The fight against depression, new lines and methods of its treatment have been relevant for many years. The pace of life, stress, personal tragedies and the socio-social situation become a constant source of emotional stresses and anxieties. Recently, doctors have successfully used Ketamine, an anesthetic with a pronounced analgesic effect, which has worked well in the treatment of mentally unstable conditions.
What is Ketamine?
Ketamine is a medical anesthetic used in anesthesiology as general anesthesia and/or an emergency pain reliever. Vitamin K, or ket, as it is often called, is a colorless liquid in ampoules or vials. Ketamine has been used in medicine for over 50 years but only recently has been used as an antidepressant. Even monotherapy with this drug has proved its significant and fairly rapid effect on patients with protracted depression that is not amenable to other types of traditional treatment.
Drug properties
The substance actively affects the patient’s subconscious, deeply immersing him in his experiences. Small doses of Ketamine immerse a depressed patient into a trance or dreaming state, thereby exerting significant therapeutic and antidepressant effects. Higher dosages – psychedelic – can cause strong dissociative effects and immerse a person in intense inner feelings. One of the advantages of ketamine therapy is that even the first session has a pronounced positive effect.
Rapid effect of the drug on patients with suicidal obsessive thoughts, compared to conventional antidepressants, can save lives and become the first step towards recovery and return to a fulfilling life.
Ketamine-assisted therapy has proved to be successful in the treatment of:
- psychoneuroses;
- anxious and obsessive states;
- suicidal thoughts;
- post-traumatic stress disorders;
- depressive states of various origins.
Ketamine-assisted therapy can also have a positive effect in case of prolonged painful sensations as a result of migraine, fibromyalgia, neuropathy, rheumatoid arthritis, for patients whose previously proposed methods of traditional treatment failed to help them. It has a good therapeutic effect in bronchial asthma, alcohol and drug abuse and other addictions to psychoactive substances.
These effects are making ketamine-assisted therapy popular in domestic and foreign clinics. Patients who do not benefit from a standard treatment regimen can get real help. The statistics of the effectiveness of the drug is about 75%.
Drug action
Ketamine activates regeneration of damaged areas of the brain, stimulates the restoration of neural connections between cells that have been disturbed by strong emotional and/or stressful conditions, as a result of depression of a various nature. Compared to existing antidepressants, the drug acts on a completely different level of the neurotransmitter system. Ketamine “turns off” some of the functions of neurons and “stimulates” parts of the brain that are responsible for emotions and perception of sensations.
An important thing is that during the treatment, patients with reduced learnability and intellectual activity against the background of depression become more susceptible to psychotherapy. This allows for more effective work with the patient to achieve the top-quality and lasting remission. Individual dose selection during the period of administration of the drug ensures a psychedelic state of consciousness.
The brain “reboots” with a new consciousness, and the patient achieves the effect of a transformed state. Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy causes a rethinking and reassessment of situations, self-awareness and life guidelines. The patient experiences an internal rise, gets rid of the state of anxiety and depression. A person becomes more self-confident, communicative, balanced, positive-minded, creatively active and spiritually open. The level of internal discomfort and tension begins to decrease, self-esteem rises, a new sense of life occurs, and relationships with other people improve.
Ketamine and side effects
This drug has practically no side effects, since it has due to minimal toxicity. During a session of ketamine-assisted therapy, patients often notice a peaceful, fearless state and a state of emotional uplift. Sometimes sensations of warmth, a feeling of slight anxiety, sometimes dry mouth, short-term headaches, possibly a slight fluctuation in blood pressure may appear.
It is very important to correctly pull the patient out of the state of dissociation to prevent the negative consequences of this condition, which may arise in the case of independent use of the drug. Therefore, it is very important to provide treatment under the supervision of specialists in a medical center. It is not advisable to drive vehicles the next day after the treatment.
The simplified use of Ketamine as a conventional psychotropic drug, without psychotherapeutic support, can be much less effective and leads to the loss of the main potential of ketamine therapy. In general, modern research reports the safety and lack of addiction to this drug, its high efficiency in the treatment of mental and psychotic disorders.
Ketamine-assisted therapy at MedicoMente
Before starting Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, the patient must undergo a complete diagnosis and examination by a therapist. A session of primary psychological counseling is held. After collecting all the anamnestic data, ketamine-assisted therapy sessions are prescribed, which take place in parallel with psychotherapy sessions.
A session of ketamine-assisted therapy usually lasts 40-90 minutes, with an intravenous infusion of the drug. The course quite often consists of 4-6 droppers. Microdoses of ketamine are usually administered once or twice a week, or every day in the case of acute depression and pain conditions. According to observations, the treatment process can continue in further days, weeks and months after the end of the course of treatment.
A positive result can last from three to five weeks at the end of the course; sometimes the drug effectiveness lasts 12 or more weeks in the case of using small doses of Ketamine with a single use, and with high doses of systemic use the effect is longer, and can persist for a year or more. The therapy may cause some forgotten or previously displaced negative emotions associated with past traumatic experiences to appear. All this can cause strong feelings in the patient, which is part of the healing process and is eliminated with the help of psychotherapy.
Treatment of depressive conditions is provided comprehensively, considering the individual characteristics of the patient. Ketamine therapy is provided under the strict supervision of our clinic specialists, because the drug is listed in a special register of narcotic and psychotropic substances. Before starting ketamine-assisted therapy, the patient is informed of the possible side effects and should not have any contraindications.
MedicoMente guarantees the safe use of ketamine-assisted psychotherapy in a specialized European-level hospital.
Important!
Our medical center does not provide involuntary treatment.
Our patients receive effective treatment on a voluntary basis only!
What makes our conditions a priority?
- Licensed services with the latest equipment (certified by the Ministry of Health of Ukraine)
- 24h specialist supervision
- Privacy and security
- A wide range of internationally qualified doctors
- Comfortable and high-quality services instead of “hospital” atmosphere.
The cost of services is individual and is based on the level of accommodation, the general somatic and mental state at admission, and concomitant diseases. Bundled services are available.
Make an appointment:
☎ + 38(095) 550-85-25
✉ info@medicomente.com
https://medicomente.com/kontakty/
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Medical practice license, order of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine of 04.04.2019 No. 726 “On licensing medical practice”, issued by the Ministry of Health of Ukraine.
License of the State Service of Ukraine for Medicines and Drug Control, for the right to perform economic activities related to the circulation of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors. Minutes of the meeting of the working group dated June 20, 2019.
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