A study from Massachusetts General Brigham found that 55% of individuals receiving ketamine treatment reported improvements in depressive symptoms. Posted
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TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — A study from Mass General Brigham found that 55% of individuals receiving ketamine treatment reported improvements in depressive symptoms .
In light of these promising results, efforts are underway to make this treatment more accessible. In Tucson, a local collaboration of therapy providers conducted a groundbreaking trial to provide ketamine therapy to first responders suffering from trauma.
Cathexis Psychedelics partnered with Sequoia Springs Trauma Healing Center to conduct a four-week trial involving ketamine injections paired with group talk therapy and sand tray therapy.
The trial aimed to address PTSD and anxiety, conditions that have long plagued many first responders. The study’s participants included former firefighters and ER nurses.
The emotional end of the trial saw significant improvements for participants like Susan "Sam" Major, a retired ER trauma nurse, who shared her deeply personal story.
“My sons were killed through arson,” Major said. “Being that they’re all firemen, it was so significant.”
Major described how the ketamine treatments allowed her to feel her sons’ presence, bringing her a sense of peace.“We have to give up that control and just surrender,” she said. “And the ketamine is what facilitates that letting go.”Another participant, Owen Hardy, a retired fire captain, had struggled with job-related PTSD for years.“It’s been an amazing transformation in a short period of time,” Hardy said. “I’ve stopped taking two different medications that I’ve been taking for years.”Jeff Galbraith, a retired coin dealer who participated in the study, said that his anxiety had gotten to the point where he was unable to leave the house. This left him trying to find solutions for years of traditional therapy with few results.“I’ve had severe anxiety my whole life and I’ve never been able to get rid of it or even reduce it,” Galbraith said. “When I heard about ketamine, I thought it might help calm that down.”He describes his first ketamine experience as like being in “another dimension.”“I was in a forest walking,” he says of his experience. “I […]
Tucson-based therapy clinic completes 4-week ketamine treatment for first responders
