The History of Ketamine Therapy and the Advancement in Mental Health
Written by Dr. Lea Lis. Originally appearing on Medium
“Ketamine is an anesthetic that can be used to help treat a variety of mental health conditions, including treatment-resistant depression/major depression, anxiety, PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder), bipolar disorder, and certain addictions/substance use disorders. It also has positive effects for people with chronic pain and fewer side effects than other pain medications.” It is a dissociative medication that can help a person disconnect from their ordinary reality and usual self. This led to clinical use in mental health treatments in the 1970’s. The results were incredible in helping patients who were struggling with treatment resistant cases. They are able to relax and be open to the therapeutic process. It parallels the quote from Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment, “Every time you create a gap in the stream of mind, the light of your consciousness grows stronger.” Using ketamine we are able to assist patients in achieving mental growth and gain a deeper connection with themselves.
The Smithsonian Magazine published an article about ketamine being used to treat depression and shared a clinical study and its effect that took place in 2000 by the Yale School of Medicine. “Led by John Krystal, now the chair of the school’s psychiatry department, the researchers showed that a single subanesthetic dose (less than what would be given for anesthesia) of ketamine improved depression — and in some cases led to a near complete recovery — in less than 24 hours.” This is a big advancement in treatment and still took 19 years before ketamine was approved by the FDA to be used for mental health care.
Ketamine treatment does have some possible side effects including “vestibular-type symptoms including dizziness, nausea and vomiting”, according to an article published by the Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. The side effects vary depending on the patient and often are connected to the use of other medications or circumstances. These are often short term effects and do not last much longer after the dosage has worn off. Ketamine generally causes a significant increase in blood pressure but usually not pulse rate. In our experience, if your blood pressure monitoring reveals that it is too high, you may be asked to delay your treatment session.
There have been some amazing results using ketamine treatment in mental health. In a study by the Harvard Medical School about using ketamine to treat depression, “people who are suffering under the crushing weight of depression can start to feel the benefits of ketamine within about 40 minutes.” This has shortened the reaction time considerably and helped patients who were experiencing treatment resistant depression. Another study conducted at NYU, my alma mater, demonstrated a considerable amount of incredible results in standard alcoholism treatment when supplemented by ketamine psychedelic therapy. It showed that, “total abstinence for more than one year was observed in 65.8% of alcoholic patients compared to 24% of the conventional treatment group.” Working with patients who struggle with addictions, this is promising to see so many patients respond positively to the ketamine treatments.
At Hampton Insight, we provide a ketamine wellness center for patients to heal. We use elements from nature to create a comfortable setting for the ultimate psychedelic experience. The space offers soothing light, curated sounds and plants designed to connect back to nature. We offer ketamine treatment in sublingual (lozenge) and intra-muscular modality depending on the patient. The sublingual method is typically the preferred method to use as we can determine the effectiveness and adjust the dosage accordingly.
The goal of the ketamine administration sessions is to create an altered state of consciousness, which may facilitate an experience that has been described at times as “transcendent”, “mystical”, “spiritual” or a “peak” experience. This kind of experience may help you shift your relationship to your suffering by accelerating your growth and leading to a deep personal transformation and optimization of your lifestyle. Author and life coach Jay Shetty wrote about the power of vulnerability saying, “Sometimes pain also brings solutions to address that pain.” Being able to connect to the pain and suffering allows patients to understand it with a deeper meaning and gain perspective. Every patient has a unique experience which depends on what they are hoping to connect with and heal. We see the transformation through every individual’s journey.
1 Lis, L. (2022, July 6). Ketamine Therapy and Its Benefits. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-shameless-psychiatrist/202207/ketamine-therapy-and-its-benefits
2 Tolle, E. (2004). The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment. New World Library.
3 McElvery, R. (2022, May 24). The Past, Present and Future of Using Ketamine to Treat Depression. Smithsonian.com. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/a-brief-history-of-ketamines-use-to-treat-depression-180980106/
4 Li L, Vlisides PE. Ketamine: 50 Years of Modulating the Mind. Front Hum Neurosci. 2016 Nov 29;10:612. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2016.00612. PMID: 27965560; PMCID: PMC5126726.
5 Grinspoon, P. (2022, August 9). Ketamine for treatment-resistant depression: When and where is it safe?. Harvard Health. https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/ketamine-for-treatment-resistant-depression-when-and-where-is-it-safe-202208092797
6 Krupitsky EM, Grinenko AY. Ketamine psychedelic therapy (KPT): a review of the results of ten years of research. J Psychoactive Drugs. 1997 Apr-Jun;29(2):165–83. doi: 10.1080/02791072.1997.10400185. PMID: 9250944.
7 Shetty, J. (2020, December 27). Jay Shetty On 20 Lessons Learned In 2020 Letting Go Of Pain. Jay Shetty.
8 Watkins, L. (2021). Knowing Where to Look: 108 Daily Doses of Inspiration. Sounds True.