Anxiety is one of the most common mental health issues in the United States. Anxiety disorders don’t discriminate – from phobias and panic attacks to post-traumatic stress and more, people of all ages, genders, and backgrounds suffer from this debilitating mental illness every day.
While anxiety disorders are treatable, the standard treatments and therapeutic approaches don’t work for everyone. Many people spend years trying several types of treatment methods in vain. As anxiety treatments evolve, specific off-label methods are sometimes found to have positive outcomes.
Ketamine therapy is one of the newest off-label approaches that has seen significant success in treating anxiety and managing symptoms of treatment-resistant depression. Keep reading to learn more about this cutting-edge alternative anxiety treatment method.
How Can Ketamine Help My Anxiety?
While scientists are still trying to pinpoint an exact answer for how ketamine reduces anxiety and depression when combined with counseling it has been shown to provide immediate, effective results as an alternative treatment method.
Depression is often one of anxiety’s partners-in-crime, which may have something to do with the fact that both of these disorders involve glutamate abnormalities. A chemical messenger in the brain, glutamate is essential for memory, learning, and mood regulation. It also supports the brain’s ability to adapt and change with new experiences (or neuroplasticity).
Ketamine is one of the unique drugs that alter the GABA and glutamate systems, which is one theory about its efficacy. It also increases neuroplasticity, which may help “re-wire” the brain by allowing it to form new pathways where there were once harmful or problematic thought patterns.
While antidepressants typically take weeks to relieve symptoms and sometimes don’t work at all, ketamine works immediately and often provides long-term relief. Keep reading to find out more about ketamine treatment for anxiety.
How Often Will I Need to Get Ketamine Infusions?
For people suffering from anxiety who can’t find relief through other treatment methods, ketamine is a potential treatment alternative that can help them manage their anxiety symptoms and significantly boost their quality of life.
Ketamine infusion therapy involves an IV treatment administered in a healthcare setting. The infusion is carefully dosed according to the patient’s specific needs and physical makeup, and the patient is guided through the treatment to maximize its effectiveness. A typical course of treatment would have the patient receiving three treatments for the first week of therapy, two treatments during the second week, and one the week after that and for a consecutive three weeks thereafter.
One ketamine IV treatment typically takes about 90 minutes from start to finish, which includes an observation period once the treatment concludes before the patient goes home. Unlike traditional anxiety medications that can take weeks to provide relief, ketamine offers relief from anxiety symptoms (including panic attacks) within hours of the first treatment. Some people find ketamine therapy works best combined with other treatments and medications, while other people find that ketamine therapy alone is enough to relieve symptoms and work well in the long term with periodic boosters.
Keep reading to learn more about the types of anxiety ketamine works best for and other facts about ketamine and anxiety.
Does Ketamine Help with All Types of Anxiety?
Ketamine therapy is among the fastest-acting treatments for anxiety, working almost instantly to target synaptic receptors in the brain, mediating its stress response and helping process the formation of traumatic memories. Ketamine infusion therapy can treat several anxiety disorders, including:
- Phobias and phobia-related issues, defined as an intense fear of specific situations or objects.
- Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), defined as excessive concern over several things at one time.
- Social anxiety disorder (social phobia or SAD), defined as the fear of being rejected or judged in social situations.
- PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), defined as severe anxiety, uncontrollable thoughts, or nightmares after a traumatic event)
- Panic disorder, defined as recurrent panic attacks, which are characterized by sweating, feelings of doom, and accelerated heart rate.
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Will My Insurance Cover My Ketamine Treatment?
While ketamine is an FDA-approved analgesic and anesthetic used in emergency departments and operating rooms, it has not been officially approved by the FDA for treating mood disorders. Because it’s used off-label to treat anxiety, depression, OCD, PTSD, and bipolar disorder, it is not FDA-approved for treating any mood disorder. Because it’s technically an off-label use of medication, ketamine infusion therapy is not covered by insurance.
Ketamine and Anxiety
With the potential to rewire the brain, ketamine wellness treatments, combining the physical component of a ketamine infusion with the mental component of counseling during the session can correct negative thought patterns and provide people with healthier mental connections.
Ketamine has the unique ability to assist the brain in a more intimate manner than mass-prescribed anti-anxiety and antidepressant medications. Ketamine is celebrated for its effectiveness, reliability, versatility, and high success rates in treating several mental health struggles, including depression, anxiety, postpartum, and bipolar disorders.