Are you suffering from persistent worry or panic that disrupts your quality of life? Are you feeling stuck or burnt out? Consider researching ketamine for anxiety. Patients and physicians are learning more about the ways anxious individuals can benefit from ketamine treatment.
What is Anxiety?
We all feel anxious sometimes. Maybe your heart starts beating faster before a big presentation or you start sweating just as you sit down for an important exam. Occasional anxiety like this is normal. In situations like these, anxiety serves a beneficial purpose: it makes us more alert and focuses our attention so we can perform the task at hand. For most, anxious moments are infrequent and pass quickly.
However, people who experience prolonged or frequent symptoms, to the extent that their daily lives are interrupted, may be suffering from an anxiety disorder.
Anxiety is the most diagnosed mental health disorder in the United States. Over 40 million Americans suffer from this category of disorder each year. 30% of all adults will experience an anxiety disorder sometime in their lives. These disorders can develop from internal or external factors. Genetics play a role, as do body chemistry and external factors like the long-term experience of stress.
Anxiety manifests in a variety of symptoms, including:
- Nervousness
- Restlessness
- Tension
- Fear
- Dread
- Uneasiness
- Easily fatigued
- Difficulty concentrating
- Irritability
- Headaches
The Road to Treatment
Individuals who often experience these or similar symptoms should talk to their healthcare provider about anxiety. A diagnosis can lead to decisions about treatment. The disorders falling under the category of anxiety include:
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder
- Panic Disorder
- Social Anxiety Disorder
- Phobias
- Separation Anxiety
How is Anxiety Treated?
Individual experiences and body chemistry make anxiety differ from person to person. Some people are treated with antidepressants which increase the circulation of feel-good hormones like serotonin or dopamine.
Specific anti-anxiety medicines (including benzodiazepines) can reduce worry and panic in the short term. However, your body will build up a tolerance, making the drug less effective over time.
Ketamine therapy is a treatment option with exciting benefits for anxiety sufferers. Extensive, ongoing research is teaching us how ketamine affects the brain. Early studies indicate ketamine’s potential to build new synapses in the brain, enhancing neuroplasticity. As the brain builds new connections and processes signals more efficiently, a patient benefits from the ability to examine old patterns of thought and create new ones that do not lead to anxiety.
Ketamine therapy can be an effective treatment for diagnosed anxiety disorders, and if you’re feeling stuck, burnt out, or overwhelmed.
How does Ketamine Therapy Work?
Ketamine therapy can be administered at home or in a clinic. At-home treatments offer several benefits: you’re in a familiar, comfortable environment; you don’t have to set aside time to commute to and from appointments; and you’ll enjoy cost savings since at-home treatments are more affordable than clinic infusions or injections.
You’ll work with a medical provider to create a treatment plan lasting several weeks or months. In conjunction with the periodic doses, you’ll examine your anxieties and work to build new pathways for responding to stimuli.
Book a ten-minute consultation to see if this is right for you.