KETAMINE ASSISTED THERAPY: AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH TO MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT
An Alternative Approach to Mental Health Treatment
(Ketamine Therapy: Part 1)
What is ketamine?
I am sure many of you are familiar with my affinity for alternative therapies. As such, I wanted to spark up a conversation about Ketamine (assisted therapy) to demystify the experience and to shed light on where we are at in terms of the science, the legality, and the current state of affairs when it comes to psychedelic-assisted therapies.
First and foremost, for those of you who are unfamiliar, ketamine-assisted therapy is a relatively new form of treatment that involves the administration of the anesthetic drug, ketamine, in conjunction with psychotherapy to treat a variety of mental health conditions. You might be wondering—how can an anesthetic like ketamine help with my mental health? This is an entirely valid question, so let’s get into it.
Ketamine is a dissociative drug. This means it produces a state of dissociation or ‘disconnect’ between the mind and body that creates a temporary alteration of consciousness. From the layman's experiential perspective, this creates a disconnect from the body, the problems, and the mental baggage that comes along with having a body. Scientifically speaking, dissociate anesthetics work by blocking neurotransmitters in the brain involved with perception, memory, and consciousness.
A Breif History of Psychedelics
Ketamine has been used medically for over 50 years. Its use within the context of psychotherapy, however, is a relatively new development. What I want to share with you is the history of psychedelic use in therapy (like it or not, we’re heading there) and the current known benefits of ketamine-assisted therapy. This is all of course, from the perspective of a mental health professional who has skin in the game and is biased. A. This is a sponsored post so, I am being paid to explore my insights and instincts, and B. I am a left-leaning alternative-seeking type of person. So I won’t pretend to come at this from a place of neutrality. I am biased. lol. So now that we have that out of the way, let's talk about the history of psychedelic use.
First and foremost, psychedelics have a long (longggggg) history of spiritual and therapeutic use from many ancient cultures around the globe, dating back thousands and thousands of years. Some of the earliest evidence of psychedelic use comes from prehistoric cave paintings and artifacts. One notable example is the Tassili n'Ajjer cave paintings in southern Algeria, which date back to 6000 BCE. These cave paintings depict what appear to be trance-like or shamanic rituals, and some of the depicted figures seem to be in altered states of consciousness, potentially induced by psychedelic substances (not conclusive, but interesting).
Another example comes from indigenous cultures in the Americas, where various psychedelic plants have been used ceremonially for thousands of years. For instance, peyote (a cactus containing the psychedelic compound mescaline) has been used by indigenous peoples in North America for religious and spiritual purposes for at least several thousand years.
Similarly, the use of psilocybin-containing mushrooms (commonly referred to as "magic mushrooms") has a long history in Central and South America. Archaeological evidence suggests their use in religious rituals as far back as 1000 BCE. All of this is to say, the use of psychedelics in personal & spiritual growth and development has been used for a very long time. I can only begin to speculate why this is the case… but that will be another conversation for another time.
In the 60s, psychedelics (like LSD and psilocybin) gained popularity in the West as a way to explore consciousness and treat mental illness. In the 1970s, there was a significant backlash against the use of psychedelics due to concerns about their safety and the potential for abuse (mainly due to the socio-cultural-political climate of the time and in retrospect, largely unfounded) nonetheless, this resulted in a stalemate in the research for several decades. In the 1990s, researchers began to investigate the potential of MDMA – another psychedelic, (also known as ecstasy) for treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and in recent years, there has been a resurgence of interest in the therapeutic use of ketamine.
Ketamine Therapy: Benefits, Use + Exploring the Topic
As I mentioned earlier, ketamine has been widely used as an anesthetic strictly in medical settings since the 1960s—if you’ve ever been put to sleep for surgery, chances are it was ketamine that put you into that state of consciousness – however, it was not until the early 2000s that researchers began to explore its potential as a treatment for depression and other significant mental health conditions. Only recently, in 2019, did the FDA approve a nasal spray form of ketamine for the treatment of ‘treatment-resistant depression’ which is exactly what it sounds like, depression that has not responded to psychotherapy or traditional antidepressants.
One of the main benefits of ketamine-assisted therapy is its relatively quick onset of action. What does this mean? Well, unlike traditional antidepressants, which can take several weeks to fully enter the bloodstream and take effect, ketamine can produce significant and noticeable improvements in mood within hours (sometimes minutes) of administration. And no, it is not just the high or the experience of an altered state of consciousness that produces the lifting effect of depression. Ketamine has also been found to have a long-lasting effect on depression. The current research suggests that a single infusion of ketamine can produce improvements in mood that last for several weeks, and in some cases, even months. In contrast with traditional antidepressants (think: SSRIs), which often require ongoing treatment to maintain their effects, ketamine’s benefits last weeks without continued administration of the drug (great for you and me, not helpful for big pharma’s money-making potential).
In addition to the compelling evidence on treatment-resistant depression, ketamine has also been found to be quite effective in treating other mental health conditions like anxiety, PTSD, and obsessive-compulsive disorder by ‘quieting’ the default mode network — a network of brain regions that are consistently active when a person is not focused on external tasks or engaging in specific cognitive activities. It is active during periods of rest, daydreaming, introspection, and mind-wandering (the periods of time when people with depression and anxiety get themselves in trouble…). The DMN is often referred to as the brain's "resting state" and, as you can imagine if your resting state is overly negative, pessimistic, self-loathing, and critical, you’re probably going to be unhappy. All this is to say, Ketaime is shaping up to be a very versatile treatment option for individuals who may be struggling with multiple conditions.
Is it legal?
For those of you curious about the legality of ketamine-assisted therapy—the answer, which you might be surprised to hear from me is that it’s not straightforward. It varies from country to country. In the United States, ketamine is a Schedule III controlled substance. This means it has recognized medical use but is also considered to have a potential for abuse. Translation: ketamine can only be administered by a licensed healthcare provider in a medical setting. Other countries, like Canada for example, have taken a more “proactive” approach to the use and legalization of ketamine for mental health treatment. Because the legality of ketamine-assisted therapy is an evolving area of the law, it’s important for you (the potential consumer) to be aware of the regulatory landscape in your specific region of the world.
As it currently stands, ketamine-assisted therapy is a promising new treatment option for individuals with treatment-resistant depression, anxiety, PTSD, and OCD. Its long-lasting effects, rapid onset of action, and versatility make it an incredibly valuable addition to the mental health treatment landscape. While research into the therapeutic use of ketamine is still ongoing, the current evidence is strong and suggests the potentially game-changing nature of treatment in the field of mental health. I am excited to track the science, reduce the stigma and open the door to conversation.
In my previous Instagram posts & stories, I shared my own personal experience with Ketaime Assisted therapy & the importance of integration tools— bringing the therapeutic elements into the experience and working to bring the knowledge gained into your life. With the proper emotional support and therapeutic container, ketamine-assisted therapy can be a highly effective tool for treatment-resistant depression and short-circuiting negative feedback loops in the brain.
If you have any other questions First, just send me a message and ask! I love talking about this stuff and would be more than happy to point you in the right direction. Second, if would like to read/ learn more about using this therapeutic modality for yourself, I encourage you to check out Wondermed (the trusted company I did my treatment sessions with) to learn more about the scientific approach, if you qualify for treatment and the ways in which this medication can help you.
Please note, this is not medical advice, the information in this post is for educational purposes only.