Ketamine therapy in the Denver area is helping treat stubborn depression

According to the World Health Organization, depression is a leading cause of disability worldwide, affecting over 280 million people. Although many people are able to find relief with standard antidepressant medications such as SSRIs, not everyone does.

Why is ketamine so effective at treating depression?

Ketamine has been found to be effective in treating depression, including cases of treatment-resistant depression. This type of depression does not respond to traditional antidepressant medications, such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and other antidepressants. 

Ketamine increases connections between neurons

In contrast to SSRIs, ketamine works by increasing the levels of a neurotransmitter called glutamate in the brain, which can help to improve mood and reduce symptoms of depression.   

Glutamate is one of the primary neurotransmitters in the brain and is responsible for transmitting signals between nerve cells. It plays a crucial role in many different brain functions, including learning, memory, and mood regulation. By increasing the levels of glutamate in the brain, ketamine can help to improve mood and reduce symptoms of depression. 

Ketamine continues to work after the drug has left your system

Ketamine also differs from typical SSRI medications in that it continues to work after the drug has left a person’s body, whereas your normal SSRIs stop working as soon as someone stops taking them. This leads researchers to believe that ketamine is having a lasting impact on the brain, helping to rewire the connections between neurons and making results more permanent. 

“This is a game changer,” said John Krystal, MD, chief psychiatrist at Yale Medicine and one of the pioneers of ketamine research in the country. “With most medications, like valium, the anti-anxiety effect you get only lasts when it is in your system. When the valium goes away, you can get rebound anxiety. When you take ketamine, it triggers reactions in your cortex that enable brain connections to regrow. It’s the reaction to ketamine, not the presence of ketamine in the body that constitutes its effects,” he says.

This is great news for people who are looking for a solution that does not involve a steady drug intake routine for the rest of their lives. 

Ketamine works much faster than traditional depression medication

Ketamine has been called the “the anti-medication '' medication by some in the medical field for its ability to produce positive, quick, and long-term lasting effects for people dealing with depression and anxiety. 

In May of 2020, The National Library of Medicine published a study called “Ketamine as an antidepressant” where they remarked on ketamine’s, “ability to exert rapid antidepressant properties as early as several hours after administration. This is in stark contrast to the delayed effects observed with traditional antidepressants, often requiring several weeks of therapy for a clinical response.”

They were particularly excited about the “increasing evidence of its (ketamine’s) efficacy in treatment-resistant depression and its potential anti-suicidal action…”

How do I know ketamine therapy will help with my depression?

As I’ve been providing ketamine assisted therapy in the Denver area, I have seen first hand the powerful transformations it can bring about when combined with traditional talk therapy. 

For anyone who’s struggling with treatment-resistant depression or has hit a wall with traditional therapy, ketamine assisted therapy might be a helpful option.

Combining ketamine with talk therapy creates a safe environment for you to explore your experiences and integrate the lessons you’ve gleaned from your sessions. Following this structure allows you to use ketamine as a means of entering into your experience instead of avoiding it.

If you are interested in learning more about ketamine assisted therapy, I encourage you to reach out to me to book a consultation appointment where we can discuss your therapy in more detail and see if we are a good fit for each other.

If you’d like to know more about my approach to relationship therapy, please visit this page here.