Medical cannabis: Could it be the cure for PTSD?

As new studies show that prescription cannabis brings significant benefits for those living with post-traumatic stress disorder, Ruby Deevoy meets one sufferer who says she has never felt better

- Ruby Deevoy

Post-traumatic stress disorder affects one in three people who have had a form of traumatic experience. For Karen Julia, a difficult childhood led to her developing delayed onset PTSD in 2012, when she was 34 years old.

“I’d been made homeless at 15 and successfully divorced my parents after a lifetime of neglect and abuse,” recalls Karen, who works as a wedding photographer.

“At the time I focused on getting myself through school and found solace in photography. It wasn’t until years later that the past trauma I’d had started seriously impacting my life.”

The worst symptom for Karen was severe sleep disturbances – a typical issue for people suffering from PTSD. Other common debilitating symptoms are flashbacks and panic attacks.

“I was like a ball of adrenaline and would be wide awake at the slightest sound at night,” says Karen, 44. “The sleep deprivation was terrible. It had a profound effect on my personal and professional life. I was exhausted and struggling to work.”

As is common among many PTSD patients, Karen felt as though the standard prescriptions of antidepressants were merely masking some of her symptoms rather than treating the condition.

Now, she says she has been “given her life back” by medical cannabis – and according to new research she is far from alone.

The drug has given new hope to hundreds of PTSD patients.

Last month the UK Medical Cannabis Registry presented 20 new research papers at the International Cannabinoid Research Society Conference, covering a wide range of conditions including PTSD.