Ketamine IV Offers Rapid Relief from Suicidal Thoughts

If you suffer from depression and have thoughts of suicide or self-harm, it’s critical to get rapid relief from your symptoms. Most other treatment options are not an immediate fix. On average, antidepressants take several weeks to achieve the desired effect, and even then, only about half of people find significant relief. This isn’t ideal when life is hanging in the balance.

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Ketamine has been shown to relieve severe depression symptoms in a matter of hours, and low doses of the drug can disrupt the suicidal crisis in those with severe depression. Ketamine does this with its calming effects on the brain and by changing the brain’s structure of synapses, the points at which the nerves conduct signals. Essentially, ketamine is changing the path in many important areas of your brain.

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In addition, Ketamine disrupts the part of the brain we think is responsible for the narrative sense of self.  The stories we all have going on in our heads about who we are, who we were and who we will be.  When this story is disrupted the thoughts about suicide also seem to be disrupted.  The loosening of our self-stories creates space between sensations, thoughts and identities.  When there is less fusion with sensations and thoughts new creative solutions emerge and the rigid concreteness of suicide recedes.