Posttraumatic stress disorder, sleep and medical cannabis treatment: A daily diary study

Abstract

Despite increasing use of Medical Cannabis (MC) among posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) patients, research is lacking on how MC treatment relates to PTSD symptomatology, in particular sleep disturbances. This study examines the time gap between MC use and sleep onset and its association with (1) number of awakenings throughout the night, (2) early awakenings, (3) nightmares. Each morning over a two week period, 77 licensed MC patients suffering from PTSD reported on the timing of previous night MC use and sleep disturbances. Within-person analyses found that shorter time gaps between previous night MC use and sleep start time was associated with lower likelihood of experiencing nightmares throughout the night, but it was not associated with nightly awakenings or waking up too early. Between-person analyses showed that individuals who used MC products with higher CBD concentrations reported fewer early awakenings. These preliminary results indicate that future research should test causal relations between MC use and sleep problems in PTSD patients. Future research is warranted in order to explore causal relationships between MC use, nightmares and insomnia in PTSD patients.