Why Your Patient Should Avoid Negativity After Ketamine Therapy
In this blog, find out why it's crucial for your patient to surround themselves with positive influences. Hint: it enhances their mood and takes full advantage of ketamine's neuroplastic effect. Plus, we’ll cover a recent scientific study about the power of positivity following a ketamine infusion and its impact on treatment-resistant depression.
To ensure your patients fully reap the benefit of their infusions, it’s important for you as their ketamine doctor to surround themselves with positivity post-infusion.
Supporting Your Patient's Healing Journey: The Importance of Positivity
Ketamine's benefits extend beyond the treatment itself. Having the best outcome requires YOU setting your patients up for success before, during, and after infusions. A recent study published in The American Journal of Psychiatry showed enhanced antidepressant effects when patients engaged with positive input post-ketamine infusion. While more research is needed, this highlights how fostering the right environment can sustain ketamine's therapeutic potential. Let's explore this further and discuss implications for supporting our patients.
The American Journal of Psychiatry conducted a study using a positive psychology computer game to extend ketamine's antidepressant effects.
The Power of Positivity After Ketamine Infusions: What The Study Involved
In September 2022, an intriguing scientific article was published in The American Journal of Psychiatry. It was called, "A Novel, Brief, Fully Automated Intervention to Extend the Antidepressant Effect of a Single Ketamine Infusion: A Randomized Clinical Trial". This study involved treating treatment-resistant depression patients with a single ketamine infusion. After the infusion, patients were introduced to a game involving positive associations like smiling faces and uplifting messages, which were delivered for four days after the ketamine treatment
The findings showed patients receiving positive input after ketamine had markedly better outcomes.
Positive Environment Post Ketamine Matters & Study Limitations
The study findings showed, patient who had positive messages and smiling faces through the computer game post-ketamine infusion had notably better outcomes. This makes sense as ketamine enhances neuroplasticity, essentially rewiring and resetting the brain. A positive environment with pleasant input would support continued improvement in depressive symptoms.
However, the study only addressed a single infusion without typical repeated treatments. The intervention was also limited to a computer game rather than including psychotherapy or integration. Still, the results highlight the importance of positive intervention after ketamine in sustaining benefits. It will be interesting to see what future research will show when taking into account ketamine therapy integration.
Remember that ketamine is simply a catalyst. Proper preparation and integration is where the real magic happens.
What You Can Do To Enhance Your Patient’s Healing After Ketamine
So what can you do as a ketamine specialist? You can encourage them to do the some of the following (remember to tailor your advice to your patient’s past medical history and social history):
Limit contact with negative individuals
Reduce news/social media/violent media consumption
Spend time in nature and joyful settings
Practice gratitude journaling
Speak with their therapist or integration specialist
Ketamine therapy is only a catalyst for your patients. The infusion alone will not help your patient, the preparation for the treatment and integration of the ketamine experience is key to fully harnessing your patient’s healing.
Explore 5 Practices to Maximize Your Ketamine Patient's Treatment to see what else your patients can do to optimize their healing.
Positive environments and activities can significantly improve your patient’s recovery after their ketamine treatment.
Continuing the Healing Journey: Fostering Integration After Ketamine
As we've seen, ketamine treatments are just the starting point. While a catalyst for neuroplastic change, positivity and integration afterwards are key to cementing benefits. Consider advising patients on limiting negativity, spending time in nature, journaling, and speaking with specialists after treatment. Remember, your role as a ketamine specialist extends beyond infusion especially if you want to support ongoing growth for your patients.
Study discussed in this blog post:
Related Questions:
What are ways I can support my patients to have a positive environment and experience after their ketamine treatment?
You can support a positive environment after ketamine treatments by: advising patients to limit contact with negative people, reduce consumption of news/social media/violent media, spend time in nature and joyful settings, practice gratitude journaling, and speak with their therapist or integration specialist. Remember to tailor your guidance based on their unique needs, past medical history, and current social history.
Why is it that ketamine infusions alone are insufficient for patients to get better?
Ketamine infusions alone are insufficient because the treatment itself is only a catalyst - the preparation beforehand and integration actions informed by their ketamine experience afterwards are key to sustainable improvement. Also sometimes your patients can have a challenging and frightening experience, i.e. reliving past traumas, or near-death like experience. Not guiding them during these challenging experiences nor encouraging integration of the experience afterwards can leave your patient feeling traumatized.
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6 Things To Tell Your Ketamine Patients To Expect After Their Infusion
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5 Practices to Maximize Your Ketamine Patient's Treatment
There’s no doubt that ketamine is an effective treatment for mood and pain disorders. However, we’d be lying if we tell you that ketamine is the only thing your patients need to truly heal. In this blog, we talk about some helpful practices your patients may incorporate into their treatment to truly maximize their progress and healing.
Discover why it's crucial for your patient to surround themselves with positive influences. Hint: it enhances their mood and takes full advantage of ketamine's neuroplastic effect. Explore a recent scientific study about the power of positivity following a ketamine infusion and its impact on treatment-resistant depression.
Explore the professional and personal growth in opening a ketamine clinic with Dr. Leslie Koenig in this interview excerpt from our podcast.