When you love someone with depression, it can be difficult to watch the changes that occur in their life. While depression is a common mental health condition, affecting an estimated 21 million American adults, it is manageable with an effective treatment plan.
At Klarity Clinic, we specialize in ketamine infusion therapy for depression. Our experienced medical team also has extensive experience managing treatment-resistant depression that doesn’t respond to antidepressant medications.
If you’re worried that your loved one isn’t getting better using traditional strategies, it may be time to explore the benefits of ketamine infusion therapy.
Depression is a mood disorder that can zap your energy, trigger feelings of sadness and hopelessness, and cause you to lose interest in your usual activities. In turn, these issues can lead to unintentional weight loss, cognitive dysfunction, and thoughts of self-harm or suicide.
Types of depression include:
Major depression causes daily symptoms for two weeks or longer which can interfere with your ability to function in day-to-day life.
Persistent depressive disorder describes depression symptoms that come and go for two years or more.
SAD causes symptoms of depression typically during the fall and winter months when hours of daylight are short. Less light can cause changes in your brain that trigger depressive symptoms.
Postpartum depression is a mental illness that can develop in women after childbirth. The physical and mental effects of the condition can make bonding with and caring for your baby difficult.
If your loved one is receiving treatment for these types of depression but aren’t getting relief of their symptoms, they may have a treatment-resistant form of depression.
Treatment-resistant depression describes major depression that isn’t manageable with antidepressants and psychotherapy. The root cause of this condition isn’t clear, but your brain chemistry and genetic background can play a role.
You may also be prone to treatment-resistant depression if you’re under chronic stress or have thyroid disease. These issues can change the function of your endocrine system, worsen your symptoms of depression, and make managing your condition more difficult.
If your depression symptoms aren’t improving after 6-8 weeks on an antidepressant, our providers can determine if you’re a candidate for ketamine infusion therapy.
Ketamine is an anesthetic drug that’s typically used during surgery. In smaller doses, ketamine works directly on the brain to increase levels of glutamate, large neurotransmitters that support healthy brain function.
Infusions of ketamine also help repair damaged neural connections in your brain and create new neural pathways to help your brain heal, so you can experience fast and long-lasting depression symptom relief.
Your ketamine specialist can also add nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) to your infusion to enhance the effects of ketamine on your brain. NAD+ plays a role in regulating your body’s stress response, increasing your energy levels, and boosting your mood.
Our team customizes an infusion plan to your specific health needs and the severity of your depression symptoms. Ketamine treatments typically involve six intravenous (IV) infusions of low-dose ketamine over the period of two weeks to achieve the best outcome.
Call the Klarity Clinic office near you to learn more about ketamine infusion therapy for treatment-resistant depression or book an appointment online today.
