5 ms·
There are many personal anecdotes about how one treatment was a game changer. I don't doubt them, but as the article says, it doesn't work for everyone. I am po
by tasty_freeze 4y ago
There are many personal anecdotes about how one treatment was a game changer. I don't doubt them, but as the article says, it doesn't work for everyone. I am posting this as a counterweight to all the glowing reports.
My wife has some chronic health conditions (EDS and ME/CFS and depression); I'm sure they are at least partially related. While ramping off of one antidepressant in anticipation of trying something different, her depression came roaring back, so the doctor prescribed ketamine infusions. It didn't help at all.
Part of the problem was the clinic. One of the (correct) refrains about psychedelics is the importance of "set and setting". To the employees, this was just one of eight infusions they were going to do that day and it was all very routine, but for someone who has never experienced psychedelics, an attentive, caring, gentle environment would have helped a lot. Being a woman, it was tremendously anxious for her to go into a closed room with a male nurse she had never met before and give up consciousness and control for half an hour. Having a different nurse every time wasn't great for building trust. There were some other things too, but ultimately the main thing was she experienced no benefit.
- jokoon 4y agoif it's so dependent on the environment, then the drug just doesn't work in general, meaning it's not viable. if doctors are unable to find ways to make a drug work and predict it, then it's pointless. A 4 days vacation every month will have better results, and it's something most therapists and psychiatrist also say, that lifestyle matters. If a drug cannot do better than lifestyle change, then the drug doesn't work.
- andrewxdiamond 4y agoI think you’re oversimplifying the human brain a bit here. The point of psychedelic therapy is to forcibly reset your cognition. It is very much like turning your brain off and on again. Therapy tries to change your perspective, but the therapist has to go through your conscious mind to reshape your subconscious. Psychedelics go around the conscious part, directly flooding your mind with thoughts and forcing you to redo your perspective from the ground up. This is more uncontrolled than therapy, but sometimes the conscious barrier is too strong. I’m no doctor though, just a person with some perspective
- potsandpans 4y agoah, interesting. So you have a medically qualified background to back up those claims?
- jokoon 4y agoI ask a lot of questions to my psychiatrist
- tasty_freeze 4y agoSome cancer patients respond well to a given chemotherapy while others don't. Some people get vaccinated and gain protection while others get sick. Some people smoke marijuana and get euphoria while others get paranoid, and others are unaffected. I guess those drugs are nonviable and pointless. To someone suffering from clinical depression or an anxiety disorder, your cavalier suggestion to just take a four day vacation is laughable. If people who spend their lives wrestling with difficult issues and you think you can just chime in with an obvious solution, it is a good clue that perhaps you don't fully understand the issues.
- bradly 4y agoI found a single practitioner that did muscle injections instead of an IV so no nurses or anesthesiologists are present. I'm in a cozy room with nice, low lighting, my music, and he leaves the room during the treatment. It feels like going into someone's home. He has a camera to monitor and has come in when I've gotten restless. Being in a home-like setting isn't for everyone though, so when I guide people to Ketemine treatments I ask them if they are more comfortable in a hospital environment and If so, I recommend the IV clinics.