We have treated patients from different races, ages, genders and professions. The source of their illness varies but the degenerative impact it has on their lives is the same. Different faces and stages of life, unified in a shared sense of being unwell. It’s surprising to see the far-reaching degenerative impact of chronic disease. It will cause chronic pain in the previously healthy 24-year-old, generate crippling anxiety in a 33-year-old, and plant a chilling depression in a 47-year-old. The 56-year-old with unrelenting PTSD who had to leave his job to focus on his mental health. All of these patients have an opportunity at Elysian Wellness. All of them have the chance to experience healing and personal growth that was previously inaccessible. Research continues to support Ketamine therapy as a ground-breaking therapeutic modality in the treatment of these life-altering ailments (1). At Elysian Wellness, we are redemonstrating this research in real life. And our entire patient demographic has had benefit thus far.
When I first meet each patient, he or she has this hardened exterior. The patients maintain a well-practiced distance. You get a sense of their struggle. They describe pending seasons, years, decades of their lives with this growing lack of fulfilment. They have all lost something and have been trying tirelessly to gain it back. We begin our therapeutic relationship with this distance at play. Over the course of their therapy, they each cast off this clouded outlook. I get to see the person their mental health has been hiding. The person they have been seeking. Toward the end of their therapy, they arrive smiling. They make jokes with me. They each find that they have forgiven themselves and that’s how their healing happens.
The patients that come to us have been suffering with crippling symptoms for years. They’ve tried it all to no avail, but they’re willing to try anything to get back to being themselves. Understandably, they present with a level of apprehension. They’ve been to therapists, talk groups, seen psychiatrists and social workers, used multiple different kinds and doses of psychiatric drugs. They’ve tried yoga, meditation, cognitive behavioral therapy, and exercise; none of these create the breakthrough they need. Some spiral into a great sense of loss. They turn to self-injury. They attempt to harm. They feel alienated and helpless. And then they find us. Because we are aware of the challenges our patients have faced, we take extra time and care to talk through what to expect before, during, and after their infusion.
Every session is an individualized and well-crafted treatment plan that builds from the patient’s prior experience. The therapeutic relationship that we build together is comprised of multiple treatment sessions with an additive effect that occurs over the course of the therapy. The medication is specifically tailored to the emotional needs and physical requirements of the individual. This creates a supportive and constructive foundation from which to heal. When you become a patient with us at Elysian Wellness, we make sure to collaborate with your treating provider to determine the best long-term strategy to maintain your mental health at its peak. We have the ability to create a healthy long-term therapeutic relationship between our providers, your regular provider, and you.
Before I began researching ketamine therapy for mental health, I was doubtful of its efficacy. The truth is, I didn’t know enough about it. My perception of the medication was based on my experience with it in the Emergency Department and my understanding of how its derivative was used recreationally as a drug of abuse. As it happens, the field of psychotropic therapy is positioned to make an incredible, lasting impact on the world of mental health. More and more, both the medical community and patients alike are becoming privy to this incredible, underutilized resource in combating chronic disease. Both the literature and my personal clinical experience overwhelmingly support the use of this medication in reclaiming our wellness. We have the opportunity to restore people to their desired quality of life. We owe it to ourselves to pursue it.
1. BermanRM, Cappiello A, Anand A, Oren DA, Heninger GR, Charney DS, Krystal JH.Antidepressant effects of ketamine in depressed patients. Biol Psychiatry. 2000Feb 15;47(4):351-4. doi: 10.1016/s0006-3223(99)00230-9. PMID: 10686270.
