Ketamine Can Alleviate Depression and Suicidal Ideation When Traditional Treatments Have Failed

Every year, depression affects over 17 million American adults, with about 12 million struggling with suicidal thoughts.

Our team at Palo Alto Mind Body, led by M Rameen Ghorieshi, MD, MPH, understands the importance of supporting your mental health with successful treatments. If your traditional methods of treatment have failed you, then we highly recommend ketamine therapy. 

If you suffer from treatment-resistant depression (TRD), and you’ve tried many treatments without improved results, you might consider intravenous (IV) ketamine infusions.

Why traditional methods fail

It’s possible to try many different medications for your depression and have minimal success. But, why? It could be because you have TRD. With depression affecting more than 7% of the population, it’s essential that we find answers that work.

Your medications can fail you for various reasons, including the type of medication you’re taking and your dosage amount. Although psychotherapy can aid in the process of improving your mental health condition, ketamine infusions have been showing signs of success for many.

Why choose ketamine

Ketamine originally became popular as an anesthesia used by veterinarians during surgery. It later became FDA-approved to treat people and was administered widely to soldiers injured in the Vietnam War. 

Over time, it was discovered that when administered in low-doses, ketamine was highly effective for treating patients with depression; even those with accompanying suicidal thoughts. As testimonials about the positive effects began to add up, ketamine got attention. 

Doctors found that ketamine is highly effective for people who have been resistant to other traditional methods of treatment for depression and suicidal ideation when used with proper dosage, supervision, and monitoring.  Furthermore, the beneficial effects of ketamine treatments can often begin with the first treatment compared to weeks or months needed for conventional medications. 

What to expect with ketamine treatments

If you suffer from long-term depression, it can cause you to lose some of your synapses, which are small gaps that allow a signal to go from one neuron to the next. They’re found where nerve cells connect to one another in your brain. Your treatment involves our prescribed dosage amount of ketamine to help rebuild those lost connections. 

To treat you, we give you an IV and administer a low dose of ketamine at a slow, controlled rate while we supervise you. We keep you comfortable and relaxed during your infusion, which takes about an hour.

Studies show that within 24 hours of your supervised ketamine treatment, your synapses begin to regrow and reactivate, which give you an antidepressant effect and aid in helping you come out of depression.

If you’re in the surrounding Bay Area, including South Bay, North Bay, East Bay, Peninsula, and San Francisco, schedule an appointment to find out if you’re a candidate for ketamine therapy. Call our friendly office staff or book your appointment online.