After years of treating patients with Ketamine, one of the most satisfying experiences we have seen has been witnessing the client’s return to functioning.
Mental conditions such as depression, PTSD, severe anxiety, etc… can be debilitating and are a huge cause of disability worldwide. In fact, it is well known that mental illness is responsible for billions of dollars Lost due to unemployment, hospitalizations, high medical costs and comorbid medical conditions like heart disease, cancer, auto immune problems, etc.
Traditional anti-depressants can work, but they can take weeks or months, and many people experience in tolerable side effects, and many don’t respond at all.
One of the exciting aspects about the “psychedelic renaissance”, is the abundance of research that is starting to emerge. Two recent studies have shown that following use of psychedelics, many people experience improvement in metabolic health such as blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes.
Simonsson, O., Osika, W., Carhart-Harris, R. et al. Associations between lifetime classic psychedelic use and cardiometabolic diseases. Sci Rep 11, 14427 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-93787-4
Simonsson O, Hendricks PS, Carhart-Harris R, Kettner H, Osika W. Association Between Lifetime Classic Psychedelic Use and Hypertension in the Past Year. Hypertension. 2021 May 5;77(5):1510-1516. doi: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.120.16715. Epub 2021 Mar 8. PMID: 33677982.
While it’s not exactly clear with the mechanism of this is. it could be that as functioning returns, people are able to lead healthier lifestyles and hence experience benefits in their metabolic conditions. Another well-known fact is that high stress levels contribute to metabolic imbalances as well as poor immunity.
Studies have shown that people who have used or been treated with Psychedelics, tend to approach life in a more well adjusted way; they experience lower stress levels in the face of difficult situations, and have an overall better sense of well-being in general. All of this can lead to improvement in metabolic conditions, as well as boosting immunity.
The net-nof all of this is that in the clinic, we routinely see clients who demonstrate response through functional restoration. In fact, many times it’s other people in the clients life who notice it first. “My husband is now cooking again I haven’t seen him do that in months”, “my daughter is now going to the gym again”, “my son just cleaned his room for the first time in eight months, and I saw him reading a book.”
While it is never a guarantee that a person will respond to ketamine, examples like the ones above abound, and it is clear that more research needs to be done in order to unravel the mechanism of functioning of ketamine and other psychedelics such as psilocybin, LSD, DMT, etc…