Lori Calabrese, MD

Tag: IV Ketamine for Suicidal Thoughts

When Abuse Leads to Overwhelming Stress at Work

Garrett is a 38-year old computer programmer who works in the IT department of a nationwide mortgage company. After ten years in the same department, the stress of the job seems to just pile upon itself. The short length of time allotted for projects to be completed, the abrasive attitudes of co-workers who are all under terrible pressure, the long hours into the night when something breaks down, the strain on everyone when a key member of the team leaves for a new job… Garrett is worn out and work down by the ongoing pressure and stress of his job…and doesn’t know how much longer he can endure. The stressful conditions of the job itself are abusive. And abuse leads to overwhelming stress.

Why Can’t People Just Be Kind?

By far, however, the worst stressor in his life ...is his boss. Daily chiding, screaming profanity, and humiliating Garett and his co-workers has destroyed the morale of the team. Garrett’s early annoyance with his boss’s bad attitude has evolved into a white hot fury he keeps under a lid. He does what he’s told but he feels himself losing his tolerance.

Day after day after week after month, the toxic atmosphere is so distracting and keeps Garrett on edge. He feels his creativity wane, his outlook darken. Until his mind has grown dull, and his bitterness toward his abusive boss grows hotter.

Finally, the last straw. It’s on a Monday morning. His boss gives a young, newer employee a promotion and a raise, and places him in a supervisory role over Garrett. He demotes Garrett to a position with less authority than he currently has. And he announces it to everyone. He makes Garrett an example of failure before his entire team.

Garrett is devastated. His boss is such a jerk.

From where Garrett’s sitting, his boss seems to derive actual pleasure from humiliating Garrett. The hurt and frustration fills him. Humiliation crushes him. From this point, he avoids making eye contact with his co-workers. He feels frozen, hopeless, and unable to do his job acceptably.

Weeks go by as he struggles to muscle through his job responsibilities. It’s just so hard to think. Before his boss took his position in Garrett’s department, Garrett had been a bright, promising employee, full of good ideas and creative solutions. Now he can’t seem to produce anything worthwhile. It’s like the lights have been turned out.

Weekend Getaway To Explore Options

Finally, Garrett and his wife take a weekend trip and talk. Garrett pours out to her his frustration, wounded pride, feelings of betrayal by his boss, and disillusionment. She says he needs to get out of that job, but he says he’s lost his edge and wouldn’t be able to find further employment. The strain of abuse leads to overwhelming stress.

So they talked about why he’s having so much difficulty on the job. Is the boss’s cruel treatment traumatizing him? Is he getting depressed from all the stress? All he knows is that he used to be exceptional and now he feels dull and stunted.

Lucy, his wife, had been reading some books lately. One of them, Ketamine for Depression by Stephen J Hyde, had been remarkably enlightening. She wondered if this treatment that had helped so many, would help Garrett. She described some of the personal stories in the book and Garrett was intrigued.

It sounded like this treatment could help trauma, depression, cognition, and social anxiety. It seemed possible it might help him.

A Special Treatment Restores Resilience

He googled “IV ketamine treatment” in his area and found a psychiatry practice that offered it. What a relief that he could go in after work. Finally, someone was getting it—that when you’re already under fire, you can’t afford to call out or take PTO. He scheduled a consult and was excited he could schedule infusions on Tuesdays and Fridays after work. That meant no one needed to know.

Whew.

Garrett didn’t feel any change after the first 3 infusions…. his wife encouraged him, pushed him to continue, read that this was not unusual. Then felt some lightening in his outlook after the fourth. He felt less depressed and took some initiative after the fifth. Then felt somewhat better again after the sixth. The seventh opened a door that brought in light…and hope. He found in the following weeks he had a spring in his step, and energy for people’s idiosyncrasies.

Within two weeks of his 7th infusion, he was becoming more and more creative, and his work became easier and easier for him. He felt like he was getting better and better now.

And he was resilient, so the boss’s comments just rolled off him. Garrett was so thankful, and relieved. He could live his life again. He and his wife could have dinner with friends. So much opened up.

He was ready to keep it going.

As we often say, ketamine treatment isn’t for everyone. And we continue to study it to learn why.

But for most people it’s transformative.

Here at Innovative Psychiatry, we’re focused on bringing this extraordinary treatment to you. We do all we can to help you get the most benefit from your ketamine treatment. That why, first and foremost, we offer IV ketamine infusions.

It’s what works. It’s where the most data is. And it’s the safest and fastest route out of misery.

Do you live or work in a situation where abuse leads to overwhelming stress? Is that stress leaving you worn down and worn out? If you experience the symptoms of depression like Garrett did and nothing has helped, call us.

We want to help you feel great again, back to your best self, and able to enjoy the rewards your life can bring.

With Thanksgiving upon us, we wish you and your loved ones a wonderful holiday, and that you have the resilience to enjoy this season and make memories you’ll treasure.

Happy Thanksgiving From Us to You!!

To the restoration of your best self,

November 21, 2022
Does Your Teen Get SAD This Time of Year? Try IV Ketamine.

It’s November, and Daylight Savings Time has ended. The sun goes down earlier, and when you get home from school or work, the night covers you and the traffic in a blanket of darkness. Homework has to be done by artificial light, and the healing dose of vitamin D that has nourished you all year is gone. Add to that the nourishing sunlight is only prevalent while you’re indoors at school. Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD, can interfere in your teen’s social development and education. Does your teen get SAD this time of year?

Psychiatric Disorders Tend to Run in Families

Cherie and Tom are brother and sister , and they both suffer from seasonal affective disorder. It started in their early teens, and you know how psychiatric difficulties can run in families. They have a 9 year old little sister who doesn’t seem to be affected by the emotional lows in fall and winter that Cherie and Tom do. At least, not yet.

Their family is active, and in the summer they’re busy with tennis, golf, swimming and water skiing, and they feel great. But by November, both of them slow down, feel too sluggish to participate in sports at school, and do only what’s required.

Studying is harder than it is in September and early October, or April and May. They both feel withdrawn, less interested in social interaction, and more overwhelmed with school demands. Cherie is 15 and in 10th grade, and Tom is 17 in 11th grade.

Without Resilience It’s Hard to Move Forward

Tom dreads going to college because he’ll be away from home and wonders how he’ll survive during fall and winter. What can he do to save his grade point?

As for Cherie, she just wants to give up. She thinks a lot about dropping out of high school because it seems futile to keep going through this every year, when classes get harder and harder with each passing grade.

Finally, Cherie feels she’s drowning in the futility and begins to think about making her life stop. Ending it. Trouble is, she doesn’t talk to anyone about it. She just carries it inside her…thinking about it more and more.

In a family of five, a quiet teen can easily be overlooked. The signs can be missed.

Meanwhile, Tom is trying to prepare for the SAT, which is no small feat in his frame of mind. His parents are taking him around to a variety of college campuses to help him narrow down his choices. And on top of that their younger sister, Izzie, is trying to prepare for the Science Fair.

Tom held on with white knuckles, trying to study and prepare for his upcoming SAT, getting his parents to drill him. To say the least, the family was stretched in too many directions.

No one noticed that Cherie was spending most of her time in her room.

Bottom line, the depression of seasonal affective disorder made Tom and Cherie feel like they were sludging through hip-deep mud day after day.

Then came the day of Tom’s SAT test. He honestly prayed through it. Hoping for some sort of miracle that the answers would come to him and he’d do well.

Cherie stayed at home that day, and after everyone else left, she found a bottle of pills her mom took to help her sleep. She sat on her bed for hours contemplating those pills. Finally, Cherie went to the kitchen to get a glass of water then sat on her bed working up the courage to start systematically swallowing the pills. When your teen gets SAD at this time of year, it can be dangerous.

She started swallowing the pills two at a time.

After she had gagged while swallowing the second handful, she thought she heard a clattering downstairs. She closed her eyes and tried to swallow down the nausea. Then swallowed two more.

Her mom tapped on the door then walked in. There Cherie sat with a pile of pills in her lap, and water in her hand, looking guilty.

Thinking fast, her mother called 911, then asked Cherie how many she’d taken. In a panic, Cherie said, “I’m not sure.” But she knew she felt a bit fuzzy.

At the Emergency Department, the doctor induced vomiting, then inserted an NG tube into her stomach to keep her stomach empty. It was a miserable experience for Cherie. Then she was admitted to the Psychiatry unit for observation.

Afterwards, Tom and Cherie’s parents drove home to talk to Tom.

“Have you had any thoughts about hurting yourself, Tom? We know you’ve been struggling since the first part of November,” his parents asked gently.

“I don’t think so,” Tom replied quietly.

“I’ll admit I’ve felt desperate at times, but not that desperate. I wondered how I would survive in life without college because it all overwhelms me and I’m afraid to go. I don’t know what to do.”

Both Tom and Cherie had been taking a variety of antidepressants but neither seemed to have gotten relief from the medicine.

Tom’s parents looked at each other and said, “There must be something that will help.”

Tom went to bed, and his parents got on the computer. They googled, “Treatment for depression when medicine doesn’t help.”

A Novel Depression Treatment May Hold Hope

To their surprise, all sorts of things came up, that all seemed to point to novel forms of treatment, especially IV ketamine treatment. They got to thinking about how their teens get sad, and realized they’d been rather blind to their children’s wellbeing.

They read all they could find on it, and learned that ketamine has been used for 50 years safely in anesthesia, and that in the last ten years it’s been used more and more widely to treat depression, bipolar d e pression, social anxiety, PTSD, and suicidal thoughts.

The more they read, the more hope they had for both of their teens. They learned that ketamine turbo boosts the connections between brain cells which offers clearer cognition, a brighter outlook, and more creativity. It brings hope and resilience.

Tom and Cherie both received IV ketamine treatment for depression and social anxiety the following week, along with their mom. who also battled with seasonal affective disorder but hadn’t realized it.

Does your teen get SAD this time of year? Is he sluggish, listless, with little interest in school work or time with the family? If he’s hopeless, sad, and withdrawn, and medications haven’t helped, call us.

At Innovative Psychiatry we can help you get the ketamine treatment you need to restore your joy and hope.

Make this a productive and rewarding winter.

We’re here for you.

To the restoration of your best self,

November 14, 2022
Straight Talk: Let’s Be Honest About Excessive Social Media Engagement

Zach is 15 year-old high school sophomore. Some say that 14-15 can be the hardest teen years. Insecurities about identity, body image, personality, and a need for acceptance without the freedom of driving can add seemingly insurmountable pressures for a young person. But those miseries and uncertainties can be compounded by the hostile input that occurs through excessive social media engagement.

Zach was a more serious student who tried to do well in school. He had a few friends who were academically focused like him. They kept to themselves to avoid bullying by those who had nothing better to do. Occasionally, Zach or one of his friends, was the target of attacks on social media, and it was so cruel because of the public humiliation he felt.

The more often it happened, the more he withdrew into himself. It seemed like life was about keeping his head down and enduring.

He was ashamed that he’d been singled out and rejected by the crowd, and he wondered if he’d ever overcome all this, or if he would fail at life because of his shame. Zach and his friends talked about all the heartache excessive social media engagement caused, and how it affected them. The most resilient of their friends, Noah, reminded them that by studying hard in high school, they’ll be better equipped in college, and one day the cruel kids will end up working for Zach, Noah, and their friends. He encouraged them to focus on the long game.

Pep talks like that helped. A little.

After his homework one night, Zach googled what he thought were his symptoms. He had begun to wonder if his social withdrawal was a psychiatric problem, or whether there was something wrong about him the bullies could see that he couldn’t.

In his search results, up came link after link to articles about major depressive disorder, anxiety disorders, and personality disorders like antisocial disorder. He found online tests and videos he watched to help him diagnose himself.

Then he researched the medications often found effective in treating his “symptoms.”

Trouble was, Zach’s “symptoms” weren’t actually symptoms at all. They were a natural part of surviving adolescence. Zach’s limited perspective as a 15 year old who was experiencing bullying online didn’t take into consideration his overall coping skills and challenges he was facing.

But he didn’t know that.

He decided to talk to his parents about his concerns and what he had learned on social media. YouTube videos had convinced him he had the classic symptoms of antisocial personality and general anxiety disorder. He asked his parents to help him see a psychiatrist.

His parents loved him and wanted him to feel their support. They agreed with Zach that excessive social media use among his high school students was destructive. They called around to get a recommendation for a psychiatrist, then called for an appointment.

When Zach and his mom arrived for his appointment, she told the doctor that Zach had researched his symptoms and discovered he had antisocial personality disorder. She asked if the doctor could prescribe medication for him.

The doctor raised his eyebrows.

“Antisocial, huh? Let’s take a breath and talk about this.”

The doctor proceeded to ask Zach some questions, listen to his answers, and then ask more. Before long, Zach was engaged in the conversation that included his childhood, his home life, the bullying at school, and his experiences with social media. They talked about his friends, and his relationship with his parents, and his performance in his classes.

Finally, the doctor sat back and smiled.

“Zach, first of all, you don’t have antisocial personality disorder, so I want to set you at ease about that. I think the bullying you’ve experienced face to face and on social media has triggered some anxiety for you. You seem to have healthy relationships with your friends, as well as your family, and you’re investing considerable effort to do well in your studies. These are signs of a healthy 15 year old guy who’s taken it on the chin several times due to thoughtless, ill-adjusted teenagers.

“I’d like to see you get some counseling to help you let go of the opinions of others, and I’m giving you a list of some counselors you can call. I’m also prescribing 6 months without social media, to give you relief from the cruelty you find there. Hopefully that time will give you the space you need to sever the influence that cruel, idle peers have tried to hold over you. Hopefully, you’ll find this excessive social media engagement is something you can live without.

“Here’s a prescription for a very low dose of anxiety medicine — No, it’s not a benzodiazepine — to help reduce your worrying while you work on these changes.”

“I’d like to see you in a couple weeks to check on how things are going and how the medicine is doing. Do you think you can work with this plan?”

“Yes,” Zach said. “I’m going to try. I’m sorta overwhelmed with the counseling, but I’ll try.”

And he did.

Six months later, Zach was feeling more like himself, had learned to ignore the irrelevant voices of “haters,” and had gained confidence in who he was through group counseling with other peers.

He was feeling more comfortable in his own skin, and worried less about what others said about him.

Meanwhile, across town, his friend Noah had been talking with Jeb about his sullen outlook, hopeless demeanor, and bitter attitude. Noah explained to Jeb what he himself had been through after his dad died. Noah told him he was already depressed, but medication wasn’t helping…then his dad died and he just gave up. He described to Jeb what that felt like, and how his grades dropped and he didn’t want to be around anyone.

Then, someone in his math class told Noah about IV ketamine treatment. He called the doctor the classmate told him about, went in for a long appointment (with a million questions) and started ketamine infusions. Already after the first one, he felt better and by the end, he felt like himself again. He had the strength to grieve his dad’s death, while still functioning at school and with friends. Noah said that sometimes you need help just to work on your life.

Jeb told him that he would talk to his parents about it.

Turns out, Jeb’s dad had heard the story from a friend at work how IV ketamine treatment had transformed the man’s daughter… that it was like a miracle after years of depression. He was immediately on board about Jeb’s interest in getting treated.

A couple months into the summer, Zach ran into Jeb, and he was his old self. He was back at his best self. They talked and laughed and caught up, and agreed to go to a movie on Saturday. Noah and Ethan joined them and the four had a great time. They talked openly about what an amazing year it had been, as though they had passed from dark to light.

IV ketamine treatment isn’t for everyone. There is a small percentage of people who don’t seem to benefit from it, at least so far. Others benefit more from changes in their lives…their infrastructure…to support their healthy frame of mind. They also may need changes in their environment — like friends they choose or excessive social media, for sure. But for those who need treatment to restore their brain structures and their resilience, ketamine treatment offers a rapid and robust antidepressant transformation in most people. Chances are, it can change your outlook and your life can be rewarding again.

If you suffer from depression, general or social anxiety, PTSD, or suicidal thoughts, and nothing has helped, call us.

We get up early and stay up late, studying, conferring, and seeking the latest research, finding ways to help you get better. Let us hear from you.

To the restoration of your best self,

October 17, 2022
How Ketamine Can Put Your College Student Out Front Again

Ethan was in his second semester of his first year in college. The new had worn off, and the classes were getting harder. He hadn’t had to work that hard to do well in high school and being challenged felt more like being overwhelmed. He studied hard for chemistry, but he really struggled to get a handle on it. Instead of A’s he was making B’s and C’s in that class and was feeling stupid for the first time in his life. He had never worked at a job before now, but had to work 20 hours a week doing something he hated…making cold calls to alumni to raise funds. It was part of his financial aid. To make things worse, his social anxiety was kicking up with all the stress, making those calls torture. Ethan wasn’t starting as a college student out front, unfortunately.

His friendships were few, because forming connections took so much energy and he felt more and more depleted. HIs roommate was a nightmare…clearly someone who needed some sort of treatment.

The guy would hide behind the door and jump out screaming at him when he walked in the room. Bizarre was an understatement. Rather than a place of rest and refuge, his dorm room was a torture chamber except when his roommate went home for the weekend. Relief was hard to find, and the stress just kept building.

As time passed, Ethan’s anxiety kept rising. Test anxiety, social anxiety, and worry grew and billowed, choking his ability to function. Worse and worse. He had expected to do well, but his stressors were preventing him from being a college student out front of the crowd.

When he reached the breaking point, he would stay in bed and skip classes as well as work. A day in bed in a dark room seemed to give him the courage to face another day…until it didn’t.

His grades began to decline.

The worse his grades, the more guilty he felt. He didn’t want to face his parents with what had happened this semester. He began drinking to relieve the guilt. It wasn’t partying because he had too much anxiety to face a crowd. He had never used alcohol before, because he’d always had his mind on performing well in school. But that wasn’t happening anymore. He didn’t know what to do.

Realizing he was going to fail the semester if he didn’t take action, Ethan went to the campus counseling center and talked to a therapist. He told him the trouble he was having with everything. He asked what could be done about his record when he was too anxious and depressed to function, much less improve his grades.

The therapist recommended a leave of absence to give him time for treatment and therapy so he could function again and improve his grades.

She also gave him a card for a therapist, and another one for a psychiatric practice that offers ketamine treatment. And she encouraged him to spend some time with his parents to talk through all that had happened, and determine the best steps to take.

Anxiety disorder is the most common disorder in college students, and generalized anxiety disorder is often diagnosed during college. It exhibits itself often as worry that won’t stop, and can often be accompanied by social anxiety or panic attacks. Add to that the prevalence of depression which often accompanies untreated anxiety, and you can see the very real risk to college students for things to fall apart caused by the new stressors they face.

Suicidal thinking, planning, and attempts threaten college students — and suicide is the third leading cause of death for young adults.

Eating disorders are also high on the list of disorders threatening college students. ADHD and autism often get identified for the first time are also prevalent. Sometimes psychotic symptoms begin.

All these challenges face a growing number of young adults between ages 17 and 25. Since college students aren’t known for seeking help, many end up being placed on suspension without effective treatment. In addition, the prevalence of disorders sometimes clogs the healthcare system in universities.

But when parents and students identify symptoms of depression, anxiety, PTSD, and suicidal thinking, they can receive IV ketamine treatment and in most cases find relief and even remission.

IV ketamine doesn’t resolve everything, but for these conditions it can give you your life back. Initiative, motivation, clarity of thinking, hope… freedom from feeling overwhelmed and confidence can set your college students on firm ground for embracing challenges. If you have social anxiety it can be transformative for you.

It doesn’t work for everyone, but IV ketamine can be transformative for many.

The key to understanding why college students may be overcome with anxiety, depression, PTSD, and suicidal thoughts is stress. Their increased stressors wear down the synaptic connections between brain cells that are the pathways for signals throughout the brain. When those pathways wear down, signals can’t be sent, and thoughts become less prolific…dull…dark.

IV ketamine treatment turns on mRNA which switches DNA to ON to turbo boost brain-derived-neurotrophic-factor. BDNF restores and proliferates those synapses creating strong and broad pathways for messages, filling your mind with problem solving, creativity, and hope.

If your student is struggling with anxiety, depression, PTSD, or suicidal thinking, call us.

We offer IV ketamine treatment so he can experience freedom from fear, lifting of depression, relief from PTSD, and the end of suicidal thinking. If he’s had difficulty with academic demands, ketamine can put your college student out front again.

Let us help your student excel like he used to.

To the restoration of your best self,

October 11, 2022
Promote Optimism and Slash Depression with IV Ketamine

Jayne believed in being realistic. She didn’t notice that her “realistic” outlook leaned toward pessimism. When someone said, “Don’t be such a pessimist!” she would respond, “My realistic outlook has served me well.” She didn’t want her head in the clouds. When something bad happened, she thought about how it was punishment of her for her failures. The more she thought about it, the more hopeless and worthless she felt. Eventually, she felt like she was drowning in her own worthlessness …and that there was no hope of improvement. This wasn’t realism, it was pessimism and hopelessness. Self flogging. Despair. Jayne had no idea she could actually promote optimism and slash depression with the help of IV ketamine.

When things were difficult, Jayne would spiral in her thoughts about her own failures. She felt she would never be able to create solutions because of her own worthlessness. Surely her family would be much better off if she were gone. She felt like a dead weight they had to carry. She could see no value in herself. Her focus on her failures —rather than understanding the wonderful value she had to those who loved her — blinded her.

Her husband, Ben, read about IV ketamine treatment in a magazine. He decided to research it more deeply on his laptop. He learned it could dispel hopelessness and replace it with hope and a bright outlook.

Ben talked to Jayne about it at length, and she agreed to meet with a doctor who could give her IV ketamine treatment. She understood there would be at least 6 infusions, maybe more.

Her thoughts of suicide dissipated after the first treatment. That was a relief. After the second treatment, she began to feel initiative. She got things done. It made her feel better about herself. After the third, hope began to seep in. By the time she had her 7th infusion, she felt joy and pleasure…and began to believe in herself. Her outlook was surprisingly optimistic, after years of pessimism.

Jayne was so grateful to her husband for seeking answers and finding a treatment she didn’t realize she needed. She felt transformed.

Worthlessness, hopelessness, and pessimism are negative beliefs that characterize major depressive disorder and the depression that is part of bipolar disorder. These beliefs and feelings color the outlook and perception, and influence the way you interpret experiences and events in your life.

They cause a negative view of yourself, everyone around you, and your future. Healthy people tend to have a stubbornly optimistic view of life. There is a stark contrast between the two.

Beliefs about the likelihood of future outcomes are regularly “updated” after new and interesting experiences. This most often happens after a positive experience in healthy people, and most often occurs after a negative experience in depressed people.

These updating experiences change the way they expect a new situation will turn out. If he’s healthy, he’s most likely to expect good things to follow. But if he’s depressed, he’s likely to ignore positive updating experiences and overfocus on negative ones. He’s likely to derive a pessimistic view and just expect that bad things that continue to happen.

This way of looking at life tends to maintain depressive symptoms, just as a healthy outlook serves to maintain optimism.

IV ketamine has demonstrated a rapid antidepressant effect that peaks in 24 hours. It promotes optimism and slashes depression.

We know that ketamine alters the belief updating process. It alters the mechanism you use to update your beliefs when exposed to new experiences and information. This is what happens in healthy people.

But if you have treatment resistant depression, it hasn’t been so clear when and how ketamine can impact your belief updating, and it’s important that we understand that.

So a team led by Hugo Bottamanne, M.D. conducted an incredibly elegant study recently to show how IV ketamine affects belief-updating. Because if ketamine can shift belief-updating to be more positive than negative in patients with treatment resistant depression, it can prolong a healthy outlook. Published in JAMA Psychiatry September 2022, the study worked with 26 patients with treatment resistant depression, and 30 who were healthy, who served as the control group.

The participants received three ketamine infusions and during this treatment period, they were asked to make educated guesses as to the likelihood they’d experience certain adverse events. The details of it all are quite complex.

If they expected it was likely that a catastrophe would happen to them, they had a pessimistic outlook. (Of course, right?) If they expected it was unlilkely a catastrophe would happen to them, they had a more optimistic outlook. (At baseline, they expected the worst.)

Belief Updating Goes Positive

But even after just one ketamine infusion, the depressed participants showed a strong shift in their thinking from pessimistic to optimistic. Their natural depression-related bias (leaning more towards the negative) actually shifted towards imagining positive outcomes in a significant and measurable way. One treatment. This accounts, in part, for why they started to feel better within just 4 hours of their infusion.

It just happened. Without trying too hard. Without having to work at reframing anything.

Just like it happens in our own patients.

It’s so exciting to see this studied in such a careful way, because it underscores and begins to explain how it is you can actually feel your depression lift. It’s because, in part, your thinking automatically changes and you lean in more towards the positive.

Ketamine promotes optimistic thinking…and hope. The mechanisms that promote pessimistic, depressed, and hopeless thinking can be reversed by ketamine.

Don’t just take my word for it (although I say it all the time). This latest research now shows it. We are all about bringing you innovative treatments, and helping you understand the brain science, the mechanisms, and the evidence base that underlies them. So that you can change your mind.

For the better.

The way you think has a strong impact on your outlook and state of mind. Ketamine can instill hope and a positive outlook for the future.

If you feel your realistic thinking (or, let’s just say, your pessimistic thinking) is contributing to depression, and if nothing has helped, call us.

IV ketamine can promote optimism and slash depression, giving you hope and joy for the future.

We want to help you experience how bright your life can be.

To the restoration of your best self,

October 3, 2022
Did You Know Alcohol & Substance Misuse Increase Suicide Risk?

Tom woke up, his head pounding, and he ached all over. The dark cloud that followed him everywhere was back. The partying last night gave him a brief reprieve, but it was over. He slowly dragged himself out of bed and thought about how disappointing it was that he woke up. He didn’t realize he was playing with fire, or that alcohol and substance misuse increase suicide risk.

He just wanted relief.

The nagging wish to stop living like this wrapped itself around him and through him to his core. It wasn’t the booze and pills that he wanted to be free of. It was the darkness, the pit, the vacant emptiness, the ache.

His lifestyle of repeatedly over indulging, getting high, and oblivion was the one thing that gave him minutes of relief.

Minutes when he felt good for a change.

Tom drank a couple mugs of coffee to try to clear his head, took a shower, and headed to his job. He had a degree in business management, but since the depression and anxiety had gotten so much worse, it flattened his ambition. He was just hanging on. Trying to get through the day. In fact, he held on to get through the hour…the slow, dragging minutes.

By lunchtime he didn’t know if he could get through the day, but he needed this paycheck. So he had to endure…and thought about what he would do after work to feel better. He started planning in his head to occupy his mind. That was a whole lot better than just slogging through work.

That night, Tom met up with friends he sometimes partied with. He contributed a bottle of bourbon, malt whiskey, and a case of beer he put on ice. The other two friends brought more of the same, plus some pills.

Tom hated the morning after. He always did. But the whole purpose was to construct relief. Respite from his misery. And this time was no different. He wanted to drown his pain. So he popped pills, guzzled beer and slammed shots with abandon.

However, this time he didn’t wake up with his head pounding. The “blackout” that followed all that he swallowed pulled him into a coma. One of his friends woke up from his own stupor and couldn’t wake Tom or his other friend. He called 911.

Their friend was pronounced dead at the scene, and Tom was rushed to the hospital where emergency personnel fought for his life.

After 2 weeks in the ICU, Tom began to gain consciousness. They told him his alcohol poisoning was nearly fatal, which was really hard for him to grasp. But it was even worse realizing his friend William had died that night.

Were they trying to end their lives? Had they tried to die before and — since it hadn’t happened — did they think they were indestructible? Was it really “partying” or was it flirting with death, in hopes of escaping their misery..?

These are questions that surround the growing numbers of people who misuse alcohol and substances… and die as a result. Do they realize that alcohol and substance misuse increase suicide risk?

Is an overdose suicide or an accident?

September is National Suicide Prevention Month. Research has illuminated the complicated relationship between alcohol use disorder, substance use disorder…and suicidal thinking, suicide attempts, and suicide deaths. The purpose of National Suicidal Prevention Month is to inform society and equip you to recognize risk factors among your own friends, family, and coworkers.

For a long time we’ve recognized that alcohol and substance use disorders are associated with suicide risk. And when substance use is combined with alcohol use, there is a much higher risk of fatalities by suicide.

When you consider that alcohol and substances are widely used to self medicate symptoms that may not have been addressed and treated, it makes sense to treat the symptoms and talk openly about suicidal thoughts that can be stopped by IV ketamine.

Alcohol and substance misuse are not the only risk factors for suicidal thinking or fatalities —but they can increase risk of suicide a hundred fold.

A hundred fold greater risk. That’s staggering.

When you identify these risk factors in the life of someone you care about, you can save a life by opening up conversation about suicidal behaviors and thoughts.

Talk about the symptoms that lead to self medication — because there is hope through treatment of those symptoms.

And IV ketamine can stop suicidal thoughts in a few hours. And allow you time to seek the treatment that will make your life better.

If you’re experiencing suicidal thoughts or plans, call 988, the National Suicide Hotline.

Someone who understands what you’re feeling is waiting to talk with you.

If you’re plagued by thoughts of suicide and want to seek IV ketamine treatment to stop those thoughts, call us.

IV ketamine can stop those thoughts in an afternoon, and buy you time to seek treatment and counseling for a more rewarding life.

We’re here to help.

To the restoration of your best self,

September 19, 2022
Smashing Anorexia with a Therapeutic Ketogenic Diet Plus IV Ketamine

Halley put on her makeup and looked in the mirror. She abhorred her round face and the fat on her chest and arms. She quietly resolved that she’d swim more laps tomorrow, because the 30 laps she swam daily just wasn’t improving her appearance. It was hard, so hard, to go out in public because she knew in her gut that she would be secretly criticized for her excess weight. She saw an article about treating anorexia with a ketogenic diet plus IV ketamine, but she didn’t read it. She tossed it aside. Halley didn’t believe in anyone’s solution. She wanted nothing to do with it.

Maybe it was denial. Or maybe it was some sort of cosmic nagging and shaming. She didn’t know. But she didn’t want to hear it. She fought guilt and shame every day.

Halley had been avoiding family meals for a year or more, because she just couldn’t load up on all that heavy food. It was easier to go to the gym during dinner time, and privately eat 4 peanuts, drink powerade, and chew a stick of gum. When she ate with the family, it always seemed to descend into a conflict over what she ate. Too exhausting.

One day, Halley’s mom walked into her room and found her crying in front of the mirror.

“What is it, honey?” She put her arm around her painfully thin daughter and gently squeezed her.

Halley’s tears rolled down her cheeks.

“I’m so fat! I try and try to diet and exercise but I stay so heavy. I hate myself.”

Her mom embraced her. “Halley, you’re not fat! You’re really thin…”. Then, her mom realized they might slip into a conflict, so she added, “Honey, you’re beautiful, inside and out.”

Halley rushed out of the room. She felt like a total failure.

As her weight dropped more, her mom became more and more worried. Halley’s face went from slender to gaunt, and her arms lost shape, as her muscle mass diminished.

But Halley kept working out, running now and swimming laps, eating little to nothing. And feeling like she was heavily overweight. She felt appalled at her appearance, but it was a distorted perception. To observers, she looked rail thin, but when she looked in the mirror she thought she looked massive.

At some point, Halley realized she hadn’t had a period in months. She’d been so busy with working out she hadn’t noticed. This scared her because she thought she wanted to have children some day. Her hair was brittle and falling out. It collected on her brush like a haystack.

Finally, her mom convinced her to get a check up so the doctor could evaluate why her hair was falling out and her periods had stopped.

The doctor spent time evaluating her, asking questions, doing lab work, and listening. Then diagnosed anorexia nervosa. Her doctor referred her to a dietitian and a psychiatrist.

But there was a problem.

Even though the doctor recommended group therapy for Halley, the inner drive to restrict her eating and push through excessive exercise continued. There was a voice in her head that drove her. It shamed her for eating, it shamed her when she looked in the mirror, it degraded her and made her feel deeply unworthy.

So she tired of the group therapy eventually. The reason? That anorexic voice still drove her.

She was angry about the anorexia diagnosis. Didn’t believe anything was wrong with her. Not really.

But she felt bad… sad…pretty hopeless. And empty. She felt ashamed to be around friends, and just didn’t feel very connected anymore. To anyone.

Halley also felt light-headed more and more often. Sometimes dizzy, and somewhat weak.

One day she collapsed.

Her mom ran to her room when she heard the crash and found Halley on the floor unconscious. Mom dialed 911 and paramedics arrived in 7 minutes. They told her mom her blood pressure was low, and her pale color could be anemia. They transported Halley to the hospital and admitted her to ICU.

Halley remained semiconscious for 3 days, while she received IVs of electrolytes, TPN (total parenteral nutrition), fluids, and iron. Lab work revealed her electrolytes were out of balance, and her liver and kidney function were out of whack, too. And she was very anemic. Thankfully, her heart wasn’t damaged — but it could have been.

As her body’s electrolytes, fluids, and glucose balanced, Halley did a lot of thinking. She had to face that something was very wrong with her life … and potentially damaging. Even though she was glad she had survived this, she knew she needed to do something. She decided she needed to open herself to help, treatment, and changes in her life.

The day before she was discharged from the hospital, a nurse came to talk to her. She told her that her own daughter had suffered from anorexia for years and but had recently turned it around using a special program developed by a team of specialists. Medical doctors, a registered dietitian specializing in medical ketogenic nutrition, peer counselling, and a psychiatrist.

The approach included education, peer support counselling, a specially designed therapeutic ketogenic diet plus IV ketamine treatment.

And it is new. We first wrote about it here 2 years ago, in a blog about Caroline, the first patient we treated with this sequence. And then published a case report about her remission from chronic anorexia.

Another Study To Replicate Results

Recently we conducted a pilot study with 5 women who had struggled with chronic anorexia for at least 10 years. This was our next step to replicate our outcomes from the first case study. We’ve just recently published that data in Eating and Weight Disorders: Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity.

Our team included an internist, a registered dietitian specializing in medical ketogenic nutrition, a psychiatrist, peer support counselling.

Similar to the initial case study with Caroline in 2020, the subjects in our pilot study were thin—but partially weight restored—and medically stable enough to participate. (This was key.) But they were still plagued by the shaming anorexia inner voice, distorted perceptions of their shape and weight, and seriously low self esteem.

They began a specially designed therapeutic ketogenic diet — aimed at nurtritional ketosis, not weight loss — and maintained it for several weeks.

There is no psychiatric medication that targets specific residual symptoms of the compulsions, self-starvation, and the anorexic voice — and so they often continue even after weight has been restored to normal. And all too often, relapse occurs. Because the anorexic voice just hangs on and torments.

To effectively treat anorexia, the compulsions and that shaming voice must be targeted and quieted.

This is what this two-part protocol was aimed to address and where IV ketamine infusions come in.

After at least 4 weeks of maintaining the therapeutic ketogenic diet, each participant received a series of IV ketamine infusions (modeled after the success of the first patient we treated with this approach.)

And the voice quieted. In fact, it disappeared.

We followed the participants closely, presented our preliminary results in Oxford, UK and published our results at six months follow-up. Four women showed significant improvements across the measures we used to assess recovery and remission; one relapsed and was admitted to a residential program.

This approach of using a therapeutic ketogenic diet (an approach that induces safe, nourishing nutritional ketosis — not weight loss or starvation ketosis) may seem counterintuitive, but it’s based on science, and evidence supports it.

This isn’t keto from YouTube.

Our approach offers a potentially life-altering and lifesaving two-part treatment for a deadly disorder.

More research is needed to understand the mechanisms in the brain that result in quieting these compulsions and the anorexic voice, and in studying this treatment sequence in anorexia. A lot more research. But we’re excited to discover and report something truly new and hopeful for so many who have suffered so long: a very careful therapeutic ketogenic nutritional approach followed by IV ketamine.

If you’ve struggled with symptoms of chronic anorexia for a long time … if you think you might want to work with us … if you’re interested in the program we’re developing, please contact us.

Tell us a little about yourself and your story.

Let’s talk. Let’s start something new.

To the restoration of your best self,

September 5, 2022
Does Your Teen’s “Selective Hearing” Drive You Batty? There’s More To It…

“Riley? Riley… RILEYYYY!!” “MOM, why are you YELLING?” “Because you aren’t ANSWERING ME!!” Sound familiar? Does it seem like your teen has her ears stuffed with cotton? What about when it’s her friends talking to her? They have her undivided attention, right? Your teen’s selective hearing can drive you bonkers…

What is this? Is it just rebellion? A breakdown of respect?

It turns out there’s a neurobiological change that happens in your teen’s brain that results in their “selective” hearing. Before puberty, they’re hardwired to recognize their mother’s voice amidst other voices. They associated that voice with nourishment, as well as social and language learning. The sound of that familiar and important voice lights up multiple parts of the child’s brain.

But all that changes at puberty.

Get this: A study conducted at Stanford University delved into this phenomenon to better understand it. Led by Daniel A. Abrams, Ph.D., and Vinod Menon, Ph.D., they set out to learn more. After discovering in previous years that children 12 years old and younger can recognize mom’s voice with a 97% accuracy, they wondered: what about older kids? They also saw that mom’s voice set in motion multiple brain areas. Functional brain imaging scans allowed researchers to visualize them.

Brain regions like the reward centers, emotion processing areas, and the auditory cortex were activated. (The job of the auditory cortex is simply to process sound.) Of particular import were brain networks that give a person the ability to differentiate when information introduced is particularly worthy of attention. That’s the key.

For an infant, the mother’s voice signals nourishment, comfort, language and social learning.

These researchers set out to build on this previously discovered information. If an infant needs to focus primarily on mother’s voice for survival and development, what happens when a child reaches adolescence?

Needs change. Survival depends on other needs being filled.

In the new study, they compared responses to auditory tests of children under 13, to those 13-16. The latter group is in an age of transition, when a dependent child grows toward adulthood. To achieve that independence, his prowess at reaching out to others outside his family must be developed.

Because of that, he experiences a shift in who he’s drawn to focus on. (And he’s not even aware of it. Nature just flips the switch.) Researchers discovered that the process of becoming independent is initiated by a subconscious biological signal. This turns on a teen’s ability to connect socially outside his family. He becomes more and more attracted to the unfamiliar voices of potential friends and companions. He wants to be in their company and spend time together. As a result, he becomes socially skilled outside his family.

As disrespectful as this “selective hearing” may seem, it’s actually a vital and normal part of teen growth and development, when everything else is normal.

However, sometimes there are other circumstances that complicate the teen’s “selective” type of hearing. Adolescent depression is an example. When a teen is depressed, he may not feel much like responding, especially to someone in his family. That’s a symptom all its own and can complicate the neurobiological shift in focus a teen experiences toward those outside his family.

The first step in communicating with your teen comes in recognizing that as much as he needs you until he’s ready to make his own home and take care of himself, he also needs to safely transition to that independence.

That can be a painful process for both parent and teen. But if you, as parent, can recognize that his instincts to pull away are biologically based, you can better guide him patiently to take those steps toward independence, safely. Allowing his maturity to catch up with each new stride.

The second step is to be informed and familiar with symptoms of psychiatric disorders that can seriously complicate the process. And if those symptoms emerge, you’ll be there to help him find the treatment that can make all the difference for him.

For disorders like treatment resistant depression, bipolar depression, PTSD, social anxiety, panic attacks, and symptoms like suicidal thinking, IV ketamine treatment can restore, renew, and give him hope. It can stop suicidal thoughts in an afternoon. It can help your teen move forward with building his life, engaging with friends, and performing in school.

These symptoms can interrupt your teen’s development, but ketamine can set him back on solid ground.

If your teen exhibits symptoms beyond just selective hearing, or if you struggle with symptoms of your own, call us.

Get the help your teen and your family need to enjoy resilience and balance.

And you can get back to the “simple job” of patient, loving support and guidance as he grows into the future ahead for him.

To the restoration of your best self,

August 29, 2022
Do Parents with Social Anxiety and Panic Pass It On to Their Kids?

School is starting. Teens are beginning their academic year in junior high, high school, and college. Exciting and a little scary… for parents too. Do parents with social anxiety and panic pass it on to their kids? Anxiety disorders run rampant for this age group. General anxiety, social anxiety, and panic plagues many teens, along with co-morbid depression and bipolar depression.

Research confirms that a child who has a parent with anxiety holds a compounded risk of anxiety. It’s even more true if both parents have an anxiety diagnosis.

The more we understand that relationship the better prepared we are to help those parents’ offspring who are at risk. These conditions can be responsible for absence and avoidance of school. In fact, when they’re severe, it can become almost impossible for your teen to endure.

We know that genetic connections and watching an anxious parent respond to anxious situations increase the likelihood of a child showing signs of anxiety, too.

And the more this occurs, the stronger that response — or reaction — exhibits itself in your child.

By the teen years, kids can become entrenched in these patterns. And the responses become “knee-jerk” reactions.

Social anxiety, panic, and general anxiety can interfere with your child’s normal growth and development, making it more and more difficult to make friends, perform in class, and enjoy success. When symptoms drag on without successful treatment, it can be extremely difficult to apply for a job, perform in the workplace, maintain a relationship, enjoy marriage (yes, some people do!)… and so much that’s a part of a rewarding life.

To better understand these risk factors, a team led by Barbara Pavlova, Ph.D. and Rudolph Uher, M.D., Ph.D., at Dalhousie University, embarked on a study to show how parents pass their anxiety disorders down to their children, and published it in JAMA Network Open.

They showed that children whose same-sex parent suffers from anxiety disorders are more likely to suffer from anxiety than those whose opposite-sex parent has such a disorder.

By age 10. (Yes, you got that right: 10).

And the lowest risk of a child’s developing anxiety disorders exists when neither parent suffers from these disorders.

But the likelihood is almost as low when the parent with anxiety is effectively treated for it. When anxiety symptoms are treated, and the parent has relearned responses that don’t convey fear to fearful or worrisome circumstances, their child can learn healthier responses, too.

Anxiety disorders are the most widespread psychiatric disorders, and among the leading causes of disability.

When you understand the impact your own anxious responses have on your child, it’s easier to see the importance of treating your own anxiety, as well as your teen’s. You may not even realize you struggle with anxiety… the way you are may just seem like it’s just the way you are…

Worried a lot of the time… with thoughts running through your mind so much that they keep you from sleeping at night. Maybe it’s extremely difficult for you to walk into a crowded room, or attend a party where you don’t know many — or any — people? …Maybe you just avoid gatherings like that.

Or maybe sometimes anxiety builds and builds until you just shut down… or want to cry, or scream… or you just freeze and can’t make yourself function.

Maybe sweat breaks out on your face, your palms, in your armpits. And it’s completely beyond what you can control. Social anxiety, panic, and excessive worry can not only interrupt your normal living, but can be complicated by depression. And they can influence your behavior around your children, and interrupt their lives, too.

But IV ketamine treatment can be transformative for these conditions, and other disorders.

Research has shown what a difference IV ketamine treatment can make, in you, your spouse, and your teen.

By releasing mRNA to turn DNA “ON”, brain-derived-neurotrophic-factor (BDNF) is released and turbo-boosted proliferating the brain cells. Dendrites and dendritic spines explode by the bushel, sending signals throughout the brain like a flood. Your brain can light up with creative and positive thought, solutions, and hope.

The darkness and oppression that’s trapped you… the anxiety and tension… dissipates and can be replaced by joy.

Yep. Joy.

We’re ready for you at Innovative Psychiatry to help you find that joy and hope through IV ketamine treatment.

When you come in, you’ll be led to a quiet, beautiful room where you can relax in a heated, zero-gravity leather recliner, listen to the music you bring if you choose, and close your eyes to receive your infusion and get the most from it.

You’ll notice a trim, white box on the table that’s specialized for destroying bacteria, viruses, and molds of all kinds, leaving your room free of pathogens — and giving you a germ-free space to breathe and relax. Your safety is important to us, and in this ever-changing COVID environment, you will be completely safe from infection. Using plasma cell technology, we’ve installed a unit specific to the square footage of each treatment room throughout our offices. (Who else does that?)

We’re meticulous — and for years we’ve pioneered best practices, set the standards, and led the pack.

It may take 6 infusions for you to feel better, and to achieve remission from your symptoms… or maybe 8, 9, or 10. (Every person and every brain is different.) But we’re committed to help you receive the full benefits of your IV ketamine treatment.

Ketamine isn’t for everyone, but it can be transformative for most. Chances are it will provide you with the peace, joy, and hope you need.

Give yourself the benefit of what 21st century psychiatry can offer for treatment-resistant disorders.

If these conditions sound familiar, call us.

We’re committed to help you get better with IV ketamine. This is about you and your teen.

To the restoration of your best self,

August 22, 2022
Anxiety, Panic, and Depression in Teens: IV Ketamine Offers Hope

Anxiety. Some people never struggle with it. A little bit of anxiety for them can be a motivator to study for a test, practice lines for a play, or learn math. Those who experience small spurts of anxiety can often perform very well. But when anxiety grows out of bounds it’s no longer motivating. When it explodes into fear, it can freeze you in place, making it extremely difficult to take care of things you need to do. That’s especially difficult for teens in school — including getting ready for college. And when issues crop up like anxiety, panic, and depression in teens, it can be just too much to manage.

Emma’s Anxiety

Take Emma. As a young child in her elementary school, she loved learning to read, working on group projects, and helping with the scenery for the class play. She wasn’t shy… but wasn’t outgoing either. She was just task oriented, good at things, and liked to excel.

But as she got older, social anxiety crept in. Going into a full classroom if she was late made her feel like she would die a thousand deaths. (So she tried very hard to not be late.) The anxiety that built inside her about giving a report in front of the class or participating in group discussions or projects robbed her of the motivation to do a good job. She worried and worried about it and then, exhausted, just wanted to disappear.

Some days she was so exhausted by it all that she just stayed home. Told her mom she had a sore throat or upset stomach.

Then, when Emma was 15, she woke up one day and the anxiety about going to school overwhelmed her. She dropped to the floor crying and couldn’t move. Her mother came in to tell her to get dressed or she’d be late. But Emma couldn’t do anything. She felt frozen and helpless. She cried and cried harder, and told her mother she couldn’t do more than she was doing. Her mom was caught by surprise… but thought Emma was testing her boundaries. She was sick of the drama, tired of the hormones, and wanted Emma to just get up and go to school.

But no matter what her mother said, Emma remained in a heap on the floor.

Anyone who has had a weeping teen knows that you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make them drink. Her mom knew she could try to get her daughter dressed out the door, but she couldn’t force her to participate in school. She decided she better try a different approach.

She asked her daughter what was wrong. Why was she crying? Emma took a long time to answer but finally said she didn’t know what was wrong. So she stayed home again and spent the day relaxing. Anxiety, panic disorder, and depression created a complex knot of overwhelm for this teenage girl.

She took a mental health day.

She took a lot of them.

Eventually, Emma graduated from high school. She was so relieved to be away from that world that she was euphoric… and hoped she’d be ok now.

Emma spent the summer doing things she enjoyed with her closest friend. She didn’t have a ton of friends since social anxiety caused her to stay to herself or with the friend she knew well. In August, it was time to move into the dorm at the college where she was scheduled to start. The last week she was home anxiety choked her. She wasn’t sure she could do this… so many people she didn’t know! How would she register? How could she move into a dorm with a stranger? Who would she eat with?

The fears spun in her mind faster and faster. She felt like she was frozen in a vault unable to communicate with anyone. Her parents tried to help her get ready and pack, though she couldn’t focus on it. They drove her to the campus and helped her carry her boxes to her dorm room.

Then they drove away and she was alone.

Anxiety interferes with life changes

She froze where she stood. She was the first one in the room. And it was small. The terror of being in her room and facing her roommate was too much. She didn’t move. Emma worried that her roommate wouldn’t like her, and she’d have nowhere to escape to get away from her. She finally walked to the library to find a place she could be alone. It wasn’t long before she found a cool, dark corner where she could huddle.

After a couple hours there, Emma forced herself to go back to her dorm, and after standing outside the door for 20 minutes trying to get the courage to go in, she finally held up her card key, buzzed herself in, and walked in. She and her roommate introduced themselves but neither wanted to talk much.

And so it began.

Emma managed to go class, spent her weekends studying in her room or the library, and got through the semester. But once the next semester started, she was in trouble. Anxiety rose more and more until she couldn’t leave her dorm room. She didn’t make it to many classes.

She stayed in her dark dorm room and slept instead of going to class. Emma slept all the time. Kids down the hall and acquaintances from her classes stopped by but she didn’t answer the door. She couldn’t face going outside and walking to class. Couldn’t face other students. She’d gotten so far behind she felt too overwhelmed to fix it. And she was placed on academic probation. Now she had to tell her parents what was going on.

Emma felt so much shame. Abject failure. But no idea what to do to turn this around. She felt like there was something wrong with her. She believed she was just weak. Inept. Worthless.

Social anxiety, panic, and depression were a complex set of problems, on the heels of COVID, that proved too difficult to overcome.

Reaching out for help

She decided—finally—to talk to one of the campus counselors. Even though she had no idea what they could do, Emma knew she needed some sort of help.

The counselor asked lots of in-depth questions about Emma and her history, her school life, and her family life. She got Emma to talk about what her thoughts were when she avoided class. Counseling on campus is short-term. So she gave Emma the name of a psychiatrist nearby who might be able to help.

Emma called her parents and told them what she was going through, about her grades, and about the counselor. She cried — a lot. She asked her parents if they would help her see the psychiatrist. They agreed.

Her visit with the psychiatrist was enlightening. He told her that she had social anxiety, and depression—and probably panic disorder. He prescribed meds that day and she started taking them. But she felt tired, wasn’t sleeping well, and after a couple months she was still getting no relief. She felt no different. He tweaked her meds—a couple of times—and suggested a different therapist to see one-on-one for CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) for anxiety… but she didn’t want to do that. Her social anxiety was too intense for her to tell her story. All over again.

And then he told her that 30-40% of people with anxiety and/or depression aren’t helped by traditional medicines and treatments.

She wished she’d known that before wasting so many months.

And he gave her the name of a psychiatrist who offered IV ketamine treatment.

Really? How would she know if she was even legit?

Emma called and made an appointment.

But she felt no different after the first infusion. And started to worry—maybe this wasn’t going to work?—even though she knew that it could take a few infusions before her symptoms turned around. The dissociation was interesting… weird but interesting. She hoped it would help.

That panicky feeling calmed a little after the second infusion later that week. Just a bit. But every little bit helped.

A few days later, she went for the third infusion. She felt just a bit better the next day. Not a lot. But a little.

Then, on the day of the 4th infusion, she began to feel less and less anxious, less out of control of her life, less afraid. She could tell it was helping. With the 5th and 6th infusions, she felt better and better… but was still a little shaky as she tried to make arrangement for a new semester. The doctor suggested she come in for another one or two infusions. She was almost there.

After 8 infusions, she wasn’t afraid anymore. The depression was gone. Emma had the courage to face the school officials and made a plan with the campus counselor about repairing the damage to her GPA… She embraced her responsibilities and met with tutors. She started spending time with her roommate (who turned out to be a really nice girl) and they actually became good friends. Emma was so much better that she felt normal.

Anxiety and panic disorder can go together. We call that co-morbidity. (What a word, right?) In Emma’s case, her depression was another whole thing she suffered from. With so much going on, she couldn’t figure out how to function or manage her life.

This is actually pretty common in teens and college students. New stressors—like starting high school or college—can trigger even more severe anxiety. It can bring on depression. And make your teen—or you—shut down.

It’s important for parents to talk with their preteens and teens about mental health symptoms, and seek help when symptoms interfere with daily living. Symptoms like anxiety can be easy to misinterpret or overlook, so it’s really valuable to talk about how they feel. If they learn to talk about their experiences as they go through challenges, it will be easier to identify problems that need to be addressed…and treated.

It will be easier to develop resilience.

And if unexpected symptoms emerge, you’ll be in a better place to help.

If Emma’s experiences sound at all familiar — and if treatment isn’t making a dramatic difference — call us.

We’re here to help you with innovative solutions—and to help you reach for remission.

Let’s see if we can get your life back.

To the restoration of your best self,

August 15, 2022

error: Content is protected !!