Everywhere you go, you’re surrounded by reminders that the holiday season is in full swing, yet you feel anything but joyous. In fact, quite the opposite thanks to severe depression that has taken hold and shows no signs of releasing its grip on your mental health.
We assure you that you’re not alone — not only is depression reaching all-time highs in the United States, with 29% of people affected, but 64% of people with mental health issues say that the holidays make these conditions worse.
What if we told you there’s a way to turn your depression around quickly with ketamine, which is fast becoming a therapy of choice for treatment-resistant depression and severe depression?
At Charlotte Ketamine Center, Dr. Neal Taub offers fast-acting ketamine therapies that can work quickly to draw you back from the edge of severe depression.
Ketamine is by no means a new drug — it’s been in use for decades, mostly as an anesthetic. What practitioners noticed over the years is that when they used the drug on patients with depression, many reported a reduction in depressive symptoms.
There’s been a good deal of research over the past decade to figure out how ketamine works in relieving depression. What researchers found is ketamine encourages neuroplasticity and the formation of new, healthier neural pathways.
When you have depression, certain areas of your brain go quiet, and your ability to regulate your moods malfunctions. When we introduce ketamine, the drug gets your brain “unstuck” from negative patterns by opening up new synapses, which are connections between neurons.
These new connections can get your brain out of the depressive spiral and onto better pathways that favor improved moods. And it does this quickly.
If you have severe depression, it’s probably a good idea to start with ketamine infusions, which we administer here in our offices. Many of our patients report immediate improvement in their mood after just one treatment, but they typically undergo a series of infusions for best results.
This fast-acting relief is a good option if you’re trying to reduce your depression before the holidays.
We can also deliver ketamine through a nebulizer — you breathe in a mist that contains the medication — or through intramuscular injections.
From there, we can help you maintain these great results into the new year and beyond through maintenance ketamine treatments. We can also see whether a home ketamine program would work well for your needs moving forward.
So, if you’re dealing with severe depression that’s casting a long shadow over your ability to find joy this holiday season, it's well worth investigating whether ketamine is a good solution.
To learn more about how ketamine treatments can help you break free from depression or to schedule a consultation, please call our office in Charlotte, North Carolina, at 704-519-6918.
