Ketamine Treatment For Depression
When depressive symptoms persist after several rounds of treatment, a patient could be suffering from a particular type of depression known as treatment-resistant depression or TRD. For patients with TRD, finding treatment options that work best can be quite challenging. As many as two-thirds of people suffering from depression are not helped by the first antidepressant they try and up to a third fail to respond to several attempts at treatment. Commonly prescribed and well-known options, like selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or SSRIs, are widely available but may not by themselves prove effective to treat TRD.
Other treatment options like counseling and cognitive behavioral therapy combined with medications may be helpful for some, but not every individual. In situations like these, knowing what alternative treatments for TRD are available to you can make all the difference. At Florida Mind Health Center, a ketamine treatment clinic in Gainesville, FL, we use ketamine infusion therapy to help patients suffering from treatment-resistant depression.
Living With Treatment-Resistant Depression
Those suffering from treatment-resistant depression experience constant feelings of sadness, sleep disturbances or deprivation, low energy, or suicidal thoughts. Women and the elderly have a higher risk of developing TRD, as well as those with anxiety disorders, bipolar depression, and longer depressive episodes.
Depression Treatment In Gainesville, FL
Ketamine infusion therapy utilizes the mood-stabilizing properties found in ketamine to promote the repair of neurological connections throughout the body. A ketamine infusion works when ketamine binds to the N-methyl-D-aspartate, or NMDA, glutamate receptors and blocks the receptors’ ability to communicate with other parts of the brain. The loss of these connections is caused by treatment-resistant depression or other mood disorders, but ketamine prompts the brain to begin an ongoing process of repair. It is this repair that allows patients to feel improvements in their mood and feel in greater control of their lives. Ketamine works quickly — in just under an hour — to jump-start this repair and put patients on the road to recovery for TRD.
At Florida Mind Health Center, we strive to provide personalized care for all our guests. Ketamine infusion therapy is fast and effective, with guests seeing long-term results after just a few infusions. Our ketamine therapy clinic offers treatment plans tailored to the individual needs and medical history of our guests. To schedule a consultation for treatment-resistant depression, or to learn more about ketamine infusions, contact us today.