Innovative Psychiatry
In the last several years, a medicine began to emerge as a remarkable treatment for mood disorders. It was developed and FDA approved for anesthesia around 1970. Over 25 years later… it began to show its colossal hidden ability. What sort of ability? The power to relieve depression and other psychiatric disorders in a most dynamic way. Disorders like PTSD, bipolar depression, postpartum depression, addiction, social anxiety, and even eating disorders respond to this extraordinary treatment that involves a series of IV infusions. And perhaps the most remarkable of all, ketamine infusions can erase suicidal thinking in a few short hours. These articles about ketamine treatment are presented here to dispel stigma about psychiatric conditions and to give hope about treating them.
Researchers tested it with trepidation 10-20 years ago. Then each study built upon the last. Their work revealed more insights about what actually causes depression, and how to treat it effectively. Never before has a medicine helped relieve symptoms in such a wide variety of people and their symptoms.
Ketamine works in multiple areas and systems of the brain. It improves the function of mechanisms that have been impaired by the stress of depression and anxiety. It helps the G proteins that pile up on lipid rafts in the cell membrane slide to off. This equips them so they can do their job enhancing signal transmission.
It also turns on the mRNA switch which in turn flips on DNA to build up brain-derived-neurotrophic-factor (BDNF). BDNF then causes synapse connections between neurons to proliferate in turbo mode, transforming and replenishing the connections between brain cells all around the brain, lighting it up with information, cognition, creativity, and insight.
There’s more that it accomplishes, like tamping down the cell bursting in the lateral habenula so you can experience the reward of pleasant moments. We don’t know what researchers haven’t discovered yet, but we look forward to hearing what’s next.
The results of IV ketamine treatment are transformative. Those who have been weighted under a blanket of lethargic apathy and despair typically find they feel better and better after treatment. They often find they have the energy and motivation to dive into tasks they couldn’t face in recent memory.
More patients with treatment resistant conditions respond to ketamine than any other medicine available. It may sound odd, but the patients it helps the most are those who suffer the most from severe disorders. With continued research, neuroscience researchers and psychiatrists are learning methods of administration that help more and more patients enjoy a rapid and robust response,.
As a result, these individuals enjoy renewed hope. They express amazement at their energy for life and work, and an overall transformation in what they enjoy and are able to accomplish. They report a more balanced and joyful outlook, and the desire to rebuild and strengthen their relationships.
With all the good IV ketamine treatment accomplishes, some people still don’t respond to it at all. The percentage of people who don’t respond is comparatively small, and we need to see more studies that can help explain why.
There are others who have a significant response initially, then the response fades. One reason for that may be they have a deficiency of certain components in their blood. They may have a low folate level, or low testosterone, and some other deficiencies. In cases like this, sometimes replacing those nutrients helps that patient respond to ketamine treatment and experience resilience again. There are even cases where a patient’s blood levels are normal but the levels of certain components in their cerebral spinal fluid is low. By replacing that deficiency, the patient is able to enjoy a very positive and robust response to ketamine treatment.
Neuroscience is gaining knowledge by leaps and bounds in the 21st century. We hope to see more and more medicines that work as well as ketamine for those who have not yet been helped.
These articles about ketamine expand on those things we learn from neuroscience research in the labs, as well as those things we learn from research in our practice.
Is it Bipolar II, or Bipolar 2? Hard to get it straight? (Bipolar 2 is what’s all over the net but Bipolar II is what’s in the journals.) Actually, if you suffer from bipolar II disorder, it’s no laughing matter. It’s a lot like bipolar I, except the highs are much less intense. So we […]
Learn to recognize signs and symptoms of bipolar disorder in your teen. Then get help. Fast. It’s the worst shock to hear your adolescent child has done things you raised him not to do. Every parent experiences this. But some parents get socked in the gut. Instead of your teen sneaking out with friends at […]
Flavonoids go to bat for you and for your brain. They shield, protect, and fight for you — throughout your brain and over time — to help you flourish. Improve your resilience. Sharpen your mind. Enhance your memory. Prevent brain fog. Protect from conditions associated with dementia. Let’s talk about some of the ways flavonoids […]
Remember brain fog? Let’s talk about the role diet plays in your mental well-being, cognition, and health. We’ve discussed the microbiome, and nutrients that are good for your outlook. But let’s go deeper. It’s time to talk about flavonoids, since flavonoids impact your vulnerability to serious degenerative brain disorders. Like Alzheimer’s, for instance. Your outlook […]
There are so many sides to this controversy. Marijuana’s good for what ails you – right? For cancer pain, anxiety, depression…for putting your body back in order… Or is it?? There has long been a belief that cannabis, another name for marijuana, was associated with suicidality. Not a popular belief, but one supported by neuroscience. […]
Engage with family and friends. Exercise and move. Get your juices flowing. Remember to take time for you…snuggle with your cat…play with your dog. Use your brain, exert yourself mentally and physically. Build yourself up to prepare for the world after the Delta variant subsides. After all this time with isolation and social distancing, it […]
Thanks to the Delta variant, the pandemic is not over… yet. Impaired cognition has reached a crisis point for many throughout the world. Elanna walked into the kitchen and laid her hands on the counter top. Why was she here? She looked for her phone, but she was holding it. Well, that was good, at […]
Alcohol Use Disorder is the most common substance use disorder. It causes economic, psychosocial, medical, and personal burdens across the globe that nothing else compares to. During the pandemic, people who’ve lost jobs and income, or been hospitalized with COVID, or who’ve lost loved ones to the vicious virus, have clear and easy-to-identify reasons for […]
Know any men who can flip from mild annoyance to a violent rage in a short minute? Know any women who are wounded and intimidated by a man’s anger? Now if that anger is violent then it’s likely lots of women and children as well are wounded and intimidated by it. Let’s talk about the […]
Ask yourself…”Do you prefer good times…or interesting times…?” We’ve talked about how to recover after a crisis or trauma so you can get back up. Let’s take another step. Let’s talk about making use of your experiences so you can — and will — move forward. First and foremost, like letting go of the memories […]