Ketamine the Future of Treating Depression

What is Ketamine? How can Ketamine help treat depression? What symptoms will it alleviate? Are there any disadvantages? Can it be used to treat more than just depression?

What is Ketamine?

Medical practitioners use the drug as an anesthetic to put patients to sleep before surgery. It is also used illegally as a recreational drug. It is a drug of choice because of its psychedelic effects. A person may see, hear, smell, feel, or even taste things differently than what they are in reality. 

Ketamine is the future of treating depression, it is a new and faster treatment. It may not be a viable method of treatment for everyone.

How does Ketamine affect the brain?

Ketamine when used triggers glutamate production in the brain. It is a series of complex events that cause new neural connections to form in the brain. Thus, making the brain adaptable and able to create new pathways, giving patients the chance to develop positive thoughts and behaviors. This reaction does not occur with antidepressants. To learn more about how Ketamine works, follow the link.

How does Ketamine work?

If the patient is responsive to the treatments, suicidal thoughts and acts will rapidly and greatly be reduced as well as other serious symptoms of depression. For more information on symptoms of depression, you can read about it in our blog post “Clinical Depression.” 

Additionally, Ketamine has also been effective in treating depression combined with anxiety.

Disadvantages:

No treatment plan is perfect. There are some disadvantages; it must be administered intravenously. This means that it has to be given to the patient through an IV. There are potential side effects that require close monitoring. Thus, why Ketamine infusions must be administered in a Hospital or in a clinic with the proper equipment and under a doctors care. There are negative side effects to be aware of; out-of-body experiences, addiction is a possibility, and even bladder problems. It is important to remember that this is not a cure. The possibilities of remission and relapsing are still very possible.

Can it be used to medically treat other disorders?

Yes! Ketamine infusions have been successful in treating patients from: 

• Depression 
• Postpartum depression 
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) 
• Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) 
• Generalized anxiety 
• Fibromyalgia 
• Chronic pain syndromes

For more information about what treatment options Embracia Clinic offers or for setting up a consultation with our medical staff, follow the link.