But after working out at his home gym on a recent July weekend, Richmond criminal defense attorney Anthony found himself serenading three yellow Labradors to a 1980s headband tune. . And it wasn’t acting.
Anthony joked about the impromptu show As a nurse at the MindPeace Clinic in Richmond, he prepared a cure for his newfound mental health: ketamine. Psychedelics, used in medical settings as anesthetics and illegally as party drugs, Promising but experimental mental health treatmentAfter evaluating more than 400 patients, including Anthony, at three MindPeace ketamine clinics in Virginia over the course of a year, researchers found their symptoms of depression significantly increased, according to a study published Monday in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. was found to decrease to In broad agreement with previous studies, 72% of patients experienced improved mood and 38% were symptom free after 10 infusions.
Although research is limited, The findings seem to shed light on how ketamine can provide more than temporary relief to people whose depression is resistant to other drugs. For many of our patients, the drug’s achievements were life-changing. A retired hospital tech used to think about his career if he could look people in the eye during a conversation. A teenage boy joked with his mother that Anthony, who had said he wouldn’t go for a walk, finally set foot on a dead end street.
“Suddenly, you wake up and realize something you haven’t felt in fifteen years.
The researchers say the study could lead to a better understanding of the drug’s long-term therapeutic potential. A man with depression, and in hope of more Mental health crisis exacerbated during coronavirus pandemicKetamine is just one of many hallucinogens, including “magic” mushrooms and ecstasy. People are seeking reassurance amid greater social acceptance and a growing field of research.
The principal investigator of the study, Patrick Oliver, medical director of MindPeace Clinics, said ketamine therapy is a mainstream solution for depression and other psychiatric disorders that may have been undertreated for a long time. said it could become In 2020, nearly 46,000 Americans died by suicide in America. According to the National Center for Health Statistics.
“It’s an epidemic and it’s been around forever,” said Oliver, a former emergency room doctor. “And then we discovered drugs that literally cost pennies to manufacture and are treating these patients.”
Experts say ketamine shouldn’t be considered a first choice for people with depression or suicidal thoughts, given other drugs and treatments that have proven effective. There are limitations to this study, which was conducted in a group of patients with Suicidal ideation was reduced by at least 85% after 15 infusions, the researchers found. A doctor followed the patient by phone after treatment and recorded two suicide attempts. Stakeholders in the field say more information is needed about the drug’s long-term effects in more patients, but this study is a step in the right direction to better understand ketamine. He adds that it is a step towards
“You don’t know I’m here”
Introduced in the 1960s as an anesthetic and embraced by cultists dubbed “Special K,” ketamine has been shown to help balance certain neurotransmitters, rebuild stronger neural connections, and improve mood in the brain. You can change the process.
Federally approved for short-term sedation and anesthesia, the drug can also be prescribed as an off-label treatment for depression. In 2019, Food and Drug Administration Approved Esketaminea nasal spray derived from ketamine and developed by a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson for people with treatment-resistant depression. increase.
However, due to the informal and inconsistent nature of how ketamine is used clinically, past studies have historically stopped after 6 infusions, so the drug for patients receiving multiple infusions is not recommended. Scientists’ understanding of the actual effects of
Oliver said he’s found that patients most often begin to feel noticeable relief after six treatments, or about two weeks, depending on the person.
For people at imminent risk of self-harm, rapid effects can be life-threatening, especially when conventional treatments such as antidepressants and speech therapy have failed or are slow to work. It may be saved.
Anthony said he was left with no options after being hospitalized for a seizure caused by medication he was taking to treat depression. rice field.
But by at least his fourth ketamine treatment, he no longer had to rely on his then-fiancé to get home after work.
other drugs to treat his depression According to Anthony, he felt different from himself, which exacerbated symptoms such as confusion and dissociation, but had no adverse effects from ketamine.
“It’s hard to quantify the degree of relief,” he paused.
The sensation of ketamine treatment infused with saline via an IV pump is unlike many other treatments. The patient has had it before.
Carl Montalbano, a 67-year-old retired MRI technologist, never used illegal drugs in his life. He turned to ketamine to treat drug-resistant depression.
Reclining in a large black recliner in the clinic, he glanced over the list of things he’d tried, including the most commonly prescribed antidepressants, SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors), and talk therapy. I passed. Both caused a number of side effects, including restlessness, drowsiness, and dizziness. Ketamine was “like a shotgun approach,” Montalbano said, but it worked best in his mind.
“I wouldn’t do this if it wasn’t necessary,” he said. “It’s not funny. It’s therapeutic and it works.”
Some patients bring music, blankets, or sleep masks. Montalbano donned sunglasses and sank deep into his chair within minutes of the ketamine and saline entering his bloodstream.
Oliver supervised the patient with the help of two nurses, Melissa Dougher and Brittany Harding. Nurses entered and exited each room, monitoring heart rate, asking questions, and noting changes in charts.
Montalbano closed his eyes behind his sunglasses.
“I see swirls of color,” he said. “Swirling red and blue, as if looking at space.”
Other patients complained of distorted hearing, a feeling of weightlessness, or nausea. Their world has shrunk into a doctor’s office. Within 40 minutes they were back on their feet.
Montalbano made his way to the door to see his wife, who was taking him home.
Carlos Zarate Jr., director of experimental therapeutics and pathophysiology at the National Institute of Mental Health, reviewed the study and said that this real-world study found that ketamine helped people with medication-resistant depression. proved.
But it will take time for the drug to gain widespread acceptance, Zarate said, citing a lack of long-term data and the potential for abuse and adverse side effects.
Gerald Sanacola, director of the Yale University Depression Research Program and Yale-New Haven Hospital Interventional Psychiatric Services, said the study, which he was not involved in, raised some concerns about the study. This is because insurance does not cover experimental use of this type of drug, does not refer to racial or ethnic data, and provides limited information on patients’ baseline conditions. But the data is isolated in an “ivory tower” and useful for researchers unable to gather how patients in clinics across the country are coping with years of ketamine use.
Sanakora, who has treated patients with ketamine in his lab since 2004, said, “We still have a little more to learn.
Prior to starting ketamine treatment, 22-year-old Nicholas was reluctant to try it. Because my family’s insurance didn’t cover the twice-weekly sessions that cost about $500 each. A typical ketamine treatment costs him $400-$800.
Ketamine is a relatively inexpensive drug, but Oliver said there are other costs associated with the treatment, such as supervising staff, office rent, malpractice insurance, and supplies.
However, Nicholas, who spoke on the condition that his last name not be used, agreed to try it, despite the cost.
He was frequently calling sick at the 7-Eleven convenience store. His mother Liz hoped to motivate him to leave the room from time to time. By his sixth treatment appointment, she said he no longer felt the urge to avoid his job.
Liz brought in another son, Benjamin, 18, who suffers from depression, to consult during Nicholas’ appointment. Two months after his appointment, Benjamin started joking more and Nicholas was back in college.
Liz said she took out a life insurance loan to pay for her sons’ medical bills.
“It’s worth every penny,” she said, smiling at Nicholas.
Harding, one of the nurses who checked on patients after most of them had left, sat in a recliner.
After giving birth to her son, now four, Harding said she became suicidal and even planned to commit suicide. Her 31-year-old nurse, who worked at her clinic and adjacent hospital, cried hysterically and at one point had to leave her job early.she said I was on three medications, but I couldn’t stop thinking about hurting myself.
“I said to my husband, ‘Parker is so young, he won’t even know I’m gone,'” she recalls. “That’s when I realized, ‘We need to do something about this.'”
she said I watched patients get better in the clinic. She had never seen anyone worsen her condition, so she asked Oliver if he would take her on as her patient, and she confided in him about her struggles.
“He asked why I hadn’t come to him sooner,” she said. We should be able to handle it.”
She hated the feeling the psychedelics brought her, but soon found she felt better. She no longer struggles to leave home because of her job. She’s not thinking of committing suicide. For Harding and her husband, a sheriff’s deputy who answered calls about suicide, ketamine is the answer to a broken mental health care system. It’s part of an important job.
“I go home every day,” Harding said.
If you or someone you know needs help, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or 800-273-TALK (8255). You can also text a crisis counselor by sending a message to the Crisis Text Line (741741).
