Depression (major depressive disorder or clinical depression) is one of the most common mood disorders today. Trauma and prolonged periods of heightened stress make us more susceptible to experiencing episodes of depression. It can affect how we feel, think, and handle daily activities, such as sleeping, eating, or working.
Depression therapy comes in many shapes, sizes, and forms. Ketamine treatment has been found to relieve the symptoms of depression within hours, rather than the usual weeks most antidepressants can take.
Thomas Insel, the former director of the National Institute of Health, described ketamine given intravenously, as one of “the most important breakthroughs in antidepressant treatment in decades.”
Ketamine works by changing the baseline of the brain. The brain responds to this change of baseline by releasing a neuroprotective and neuroregenerative protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF).This release of proteins repairs and protects neurons and results in the brain thinking clearer and operating optimally. When you think better, you feel better and you are able to more effectively work through traumas with your mental health provider.
Understanding more about this mental health condition helps you or your loved one get the treatment that is necessary to enjoy a more positive sense of mental wellbeing.
Prolonged or intense periods of sadness are the most common symptoms that people experience. During these periods, a person may also lose interest in their normal activities. While some people may experience intense sadness that involves crying, others may just have a low level of dissatisfaction with life. As the condition continues, people tend to begin to isolate themselves from others. They may also stop taking care of their personal hygiene, and they may stop keeping their home or bedroom clean.
Ketamine Infusion Therapy produces a steady state anesthetic stimulation without sedating the brain. The process stimulated by Ketamine Infusion Therapy is purely physiologic in nature. The desired response of the brain is a subsequent higher-than-normal release of certain proteins (BDNF, GSK3b, etc.). These proteins are initially neuro-protective (your brain’s protective mechanism) then, over several days’ time, they will stimulate a mappable, measurable synaptogenesis. Otherwise known as new and healthy brain cell production. As the brain communicates more effectively, the patient begins to feel their environment correctly and the stimulation in the world around them starts to elicit a more appropriate emotional and physical response.
To put this in simpler terms, the optimized communication in the brain produces thinking processes that are clearer and have emotional control so that patients can be present in the moment. Some small relief can occur within hours after a person receives their ketamine infusion, but to achieve the highest level of benefit patients will complete the current guidelines for treatment for stabilization established by researchers who were instrumental in developing our protocols.
Battling depression can be difficult, especially with so many antidepressants on the market. Ketamine treatment provides fast, effective relief of depression symptoms. If you or a loved one is searching for depression treatment in Chattanooga, we can help.
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