Ketamine Therapy for Anxiety
Anxiety disorders are a prevalent mental health concern that can significantly impact an individual's daily life. They involve physical and emotional states of hyperarousal that can affect one's functioning, making it challenging to complete everyday tasks and engage in meaningful activities. There are several different types of anxiety disorders, each with its unique symptoms and challenges. These include generalized anxiety disorder, agoraphobia, panic disorder, specific phobias, social anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and separation anxiety disorder. Understanding the nuances of each disorder can be crucial in identifying the right treatment approach.
Symptoms of Anxiety
Common symptoms of anxiety include feeling nervous, excessive worrying, or restlessness having a sense of impending danger, panic or doom, increased heart rate, sweating, trembling, fatigue, trouble concentrating, disrupted sleep, difficulty controlling worries, and having to avoid things that trigger the anxiety.
Untreated anxiety can lead to poor physical health outcomes, in some cases can trigger episodes of depression and thoughts about suicide, substance misuse, social isolation, headaches and chronic pain, digestive problems, and overall poor quality of life.
Traditional Treatments for Anxiety
​Traditional treatment for anxiety typically involves oral antidepressant medications such as SSRIs (fluoxetine, sertraline, escitalopram, citalopram, paroxetine), or SNRIs (duloxetine, venlafaxine). Additional treatment options for anxiety may include antihistamine agents (hydroxyzine), buspirone, gabapentin, and in some cases neuroleptic/antipsychotic medications. Unfortunately, if someone does not respond to the first trial of an antidepressant, the chance of successfully controlling the anxiety falls off precipitously with each additional oral antidepressant trial.
How Ketamine Therapy Treats Anxiety
​
-
Ketamine treatment for anxiety works by rapidly acting on glutamate – a neurotransmitter that is involved in neuroplasticity, memory, learning, mood regulation, and anxiety regulation.
-
Research studies show that ketamine treatment for anxiety is a safe and effective with both short-term and long-term through maintenance therapy.
-
Ketamine treatment for anxiety is a newer and innovative treatment option that works in individuals even when more traditional oral antidepressants have failed to provide relief.
Why Choose Ketamine Therapy for Anxiety?
-
Ketamine treatment for anxiety gets at the root cause of the anxiety.
-
Ketamine treatment for anxiety allows for shifts in perspectives on issues that trigger anxiety and can “re-wire” the brain to react in a calmer and more peaceful state-of-mind to stressors or situational triggers.
-
Ketamine treatment for anxiety has a faster onset of symptom relief than traditional oral antidepressants and does not have the same side effect risk profile.