Medical cannabis has been approved in Illinois to treat a variety of serious medical conditions. One of these conditions is post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a mental health disorder that can occur after a person witnesses or experiences a particularly traumatic event or series of events. It is often characterized by intense flashbacks, heightened anxiety, and insomnia or night terrors. PTSD can be incredibly disruptive to a person’s life, and in some cases, can be severe enough to require hospitalization. Understanding how medical cannabis in Cook County can treat PTSD goes a long way in helping the stigma surrounding that treatment dissipate and can encourage health care professionals to consider prescribing it in situations where it can do the most good.
PTSD Is A Complex Disorder
PTSD is one of the more complex mental health disorders, with no two cases being identical. Generally speaking, those who suffer from PTSD tend to be on a number of different medications to address each symptom of the disorder. This means that a patient may be taking between five to ten different medications a day to help experience relief from their symptoms, which could include everything from depression and anxiety to a loss of appetite and gastrointestinal issues. Patients who use medical cannabis to find relief from those symptoms tend to require fewer additional medications, and are able to get the same sort of symptomatic relief with a fraction of the side effects.
International Studies Have Been Successful
Recent research undertaken to study the effects of medical cannabis on PTSD have been quite successful. One Canadian study found that close to seventy percent of the participants who were taking medical marijuana reported improved symptoms, compared to just twenty percent of those using a placebo. In addition to relieving anxiety and depression, medical cannabis can also help the patient sleep better at night, experience fewer nightmares, and can help stimulate appetite during the day.
For more information about medical cannabis in Cook County, including its benefits for post-traumatic stress disorder, contact GreenHouse at website
