Ketamine therapy is coming to the forefront of the psychedelic medicine conversation, over other classical psychedelics and compounds. <\/p>\n
While it\u2019s increasingly becoming recognized in the mainstream over other options, ketamine therapy has a number of factors that are putting it at center stage in the world of psychedelic medicine. Kristin Arden, psychiatric nurse practitioner and Lead Clinician at Mindbloom, helps explain some of the components that make this treatment option so promising.<\/p>\n
For decades, ketamine has been used in a clinical setting for anesthesia and to help treat pain. As a result, there\u2019s plenty of science that validates the safety of its use in a medical context. <\/p>\n
\u201cIn thinking about treating off-label<\/a>, for things like depression and anxiety, we have a medication that’s scientifically validated as being safe,\u201d Arden says. \u201dWe have a large body of research that has validated its safety for treatment indications that often require higher doses than we typically use in a mental health setting.\u201d<\/p>\n Medications face a lot of barriers before they can be accessed for general use. They go through an extensive review process by the FDA and are scheduled by the DEA. Ketamine is scheduled by the DEA as a Schedule III controlled substance<\/a>, which is defined as \u201cdrugs with a moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence.\u201d Some examples of Schedule III substances are anabolic steroids, supplemented testosterone, and pain-relief products containing less than 90mg of codeine.<\/p>\n At this time, other psychedelics such as psilocybin (mushrooms) and MDMA are classified by the DEA as Schedule I, which by definition means drugs with no currently accepted medical use and high potential for abuse. This is despite the fact that those compounds are currently in various phases of FDA trials for their medicinal applications.<\/p>\n \u201cThe regulatory barriers for utilizing ketamine in the treatment of mental illness aren\u2019t there as they would be with other substances at this time,\u201d Arden says.<\/p>\n The FDA already has indications for the use of ketamine<\/a> for treatment of conditions like treatment-resistant depression and depression with suicidality. <\/p>\n When you are treated with ketamine, the acute, disassociating effects wear off quickly, and the side effects dissipate rapidly as well. When comparing ketamine to other psychedelics available, the more acute phase of the ketamine treatment generally lasts about an hour. Generally, it takes about three hours after someone who has done the treatment to return to their baseline mental status and physical status.<\/p>\n This is significantly shorter compared to treatments with other psychedelic compounds, which can last anywhere from four to eight hours during the acute effects of the medicine, followed by a much longer recovery time.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we think of ongoing maintenance treatment, or a course of several treatments for conditions like depression and anxiety, ketamine is really on the up side of that, just based on sheer time commitment or time burden for the individual,\u201d Arden says.<\/p>\n It also doesn\u2019t have lingering effects, so you won\u2019t need to take time off to recover from the treatment process.<\/p>\n Another promising aspect of ketamine, especially those using it for depression and anxiety, is the way it works neurobiologically.<\/p>\nKetamine has a Relatively Short Half-Life, Which Means Quick Recovery<\/h2>\n
It Doesn\u2019t Interfere with Traditional Treatments for Depression \/ Anxiety<\/h2>\n