Ketamine infusion therapy treats individuals with treatment-resistant psychological health conditions such as clinical depression, anxiety, PTSD, and pain management.
Finding a therapy strategy that functions well and is sustainable over time without unwanted side effects is challenging. Traditional pharmaceuticals and talk therapy aren’t always the best combination.
There are different kinds of drugs used for the treatment of these conditions. The majority of these medicines are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Serotonin is a chemical that carries messages between nerve cells in the brain and throughout the body.
SSRIs vs. Ketamine Infusion Therapy
Imagine your brain is a bathtub, and your serotonin is the water. When you have depression, the serotonin levels decrease, and your brain can not produce more. SSRIs would be a bucket used to haul water to “fill” your tub.
If SSRIs are a bucket, ketamine is the faucet. It swiftly boosts the serotonin levels in the brain. It stimulates growth in connections, as well as repairs damaged receptors.
What Does Ketamine Infusion Therapy Treat?
Ketamine is an anesthetic and analgesic, and it has anti-inflammatory properties as well. Ketamine’s anti-depressive attributes make it a unique treatment option for mental health conditions.
Ketamine is not a first-line treatment. If a person has started and stopped at least two different SSRIs without experiencing relief from their symptoms, they have a treatment-resistant condition. Ketamine effectively treats clinical depression, anxiety, and PTSD that has not responded to conventional drugs or therapies. It is arguably the most crucial breakthrough in the treatment of depression.
It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better
Managing a mental illness or chronic pain takes patience and creativity. People who take SSRIs to manage their conditions are vulnerable during the 4-6 weeks it takes their bodies to adjust to the medication regimen. Most people on SSRIs have taken several different medication combinations to try and find one that works.
While waiting for the medicine to relieve their symptoms, they experience the side effects of SSRIs. Insomnia, weight gain, and decreased libido are the most common. In the early days of a new regimen, SSRIs can increase anxiety and thoughts of self-harm.
The Harmful Thought Patterns of Mental Illness
Feelings of sadness and hopelessness often characterize depression, anxiety, and anxiety. These conditions can lead to habitual negative thoughts, but depression results from cognitive distortions in many cases.
Cognitive distortions usually originate from the wrong ways of coping with complex events. Occasionally these types of reasoning can serve an objective when confronted with something challenging. They could minimize anxiety degrees or safeguard self-worth when used in the short term.
Overgeneralization is one form of cognitive distortion. When people overgeneralize, they use an experience or isolated incident to make assumptions about every subsequent event.
Discounting positive experiences and attributing good things to luck or fate is another common cognitive distortion. Attributing good things to outside forces instead of hard work or effort can lead to low self-esteem.
A therapist can also help develop new coping skills, practice relaxation techniques, and strengthen interpersonal relationships. Prolonged use of cognitive distortions warps the way we see the world. Our brains and bodies learn to respond to the world through our distorted worldview.
Ketamine infusion therapy gives our brains a physical break in that thought process.
What Makes Ketamine Infusion Treatment Unique?
Ketamine has dissociative properties. It creates a sensation of separation from your normal thought processes. Dissociative symptoms of ketamine infusion therapy may include a floating sensation, euphoria, losing track of time, or feeling separated from reality.
These dissociative symptoms are temporary; they decrease over time, and a professional monitors the patient during and after the entire process. It is what makes ketamine such a powerful antidepressant.
The dissociative properties of ketamine give the brain a “reset.” Ketamine interrupts the current thought processes that have proven harmful and unhealthy. The dissociative symptoms typically peak within an hour of treatment and entirely resolve within two hours of the treatment.
Should You Try Ketamine Infusion Therapy?
Patients with treatment-resistant depression are desperate for relief from unhappiness, lethargy, helplessness, and even self-destructive thoughts. These people have usually attempted months or years of medications that might have made them more tired, caused weight gain, or led to other side effects.
The first step in any treatment is a consultation with your physician or healthcare provider. There is no one-size fits all solution for mental health conditions. A physician or a mental health professional performing extensive whole-person testing can help determine if ketamine is a viable treatment.
At ShaMynds Healing Center, we believe that every bodily system is inextricably connected. We combine traditional healing techniques with cutting-edge science to treat the whole person. Contact our experts today and request your free consultation.
