If you’re familiar with ketamine, you might recognize it as a party drug that was popular in the 1980s and 1990s at parties, clubs, and music festivals due to its euphoric and hallucinatory effects.
But currently, experts are looking at how this medication, in very few dosages, can aid with the treatment of depression and anxiety, among other mental health issues. In fact, the FDA has previously authorized a nasal spray for treatment-resistant depression that contains a specific kind of ketamine.
It’s crucial to remember that ketamine was initially created as an anesthetic for medical treatments in order to comprehend how this substance functions.
Ketamine differs from conventional psychiatric drugs in that it works in the brain very differently. Ketamine treatment is also becoming more widely available to persons with depression and anxiety as growing research indicates encouraging outcomes and more clinics start up.
The majority of the studies on the use of ketamine to treat the symptoms of mental illness has been on depression, particularly treatment-resistant depression. People who have problems feeling better while receiving typical therapies are referred to as having this condition. In other words, despite maybe attempting a psychotherapy and antidepressant combo, their symptoms persisted.
In the days that follow a therapy session, ketamine’s capacity to increase neuroplasticity makes the brain more malleable, flexible, and receptive to change. This window offers the ideal environment for promoting constructive cognitive restructuring and behavioral change, which may enhance many facets of one’s life, including mental health.
Increased brain plasticity has the effect of stimulating the development of new neural pathways and breaking up anxiety-provoking thinking patterns. Patients are advised to incorporate activities like writing and meditation into their daily routines as a result, as they promote new, healthy thought patterns. So, in addition to getting rid of bad behaviors, you’re also replacing them with fresh, beneficial ones.
Not everyone is a good candidate for ketamine treatments. Because of this, it is advised that you speak with your primary care physician about how it could affect you in particular depending on your present health, your current prescriptions, and other variables.
