Stephanie was a happily married thirty-something woman with 3 young children. She adored her husband and after 12 years of marriage, she still felt a thrill every time they held hands or caught each other’s eye. She fully expected the spark between them would see them through good times and bad, and they worked at actively communicating through every challenge. Of course, they had minor conflicts and bumps in the road from time to time, like any marriage does. But they built a life and family together, and Stephanie felt lucky and fulfilled. Then, everything changed. One evening right before Christmas, Stephanie’s husband told her he’d never loved her, and wanted a divorce. Stephanie was floored. She felt punched in the gut. Devastated. Shocked. Stunned. All she believed about their marriage seemed to have been fiction..? Her friend told her when trauma sabotages your life, it can be overcome. But how?
Her love and warmth and deep affection for her husband was not returned. Why?
Infidelity Shatters Trust in a Committed Relationship
It came out that he’d been seeing a “family friend.” He didn’t go home the next night, and the night after that. Then began coming home only in the morning to shower before work.
Stephanie saw him in the bathroom and flew out of bed in a rage. “How could you???”
He silently dressed and left for work…and Stephanie collapsed on the bed, crying in pain and betrayal. This man who had been so beautiful to her for the 15 years she’d known him, had turned into a stranger and a monster in a moment.
Cold. Without compassion or mercy. Brutal. Cruel.
What a fool she must have been. She felt ashamed. Humiliated. How could she think she was in a happy marriage? How could she have enjoyed him so much, when his loyalty was to someone else? The betrayal of her deep trust and love disintegrated her core. Trauma sabotaged her life, from wall to wall.
Painful thoughts of hurt, humiliation, betrayal, and loss swirled around and around in her head.
“So this is what it feels like when your heart is breaking,” she thought…For weeks, then months. Then years. She worked hard to build a new life, support her children, weave fun moments into their lives. If it wasn’t for her children, she thought she’d go to bed and stay there. Forever. But she didn’t. She kept putting one foot in front of the other.
Dinner Out is Ruined, Groceries Abandoned
Two years later she still felt like she would implode at the mention of his name. If she entered a restaurant, and saw him and “her” seated, she would walk out to keep from having a panic attack. If she saw them in the grocery store, her hands would start shaking, her palms would grow moist, and perspiration would break out on her forehead. She’d quickly leave, abandoning her groceries.
She wondered how others got over divorce. She didn’t think she was making any progress. How do you let go of the rage? How do you heal from the terrible hurt? What do you do to stop trauma from sabotaging her life? She felt like she was defined by her ex-husband’s rejection. Stephanie worried about her children and what her prolonged grief was doing to them.
As more time went by, the strain of her ex-husband’s betrayal wore her down. It ground away at her resources— including mental, emotional, financial, and physical. She had not experienced joy since he told her he was leaving nearly three years ago. Stephanie endured. She existed. She kept hanging on.
Maybe There’s More To It than Grief
Stephanie decided to see a therapist. On the recommendation of a friend, she made an appointment. After talking awhile, the therapist pointed out that she may have PTSD from the way it all happened. Considering her panic attacks, her severe reactions to having contact with her ex. Her increased heart rate and respirations at the thought of him.
The stress of living her altered life, worry about her children, fear of contact with her ex-husband, fear of reminders of the trauma … all hinted at her post traumatic stress and need for treatment.
There were long sessions with her therapist every week for months, but while she learned some things about herself, the panic continued.
Then, she read an article about PTSD and how IV ketamine treatment could be effective in treating it. She wanted her life back. Her self back. She wanted to be her best self for her children.
IV Ketamine Treatment Emerges as Her Solution
Stephanie googled “IV ketamine treatment” and learned it showed dramatic results in treating depression, social anxiety, PTSD, and suicidal thoughts. She also found blog posts and articles describing personal experiences about relief and remission following the treatment.
Stephanie felt hope in ketamine’s potential. Could it help her feel better? Could it help her reach freedom from the prolonged grief and pain of her divorce? Was it possible she could actually live again?
A search for psychiatrists who offered IV ketamine, and a scrutiny of those she found, led her to choose a practice in a nearby town. She began infusions the following week.
A Supplement that Can Enhance Outcomes
The doctor encouraged her to begin taking magnesium glycinate daily to help her glutamate receptors and neurons work more effectively with the ketamine.
By the third infusion, Stephanie felt a lightening of the weight that had hung over her for 3 years. It was subtle, but definitely there. She noticed other changes in her motivation, her ability to laugh, and her plans. Something was getting better inside her.
It May Take More Than 6 Infusions
All in all, 9 infusions were required, but it was worth the perseverance. A sense of resilience replaced the defeat and trauma. Her feeling of self respect seemed to fall into place, along with confidence to reach out and assert her desires. Stephanie realized that though trauma might sabotage her life, with ketamine it could be overcome.
A happy mom leads to happy children, and hers were no exception. Her life, and theirs, had changed — and there had been losses. But she came to accept that change is a part of life, and she could move forward and make her new life meaningful and rewarding.
And she did.
If you have had a life altering blow that seemed to dismantle your life, there is hope. And if the blow was so traumatic that you’ve been unable to move forward, but want to, we may be able to help.
So, if you’ve had trauma, betrayal, hurt…that’s led to depression or PTSD, and nothing has helped, call us.
It just could be that IV ketamine treatment can restore your peace, your resilience, your hope, and your freedom to live as your best self.
To the restoration of your best self,
