May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and at Captivate Wellness, we have helped many patients reduce symptoms of mental health disorders with our IV Ketamine Therapy program. We think outside the box to incorporate mental health as a critical part of self-care.
Dealing with ongoing health conditions for years can be exhausting. Whether they are mental or physical ailments, it can overwhelm a person just the same. Having to deal with something that can be extremely painful on a daily basis sounds frustrating enough. Now imagine trying treatment after treatment and medication after medication, feeling hopeful to find relief each time only to meet a dead end once again.
Unfortunately, this is a real scenario for a considerable number of patients who have shown to be treatment-resistant. For cases like this, Ketamine can be an effective alternative treatment that helps to relieve the symptoms of certain mental health conditions. And, for people who struggle with them every day, that can be life-changing.
What Mental Health Disorders Can Ketamine Therapy Treat?
Ketamine Therapy is being considered a revolutionary medicine for people suffering from treatment-resistant depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), or suicidal patients. It has been stated by many patients that have tried Ketamine as a last resort that it has helped them when they had lost all hope of living a normal and happy life.
How Does Ketamine Work?
Ketamine targets nerve cells in the brain (neurons) that are directly involved in the mood and emotion centers of the brain. These neurons use a chemical called glutamate to communicate with each other and build healthy and new connections. In the brains of patients that suffer from depression and the other psychiatric disorders mentioned above, it seems that those neurons don’t get stimulated in the same way or with the same frequency by glutamate anymore. It is believed that through ketamine’s interactions at the glutamate receptors in the brain, the brain is “restocked” and new neuron connections (synapses) are made allowing changes in the brain that seem to help these patients shift out of depression.
Ketamine comes in several forms. The two main ones are a nasal spray called esketamine (Spravato) and IV therapy. Dr. William Corvell, author of The Merck Manuals and psychiatry professor at the University of Iowa’s Carver College of Medicine states that in his findings 2/3 of patients with major depressive disorder have considerable symptom improvement within three hours. These effects tend to decrease over the following several days, so initial treatment is usually a series of infusions, typically over the course of 2-4 weeks.
Is Ketamine a “Miracle” Drug?
For people that respond to Ketamine Therapy that have had minimum to no symptom improvement with traditional medication, this can seem like a miracle drug. However, we should be cautious to use the term “miracle.” In order to be worthy of this term, it would need to work in one hundred percent of patients with complete resolution of symptoms and have zero relapses! While undergoing ketamine treatments we advise patients to continue taking their medications, seeing their therapists and doctors, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
Learn More and Inquire About Ketamine Therapy at Captivate Wellness
You can learn even more about Ketamine Therapy on our treatment page, and if you think you might be a candidate, you can fill out our intake questionnaire, and we will schedule a phone consultation with you.