- Ketamine Clinic of Spokane #

Why Ketamine

Depression Treatments Needed

Close to 16 million people suffer from depression and 7 million from PTSD. Annually, 11 Billion dollars are spent on medicines for treatment of depression. Sadly, for approximately one-third of those suffering from depression, these medications are not effective. Most are based on the theory that increasing serotonin in the brain will elevate mood but for many they do not work. Approximately 43,000 suicides annually in the US because of untreated/untreatable depression.

An Effective Alternative

To date our only treatment for medication and therapy resistant depression is ECT or electroconvulsive therapy. Although effective for many, it involves a general anesthetic and can have side effects of confusion and memory loss.

Significant Relief

Ketamine is a drug with an extremely safe mechanism of action that has been used in anesthesia since 1962, including pediatrics. The World Health Organization has listed it as one of the most essential drugs. It is a novel and exciting treatment for depression as it works in a completely different way than traditional antidepressants. Seventy-five percent of patients experience significant relief of symptoms. It works on the NMDA receptors of nerve cells in the brain, ‘repairing’ broken connections. For some people, it gives significant relief in as little as an hour.

In addition to depression, Ketamine has shown to be effective in treating: