We all get the blues now and then. It’s just part of our life. But when it comes to depression or posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), things can be totally different.
People with PTSD always feel down and numb. They are more likely to be severely depressed and even have suicidal thoughts, which can really threaten their lives. The currently limited treatment options make PTSD a more terrible disease. However, a recent study found that cannabis may deal with the depression and suicidality of people with PTSD.
Cannabis may hold the key to PTSD treatment
The researchers studied data from 24,089 people aged 15 and older. They found that PTSD was linked with major depressive episode or suicidal thoughts among patients who didn’t take cannabis, while patients who had cannabis were less likely to suffer from these conditions.
Specifically, patients who had cannabis were 7 times less likely to have major depressive episode. Besides, they were 4.7 times less likely to have suicide intentions compared to patients who didn’t take cannabis.
These results suggest that cannabis may have the potential to relieve the depression and suicide intention caused by PTSD.
Why cannabis can treat PTSD
The researchers have not yet fully understood the mystery of cannabis, and for now, there has been no population-level data to prove that cannabis can be used to treat PTSD. But scientists are planning to conduct larger-scale studies.
In the foreseeable future, scientists may use cannabis in medicine and drugs for PTSD, and people with PTSD may have new treatment options that can help them more effectively.
