Can Memory Loss Be Good How Cannabis Can Help With Ptsd
For Scott Thompson, a San Diego artist and filmmaker, the simple act of opening a car door used to trigger an avalanche of overwhelming emotions. Thompson was involved in a car accident that caused a severe concussion and traumatic brain injury. Driving a car or even being a passenger set off crippling anxiety, panic attacks, and flashbacks.
Every time I drove in a car, I relived my accident and adrenaline would flood my body triggering a pretty intense flight or fight response, said Thompson. I would get pretty bad tunnel vision during these episodes, and would enter an intense panic state where I felt like I was going to die. Even in the passenger seat Id freak out.
Thompson was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and prescribed Sertraline, an antidepressant that gave him headaches and nightmares. So he turned to cannabis.
I used cannabis earlier in high school but never really used it as an adult, reflected Thompson. After my accident, I started using a vape pen and smoking flower to help calm my nerves. Cannabis helped me relax and it definitely helped my PTSD symptoms.
Thompson used cannabis consistently for a year and is now largely free of PTSD symptoms. Cannabis seemed to work really well with my body, helping my mind get back to health, he said.
What is it about weed that makes it well-suited for treating PTSD?
Arousal And Reactivity Symptoms
- Having difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep
- Feeling irritable and having angry or aggressive outbursts
- Engaging in risky, reckless, or destructive behavior
Arousal symptoms are often presentthey can lead to feelings of stress and anger and may interfere with parts of daily life, such as sleeping, eating, or concentrating.
How Do Children And Teens React To Trauma
Children and teens can have extreme reactions to trauma, but their symptoms may not be the same as those seen in adults. In young children under the age of 6, symptoms can include:
- Wetting the bed after having learned to use the toilet
- Forgetting how or being unable to talk
- Acting out the scary event during playtime
- Being unusually clingy with a parent or other adult
Older children and teens usually show symptoms more like those seen in adults. They also may develop disruptive, disrespectful, or destructive behaviors. Older children and teens may feel guilty for not preventing injury or deaths. They also may have thoughts of revenge.
For more information, see the National Institute of Mental Health brochure, Helping Children and Adolescents Cope With Disasters and Other Traumatic Events.
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Spend Time With People
It is common for people with PTSD to shy away from people, withdraw, and retreat. Fears, anxiety, anger, frustration, confusion, and the feeling of being overwhelmed are just some of the reasons why it might feel better to stay isolated than be around people.
Spending time with supportive friends and family can make a significant difference in your mood and outlook.
Keep in mind that if you are sharing space with any family or friends, it is likely they already notice you struggling. Many times people don’t know how to help or are afraid to say something for fear of causing more emotional pain. It can be helpful for all partiesboth you and your loved onesto have time to spend together. Some ways to spend time with others can include things like:
- Going for a walk
- Talk on the phone
If you don’t feel ready to talk yet, you can also sit quietly in the same room to read a book or a newspaper. Simply sharing the same space quietly can feel comforting.
How Can Hypnotherapy Help Someone With Ptsd
Most people will experience a traumatic event at some point in their lives. The brains natural response to a dangerous or life-threatening situation is what is known as the fight, flight, freeze response. During a crisis, the amygdala alerts the hypothalamus to release stress hormones that in turn cause the sympathetic nervous system to react appropriately. Once the danger has passed, the brain stops producing those stress hormones and returns to normal functioning.
With PTSD however, a person has not been able to process the traumatic event and the brains natural process is disrupted. When situations arise in the future that remind a person of the original trauma, the fight, flight, freeze response can be triggered unnecessarily. With its emphasis on physical and mental relaxation, hypnotherapy can be a highly effective intervention for PTSD.
Hypnotherapeutic techniques for working with PTSD include:
In addition to all of these techniques, many hypnotherapists will suggest various self-management tools to deal with PTSD symptoms as they may come up in the future. These can include instructions for self-hypnosis, deep breathing exercises, and self-guided relaxation meditations.
Help For Trauma / PTSD
Talk Therapy Get help recovering from trauma from a licensed therapist. Betterhelp offers online therapy starting at $60 per week. Get matched With A Therapist
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Signs And Symptoms Of Ptsd
PTSD develops differently from person to person because everyones nervous system and tolerance for stress is a little different. While youre most likely to develop symptoms of PTSD in the hours or days following a traumatic event, it can sometimes take weeks, months, or even years before they appear. Sometimes symptoms appear seemingly out of the blue. At other times, they are triggered by something that reminds you of the original traumatic event, such as a noise, an image, certain words, or a smell.
While everyone experiences PTSD differently, there are four main types of symptoms.
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See A Shrink I’m Not Crazy People Will Think I’m Weak What Will My Family And Friends Think
- You are looking for help so you will feel better. It takes strength and courage to seek help from others.
- Mental health problems are real and can affect your physical health. They are often caused by chemicals in the brain or by hereditythey are not character flaws.
- You can get better with the right kind of treatment. Treatment includes medicine, counseling, self-care, or a combination of these. The kind of treatment you have will depend on how severe your symptoms are.
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When To Seek Help For Ptsd
A person who has experienced a traumatic event should seek professional help if they:
- dont feel any better after two weeks
- feel highly anxious or distressed
- have reactions to the traumatic event that are interfering with home, work and/or relationships
- are thinking of harming themselves or someone else.
Some of the signs that a problem may be developing are:
- being constantly on edge or irritable
- having difficulty performing tasks at home or at work
- being unable to respond emotionally to others
- being unusually busy to avoid issues
- taking risks or not caring what happens to oneself
- using alcohol, drugs or gambling to cope
- having severe sleeping difficulties.
Things To Remember As You Heal
- Avoid drugs and alcohol
- Limit screen time
- Don’t isolate yourself
Not following some of these tips can become a risk to your well-being and your overall recovery. The symptoms you are and have been experiencing can be overwhelming and debilitating. Eliminating or minimizing risks can help you find success in treatment and offer you a chance to experience a wonderful quality of life after going through a traumatic experience.
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Tip : Anticipate And Manage Triggers
A trigger is anythinga person, place, thing, or situationthat reminds your loved one of the trauma and sets off a PTSD symptom, such as a flashback. Sometimes, triggers are obvious. For example, a military veteran might be triggered by seeing his combat buddies or by the loud noises that sound like gunfire. Others may take some time to identify and understand, such as hearing a song that was playing when the traumatic event happened, for example, so now that song or even others in the same musical genre are triggers. Similarly, triggers dont have to be external. Internal feelings and sensations can also trigger PTSD symptoms.
How Can I Help A Friend Or Relative Who Has Ptsd
If you know someone who may be experiencing PTSD, the most important thing you can do is to help that person get the right diagnosis and treatment. Some people may need help making an appointment with their health care provider others may benefit from having someone accompany them to their health care visits.
If a close friend or relative is diagnosed with PTSD, you can encourage them to follow their treatment plan. If their symptoms do not get better after 6 to 8 weeks, you can encourage them to talk to their health care provider. You also can:
- Offer emotional support, understanding, patience, and encouragement.
- Learn about PTSD so you can understand what your friend is experiencing.
- Listen carefully. Pay attention to the persons feelings and the situations that may trigger PTSD symptoms.
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Where Do I Go From Here
Your doctor or a mental health professional can help you decide which, if any, of the above treatments would be best for you. A doctor, including a doctor at a walk-in clinic, can refer you to more specialized mental health services. In addition, check out the resources below for more information on PTSD.
Anxiety Canada
Visit www.anxietycanada.com or call 604-620-0744 for information, tools, and self-management guides like My Anxiety Plan for PTSD and the MindShift CBT app .
HealthLinkBC
Call 811 or visit www.healthlinkbc.ca to access information, find local resources and services, speak to a registered nurse, or talk with a pharmacist if you have questions about medication.
VictimLinkBC
Call 1-800-563-0808 at any time to speak to a trained victim support worker who can connect you with local resources and help you find support. For more information, visit www.victimlinkbc.ca.
BC First Responders’ Mental Health
Visit bcfirstrespondersmentalhealth.com for resources and supports for first responders in BC. You can learn more about mental health, take an assessment, learn about making a mental health-related claim, find local resources, and learn how you can reach out to support others.
BC Occupational Stress Injury Clinic
Visit www.bcosi.ca for information about the Vancouver-based BC Occupational Stress Injury Clinic. It’s available to any BC resident by referral to Regular and Reserve members of the Canadian Forces, veterans, members of the RCMP, and their family members.
How Can Parents Help
If your child has been through trauma, here are things you can do:
- Help your child feel safe. They may need extra time, comfort, and care from you for a while.
- Help your child relax. Invite them to take a few slow breaths with you. Breathe in while you count to 3. Breathe out while you count to 5.
- Do things together that you enjoy. Trauma can make it harder to feel the positive emotions that naturally help kids recharge. Play, laugh, enjoy nature, make music or art, cook. These activities can reduce stress and build your childs resilience.
- Reassure your child. Let them know they will get through this. And that you are there to help.
- Let your childs doctor know what your child has been through. Get a referral to a mental health professional .
- Tell your childs teacher that your child went through a trauma. Kids with PTSD may have more trouble focusing on schoolwork. Ask for your child to have extra help or more time to do schoolwork if they need it for a while.
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Do Some Grounding Exercises Together
When triggers arise, there are a few evidence-based methods that people with PTSD can use to regulate their nervous system and feel more grounded or present. You might offer to sit with your loved one and do some of these practices together. In doing so, you may find yourself feeling more calm and present, too.
Over time, practicing regulating exercises with a loved one known as co-regulation can help your loved one regulate their nervous system. It can also help you and your partner feel more at ease and connected.
Practices that anyone can use to regulate their nervous system include:
While its important not to glorify the strengths one builds out of trauma, it can be helpful to identify, affirm, and appreciate the ways someone with PTSD has grown through their healing journey.
Identifying and affirming strengths may sound like the following:
- I admire your bravery.
- I appreciate your ability to cope.
- Ive noticed how strong you are. Do you notice your own strength?
Foo says that her own healing journey with complex PTSD has allowed me to feel less like, Im a nightmare person who cant do anything right and more like, You know, I have a condition that sometimes requires a little extra help, but it doesnt make me a bad person.
How Dogs Can Help People With Ptsd
Most pet owners are clear about the immediate joys that come with sharing their lives with companion animals. However, many of us remain unaware of the physical and mental health benefits that can also accompany the pleasure of snuggling up to a furry friend. Its only recently that studies have begun to scientifically explore the benefits of the human-animal bond.
It is estimated that as many as 1 in 10 people develop post traumatic stress disorder at some stage in their life. Typical treatments include cognitive behavioural therapy and EMDR, but research increasingly highlights the fact that dogs can be effective at supporting people with PTSD.
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How Cbt Can Help With Ptsd
Several theories specific to trauma explain how CBT can be helpful in reducing the symptoms of PTSD.
For example, emotional processing theory suggests that those who have experienced a traumatic event can develop associations among objectively safe reminders of the event , meaning and responses . Changing these associations that lead to unhealthy functioning is the core of emotional processing.
Social cognitive theory suggests that those who try to incorporate the experience of trauma into existing beliefs about oneself, others, and the world often wind up with unhelpful understandings of their experience and perceptions of control of self or the environment . For instance, if someone believes that bad things happen to bad people, being raped confirms that one is bad, not that one was unjustly violated.
Understanding these theories helps the therapist more effectively use cognitive behavioral treatment strategies.
Supporting Someone With Ptsd
Research has shown that support from family and friends is important in helping someone overcome the debilitating effects of PTSD. Couples or family therapy can help to fix damaged relationships. In some cases, family members may need to seek support of their own.
For detailed information on the most effective treatments for PTSD, see The Australian Guidelines for the Treatment of Acute Stress Disorder and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.
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Emotional And Psychological Trauma
If youve experienced an extremely stressful eventor series of eventsthats left you feeling helpless and emotionally out of control, you may have been traumatized. Psychological trauma often has its roots in childhood, but any event that shatters your sense of safety can leave you feeling traumatized, whether its an accident, injury, the sudden death of a loved one, bullying, domestic abuse, or a deeply humiliating experience. Whether the trauma happened years ago or yesterday, you can get over the pain, feel safe again, and move on with your life.
Beyond Treatment: How Can I Help Myself
It may be very hard to take that first step to help yourself. It is important to realize that although it may take some time, with treatment, you can get better. If you are unsure where to go for help, ask your family doctor. You can also check NIMH’s Help for Mental Illnesses page or search online for mental health providers, social services, hotlines, or physicians for phone numbers and addresses. An emergency room doctor can also provide temporary help and can tell you where and how to get further help.
To help yourself while in treatment:
- Talk with your doctor about treatment options
- Engage in mild physical activity or exercise to help reduce stress
- Set realistic goals for yourself
- Break up large tasks into small ones, set some priorities, and do what you can as you can
- Try to spend time with other people, and confide in a trusted friend or relative. Tell others about things that may trigger symptoms.
- Expect your symptoms to improve gradually, not immediately
- Identify and seek out comforting situations, places, and people
Caring for yourself and others is especially important when large numbers of people are exposed to traumatic events .
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How Mdma Can Help Treat Ptsd
Research from 2018 indicates that MDMA may help the brain process fear, which could allow fearful memories of traumatic events to be re-written.
According to Nyquvest, re-processing trauma with MDMA-assisted therapy might aid in releasing other emotions associated with post-traumatic stress disorder , like grief and shame.
MDMA works by creating a sense of safety and connection with the therapist, which may enhance therapeutic processing of traumatic events from the past, explains Nyquvest.
He notes that the presence and skill of a trained therapist is key to positive treatment outcomes.