Gain insights from the MAPS Psychedelic Science 2023 Conference held in Denver, Colorado. Dive into the world of psychedelic medicine and ketamine infusion therapy, and more.
How to Prevent A Bad Ketamine Trip
10 Reasons To NOT Try Ketamine Infusions
The Importance Of Psychedelic Experiences During Ketamine Infusions
Why Do Some Doctors Minimize The Psychedelic Effects Of Ketamine?
One of the interesting things about ketamine is how differently each ketamine clinic provides their treatments. There are some doctors who believe that having dissociation effects are detrimental or they don’t know how to handle or address them. Accordingly, they will pre-treat the patient with benzodiazepines such as midazolam (Versed) or lorazepam (Ativan) to help prevent the psychotropic effects. Sometimes using benzodiazepines during or after the ketamine treatment is appropriate, especially if that patient has severe anxiety or panicky feelings. However, we believe that a ketamine induced non-ordinary state of consciousness can potentially be incredibly powerful and therapeutic.
Exploring the Unconscious Mind During a Ketamine Infusion
What is the unconscious mind?
Each individual has a conscious (what we are aware of) and unconscious (what we are unaware of) part of the mind. Sigmund Freud once described the mind using the metaphor of an iceberg. When you look at an iceberg you'll see the top of it above water which can be quite big, but when you look underneath deep down into the ocean you'll see a larger amount of the iceberg. What's interesting is the vast majority of the iceberg is actually underneath and invisible. Freud uses the iceberg metaphor to describe the conscious mind and the unconscious mind. The conscious mind is the visible portion and the unconscious mind is the portion not visible above water. The unconscious mind controls a lot of what we think and how we behave. And we're simply unaware of it.
What's The Best Mindset For Ketamine Treatments?
Ketamine treatments can be rapidly effective in a significant number of patients suffering from depression, anxiety, OCD, and PTSD. However, there are some patients who seem to do better than others. In addition to an appropriate environment, preparation, and integration afterwards, the right mindset going into a ketamine treatment is crucial.
These are the three MENTAL factors that support patients’ improvement from the ketamine treatments:
The Four Types of Experiences You May Have With Ketamine [2020 Update]
![The Four Types of Experiences You May Have With Ketamine [2020 Update]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a8dfbc1cf81e0fb77ead442/1519853468092-YIIPMI8VWKZMGFE35QGV/pexels-photo-357891.jpeg)
How to Prepare For And Integrate From a Ketamine Infusion
Ketamine infusions are helping many people with chronic pain disorders, anxiety, PTSD, and depression. This is not only due to the biochemical changes in the brain but also because of its psychotropic experiential effect. In this article, we explain how to maximize your ketamine infusion by adequately preparing for and integrating the experience.
What Does A Ketamine Infusion Feel Like?
Ketamine infusions are becoming increasingly popular due to the fact they are can potentially rapidly treat anxiety, pain disorders, and treatment-resistant depression. You may be curious about what the experience of ketamine infusion will be like, especially since there is a lot of confusing and misleading information out on the internet. Well, we got you covered!!
Does Music Impact the Ketamine Experience?
Ketamine and Near-Death Experiences (NDE)
Ketamine's Experiential Effect on Healing
Traumatic experiences can cause a severe disturbance to the human psyche and soul. The overall lifetime prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is at 6.8% in the United States. The rate of PTSD is significantly higher in females (5.2%) versus males (1.8%). This stems not only from military experiences, but physical and emotional abuse, bullying, shaming, interpersonal violence, sexual trauma, and criminal acts.
How to Handle Challenging Experiences With Ketamine
Ketamine can be an incredibly powerful tool for the treatment of depression, PTSD, anxiety, OCD, trigeminal neuralgia, migraines, and chronic pain. When used properly with an experienced healthcare provider, ketamine can help catalyze transformational, ineffable experiences. But there are times that someone may have a negative, frightening, or challenging experience. So what can be done to prevent and address this?
How Intention and Belief Plays a Role on Mood
Have you wondered why homemade meals can sometimes be more emotionally satisfying compared to restaurant or fast food? For example, when you’re sick and your caretaker prepares a hot soup for you with homemade ingredients, it can make you feel better compared to soup from a can. A 2013 study took that concept and hypothesized: Is it possible to improve mood with tea that was prepared with a belief and an intention?
The 4 Mechanisms of How Ketamine Works
Theta Brain Waves & the Anti-Anxiety Effects of Ketamine
According to a study published in the International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology in 2018, specific brain waves are related to the anti-anxiety effects of ketamine. The brain waves involved in this function are called theta waves, found in the right frontal area of the brain. Ketamine can treat a wide variety of neurotic disorders, such as depression, generalized anxiety disorder, and PTSD, but researchers do not conclusively understand how ketamine works to relieve the symptoms of these disorders.
A Brief History of Ketamine
The unique story of ketamine began in 1956 with the synthesis of the drug, phencyclidine. Found to be a remarkable anesthetic for monkeys, phencyclidine was then used on humans after numerous animal testings. Unfortunately, the side effects that researchers observed in some patients were concerning. Instead of waking peacefully from anesthesia, some patients experienced acute emergence delirium lasting hours after their operation was over. They described feeling sensory deprived and the loss of sensations in their limbs. Further studies concluded that phencyclidine produced a sensory deprivation syndrome.
Set and Setting During Ketamine Infusions
What to Expect During your Ketamine Infusion
Perhaps you’ve decided to try ketamine infusions for your depression, anxiety, PTSD, or chronic pain. Or maybe you have yet to decide and want a little more information. Some level of nervousness is normal and very common when facing something new, especially something that is so cutting-edge. To ease some of your worries, we’ll share with you four things to expect during your ketamine infusions…