to difficulties in making medical approvals. This paper explores whether marijuana is better for treating veterans with PTSD than pharmaceuticals.
Research on Marijuana and PTSD
Recent research investigating the consumption of marijuana in PTSD advocates that there is a latent subsidy for numerous PTSD indications. Conversely, major confines to the research are yet to be established about the medical attempts with active marijuana practice. It is also evident that steering medical trials about marijuana have been quite a challenge because it happens to be an illegal drug (O'Neil et al. 333-335). Individuals who have PTSD and make use of pharmaceuticals for treatment are said to be more likely to undergo severe misery and have dangerous feelings than those who use marijuana treatment.
Marijuana as an Effective Treatment Option
Marijuana is believed to be very effective at alleviating the symptoms of PTSD in the veteran population. The use of marijuana commendably overwhelms memory functions and thus depressing the anxiety intensities in PTSD patients. Prolonged anxiety is amongst the common signs of post-traumatic stress disorder and therefore marijuana is an effective substitute to lessen stress, battle feelings of anxiety and it also heightens the mood of a person. The pharmaceutical treatment of PTSD usually makes use of serotonin reuptake inhibitors which escalate the intensities of serotonin in the brain. Serotonin is responsible for mood control. These inhibitors are said to be ineffective in battling PTSD and hence the reason why marijuana still remains to be an effective method for PTSD treatment of veterans.
Marijuana's Impact on Insomnia and Sleep
Marijuana eases the hallucinations connected to PTSD. Most patients suffering from the disorder experience insomnia and have sleep concerns which are harmful to their health. Marijuana, therefore, helps combat it by decreasing sleep inactivity and refining the quality of sleep. The oils contained in marijuana are believed to offer beneficial significance for individuals suffering from PTSD. On the other hand, no pharmaceutical drug is premeditated explicitly to treat PTSD and most physicians customarily recommend a list of tablets to treat the disorder which is ineffective (Ruglass et al. 3-6). The side effects of pharmaceuticals are also very devastating and thus pushing PTSD patients to medical marijuana. It has been reported that most patients who have been introduced to pharmaceutical drugs to cure PTSD have experienced even worse symptoms than before and the therapies given have terribly failed to lessen the disorder. Marijuana cannot be termed as a cure for PTSD but it is a substantial soothing remedy that sanctions other treatments to occur and hence it improves the quality of life of the patient. Marijuana helps bridge veterans with PTSD from their severe condition to a step where they are able to recuperate.
Controversies and Concerns
However, the debate about the use of marijuana in the treatment of PTSD has been controversial over the years. Due to the innumerable effects of marijuana, it has been perceived to be not the best option for treatment of patients with the disorder. Notwithstanding the various benefits highlighted about marijuana treatment, an apprehension has been raised about increasing addiction due to prolonged use of the drug. Since the dosing of marijuana cannot be homogenous, it has developed to be very challenging to endorse the drug to patients as compared to pharmaceuticals which can be regulated (Shishko et al. 86-89). One of the severe effects of marijuana is an upsurge within the heart rate as well as a potential cardiac attack and a reduction in blood pressure. After a prolonged use of the drug, most people begin to experience respiratory problems whereby airway blockage occurs and cellular provocative defects. The prospective for intellectual adverse responses that are identified with marijuana consumption might as well impede recuperation of PTSD. With extended use of marijuana, the capability to acquire novel ideas is lost and the patients begin to experience interim memory and a diminution in response hence the enduring effects are still mysterious.
Conclusion
Therefore, as marijuana is thought to be beneficial in treating PTSD, protection ought to be considered. As much as pharmaceuticals are said to be ineffective, dosing can be regulated unlike with marijuana whereby there is overdosing which leads to addiction and adverse effects (Vermetten et al. 341-346). Additionally, marijuana is merely used to curb the symptoms and cannot be used as a cure for PTSD veterans and thus it cannot be termed as a permanent solution to the treatment of PTSD but just a temporary substitution for pharmaceuticals which are said to have failed on various occasions.
Works Cited
Elliott, Luther, Andrew Golub, Alexander Bennett, and Honoria Guarino. "PTSD and Cannabis-Related Coping among Recent Veterans in New York City." Contemporary Drug Problems 42.1 (2015): 60-76. Print.
O'Neil, Maya E., Shannon M. Nugent, Benjamin J. Morasco, Michele Freeman, Allison Low, Karli Kondo, Bernadette Zakher, Camille Elven, Makalapua Motu'apuaka, Robin Paynter, and Devan Kansagara. "Benefits and Harms of Plant-Based Cannabis for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder." Annals of Internal Medicine 167.5 (2017): 332-340. Print.
Ruglass, Lesia, Alina Shevorykin, Vanja Radoncic, Kathryn Smith, Philip Smith, Isaac Galatzer-Levy, Santiago Papini, and Denise Hien. "Impact of Cannabis Use on Treatment Outcomes among Adults Receiving Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment for PTSD and Substance Use Disorders." Journal of Clinical Medicine 6.2 (2017): 2-15. Print.
Shishko, Ilona, Rosana Oliveira, Troy A. Moore, and Kenneth Almeida. "A review of medical marijuana for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder: Real symptom re-leaf or just high hopes?" Mental Health Clinician 8.2 (2018): 86-94. Print.
Vermetten, Eric, Anne Germain, and Thomas C. Neylan. Sleep and Combat-Related Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. New York: Springer, 2018. Print.
