Supporting PTSD with Plant Medicine

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is one of the most common challenges that our veterans face when they return home.

After being forced to face the trauma and stress of war, returning to “normal” life is not an easy process for vets and it is our responsibility, as a country who relies on their work and bravery, to find ways sustainable ways to support them. This means access to therapies that can improve quality of life without carrying high risk of dependence or unwanted side effects.

Working with qualified mental health professionals and mindfully incorporating plant medicine into treatment plans has the potential to significantly improve the quality of life for veterans.

The ECS, Cannabis, and PTSD

The Endocannabinoid System is our ultimate regulator, helping maintain a stable internal environment despite the stresses of our external environment. Keeping this system functioning at a high level can be really helpful in curbing extreme internal reactions to outside stimuli.

Endocannabinoid System support can play a big role in managing PTSD — The role of the ECS is to help us relax, eat, sleep, protect and forget.

The forgetting part is what makes cannabis, THC specifically, so impactful in PTSD treatment. It weakens the strength of that trigger in your brain that sets you off.

CBD on the other hand works as an anxiolytic – regulating serotonin and GABA activity to achieve greater relaxation and increase feelings of wellbeing. CBN, which has been shown to have substantial sedative effects, can be an amazing natural tool for those who suffer from PTSD-induced insomnia or nightmares.

Beneficial Botanicals

Therapeutic adaptogens and botanicals like ashwagandha, lemon balm, and passionflower are also powerful plants for addressing symptoms of PTSD.

Ashwagandha

Ashwagandha has been shown to lower cortisol levels and facilitate a healthy stress response by balancing the activity of our sympathetic (fight or flight) and parasympathetic (rest and digest) nervous systems.

PTSD causes one’s sympathetic nervous system to be constantly “on” – directing the body’s rapid involuntary response to dangerous or stressful situations by initiating a flash flood of hormones that boost the body’s alertness and heart rate. The key to managing PTSD becomes flipping off that switch and allowing the parasympathetic nervous system to take over.

While the hormones released during fight or flight are like your body’s gas pedal, neurotransmitters like GABA and serotonin are like the body’s brakes.

Lemon Balm and Passionflower

While ashwagandha lowers cortisol, easing your foot off the gas and getting you coasting, lemon balm and passionflower hit the brake and allow you to come to a complete stop.

Lemon balm and passionflower modulate GABA (brake pedal) activity in order to help your nervous system relax. Lemon balm has been shown to be an effective natural treatment for insomnia and anxiety, while passionflower has proven to be most effective in slowing down racing thoughts, allowing you to stop the cycle of anxiety and restlessness.

Bringing Plant Medicine to the Forefront of PTSD Therapies

Combining the powers of these different plant-based therapies creates space between you and the thoughts or stimuli that trigger PTSD, allowing you to more readily apply the tools that are learned in therapy, effectively weakening your ties to your triggers. The further you can separate yourself from those triggers, the less power they have.

MDMA, psilocybin, and ketamine have also been shown to be incredibly effective when it comes to re-writing the mind’s automatic response cycle in PTSD patients.

Educating ourselves and others about the benefits of these modalities is key to making them more accessible to the veterans that so desperately need and deserve more comprehensive and safe treatment methods.