by Aya Gonzalez
Nov 09, 2021Ketamine has over 50 years of data recorded supporting its safety and efficacy as an anaesthetic agent. The purpose of ketamine, in the context of ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, is to facilitate a state of mind that may be highly open to new insights, psychotherapy, and healing. Past research has suggested that this experience can improve many patients’ emotional states and reduce symptoms related to depression, anxiety, addictive behaviours, and post-traumatic stress disorder. While many people appear to benefit from ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, as with other health care interventions that have a proven benefit, not all patients will respond in the same way and not everyone will benefit to the same extent.
Most common physical effects during treatment include temporary increase in pulse rate and blood pressure, while reported adverse effects most commonly are nausea and headache (Ceban et al., 2021). Medical monitoring and intervention as required by a healthcare professional is an important part of treatment.
