Depression is a serious mental health condition that affects millions of Americans. It causes a range of symptoms, including a sad or anxious mood, fatigue, feelings of hopelessness, irritability, guilt, and a loss of interest in previously enjoyable activities.
Most people with depression find relief from antidepressant medications, psychological counseling, or a combination of the two. But about one-third of people diagnosed with depression don’t respond to standard treatment. These people are said to have treatment-resistant depression.
A drug called ketamine offers a promising option for people who have treatment-resistant depression. Ketamine has been used for decades as a surgical anesthetic. But researchers have discovered that ketamine can also be an effective therapy for some types of treatment-resistant depression.
If you have treatment-resistant depression, you may want to explore the possibility of intravenous (IV) ketamine treatment. But if you do, you would be best off choosing a provider with the knowledge and experience necessary to provide safe, effective psychiatric IV ketamine treatment. Here are some things to keep in mind as you make that choice.
As researchers have examined the potential benefits of ketamine, they’ve discovered that it can help with pain relief as well as depression. But although some pain clinics offer ketamine treatment, it’s best to receive ketamine depression treatment from a doctor with expertise in psychiatry, rather than pain medicine.
Health care providers in a practice with psychiatric expertise are more likely to understand how best to use ketamine for treatment-resistant depression.
Dr. M Rameen Ghorieshi at the Palo Alto Center for Mind Body Health has extensive experience treating depressed patients with ketamine. He is a licensed physician who is board-certified in both psychiatry and addiction medicine. Dr. Ghorieshi is dedicated to helping his patients achieve optimal health and happiness with the most supportive therapies possible, including IV ketamine.
Dr. Ghorieshi and his highly specialized team at Palo Alto Mind Body have extensive experience administering IV ketamine for depression, suicidality, anxiety, and other treatment-resistant psychiatric conditions.
Another factor to keep in mind as you choose a ketamine provider for treatment-resistant depression is the way in which various providers administer their treatment. Ketamine may be delivered in several ways: orally, under the tongue, via a nasal spray, rectally, via an intramuscular injection, or through an IV infusion.
Not all methods achieve the same success. Dr. Ghorieshi offers IV infusions because they deliver the best results. When you get an IV ketamine infusion, 100% of the medication makes its way into your bloodstream.
Compare this with other delivery methods, and you’ll understand why it’s preferable. For example, absorption from orally administered ketamine can be as low as 16% and nasal spray as low as 8%. IV drip is the most beneficial, most successful way to receive ketamine.
Some clinics that administer ketamine infusions are managed by medical professionals who lack expertise in mental health treatment. But when you receive IV ketamine at Palo Alto Mind Body, your treatment is delivered in a facility managed by a psychiatrist, a trained expert in mental health who is authorized to manage medications for mental health issues.
Most IV ketamine infusions take about 90 minutes, which includes preparation time, the infusion, and post-infusion monitoring. While you receive your IV ketamine, you can relax knowing that you are being continuously monitored by expert medical staff during the entire process.
If you or someone you care about is suffering from treatment-resistant depression, IV ketamine could offer relief. Dr. Ghorieshi invites you to contact Palo Alto Mind Body by phone or confidential email to schedule an appointment.
