Although some forms of depression respond well to therapy and traditional anti-depressant medications, there are some that resist the standard forms of treatment. In those cases, alternative treatments are available. One of the latest forms is ketamine therapy. If your doctor has suggested ketamine therapy for your depression, you might be wondering how you prepare and what you should do. There are a few things that you should consider before you pursue ketamine therapy for your depression.
Have You Tried All Of The Traditional Solutions?
Ketamine therapy is traditionally reserved for those patients with depression that does not respond to any of the standard treatments. If you have not yet exhausted all of the standard treatment avenues, talk with your doctor about those solutions before you opt for ketamine therapy. That way, you can be confident that your depression is, in fact, treatment-resistant and might benefit from ketamine therapy instead. In fact, ketamine therapy has proven to help many patients whose depression did not respond to traditional treatment options.
Have You Discussed Your Medical History?
Before your first ketamine therapy visit, talk with your provider about your medical history, including alcohol and drug use. Your care provider may recommend that you abstain from certain things before your treatment to help ensure the best results. Be as forthcoming as possible so that your care provider can give you the best possible treatment options.
Do You Have Transportation?
It is typically discouraged for patients to drive themselves home after ketamine therapy. For your own safety, you should have someone drive you to your appointment and back home. In fact, you might need to plan for someone to stay with you for a few hours after you get home. Ketamine therapy can cause some disassociative feelings at first, which may cause confusion in those hours after treatment. Having someone stay with you can help ensure your safety as you recover from the treatment.
Will Your Doctor Offer Combination Services?
In many instances, ketamine treatment is combined with talk therapy to help patients work through their challenges while they are relaxed and open. In these cases, mild to moderate dosing of ketamine is used to encourage patients to relax. Some patients prefer these combination services while others would rather not, so consider which works best for your situation.
These are just a few of the things to consider before you pursue ketamine therapy for your depression. Talk with a local care provider such as Dr. Christina M. Charlotin, Licensed Psychologist today for more details and to prepare for your appointment.
