Ganja Vibes Blog

Marijuana: REM Sleep Cycles And PSTD

How is it that marijuana affects dreams – and can this somehow benefit post-traumatic stress disorder patients? Chances are if you to ask the nearest Stoner… if they are aware of dreaming, the answer will come back a resounding no. Yet if that same marijuana smoker were asked to stop smoking pot for 7 to 14 days, they would again find their slumber state rich with vivid dreams… sometimes for better, sometimes for worse. Its one thing for the average pot head to make that observation after years of smoking, it’s another to try and find any psychological research based on scientific studies.

As sure as there is day and night… the human condition has grown dependent on a good restful night’s sleep. Unfortunatelywhen that sleep, and its four stages are interrupted for any reason, the outcomes can be less than desirable. The normal daily ebb and flow of sleep and slumber is called a circadian sleep rhythm. Many species aside from humans bow before the circadian sleep rhythm master: dogs, cats, rats and bats all must succumb to the powers of a restful night’s sleep, should they hope for a productive tomorrow.

While sleep appears to be a rather reflexive activity, at least to us, the mind utilizes this time to processes the day’s activities. In studies, sleep volunteers have been shown through the use of an electroencephalogram [EEG] — the different cycles of sleep which occurs on a nightly basis and how the depth of your sleep affects your next day’s productivity. As scientists have noted, each stage of sleep becomes increasingly deeper and sounder, and is repeated several times within an evening’s rest. When the sleeping volunteers were awoken during the REM section of their sleep cycle, all test subjects reported having vivid dreams.

So the obvious question becomes… If dreams only occur during REM sleep — and REM sleep is adversely affected by marijuana smoke, can smoking marijuana cure post-traumatic stress disorder?

There are many scientific research papers which point to use of marijuana’s cannabinoids as a potential memory suppressant in the treatment of PTSD, specifically with the THC cannabinoid. As scientist gaze into the future of PTSD and the THC compound found in cannabis. It is believed that THC may have the curing properties so desperately sought by those that suffer with post-traumatic stress disorder.

This is the report of an open label clinical trial to evaluate the effects of  Nabilone (a synthetic cannabinoid) , used on treatment-resistant nightmares in patients diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Methods: Charts of 47 patients diagnosed with PTSD and having continuing nightmares in spite of conventional antidepressants and hypnotics were reviewed after adjunctive treatment with nabilone was initiated. These patients had been referred to a psychiatric specialist outpatient clinic between 2004 and 2006. The majority of patients (72%) receiving nabilone experienced either cessation of nightmares or a significant reduction in nightmare intensity. Subjective improvement in sleep time, the quality of sleep, and the reduction of daytime flashbacks and nightsweats were also noted by some patients. The results of this study indicate the potential benefits of nabilone, a synthetic cannabinoid, in patients with PTSD experiencing poor control of nightmares with standard pharmacotherapy.

With the mounting proof showing support for medical marijuana as a treatment for PTSD continues to grow, the Department of Veterans Affairs finally decided that the scientific evidence was too strong to ignore. And back in July, 2010, finally gave in to common sense and scientific evidence. The United States Department of Veterans Affairs then made clear that it would permit certain war veterans the use of medicinal pot so long as they lived in a medical marijuana state, had received a doctors recommendation to smoke medical marijuana and were currently enrolled in a state approved program.

While marijuana continues to be classified as a schedule 1 narcotic under federal law, the newly adopted guidelines will potentially allow for doctors at hospitals and clinics to utilize medicinal cannabis; bringing marijuana back into the pharmacopeia of – ‘pain treatment plans’ offered to the vets which suffer from PTSD and the nightmarish dreams which accompany them.


Marijuana: REM Sleep Cycles And PSTD |

Getting Off: A Woman’s Guide to Masturbation

This is a guest post by Holly Ord of Menstrual Poetry Masturbation is a healthy part of every person's life. Even as part of a relationship and while maintaining a healthy sex life, self-love still plays a healthy role in one's life. People start exploring their bodies at very young ages; from infant boys who every time you change a diaper, their hands are immediately exploring their penis and young girls who will mindlessly start exploring themselves whenever time permits. This is extremely healthy and positive behaviour, but there are a great deal of people and organizations who beg to differ, going as far as to saying that any type of sexuality whatsoever, including masturbation, is unnatural, sinful, and just about anything else they can think of in order to scare people out of doing something that is natural and should be celebrated. Jamye Waxman has a master's degree in sex education and has written the book Getting Off, an entire guide to masturbation just for women--Or for men who want to know more about the body of a woman and pleasuring all of those sensual zones a woman has. Getting Off is an asset for every single woman, regardless of their knowledge of sexuality or their bodies. The book goes over several different topics, from the anatomy of an orgasm (the small, indifferent orgasm, the mediocre, satisfying-but-not-by-much orgasm, the can't-get-enough, pass out afterward orgasm, and everything in between), fantasies, vibrators and other sex toys that can be used to heighten sexual pleasure while masturbating, how masturbation is viewed by mainstream media and the people who use the media as their only ground for knowledge, and so much more. While reading through the different sections of the book, I was overjoyed to see a lot of the topics brought up that I didn't expect to be brought up in such a refreshing light, such as the topic of anal sex and stimulation and how a great deal of women enjoy anal stimulation but feel too shy to explore the possibilities it can bring them sexually due to its social stigma as being referred to as strictly an exit. It also highlights a great deal of fun facts, such as the fact that graham crackers and Corn Flakes, food items that people eat to curb hunger, which in fact invented to curb masturbation, and the first vibrators were found in doctors' offices to help cure women of "hysteria," or what I deem as merely "sexual frustration" since the hysterical woman stereotype is still alive and going strong. Getting Off is a resource that you will find yourself flipping through again and again, it is full of extremely positive and helpful information and completely obliterates the falsities that society and mainstream media have put in place for women, especially the "prudish woman" title or the belief that women cannot be sexual and sexually satisfying individuals.