In an article that appeared in yalemedicine.com, How Ketamine Drug Helps with Depression, Jennifer Chen reports how Yale University researchers stumbled across the positive effects of ketamine on patients following surgery when ketamine was used as the anesthetic. It turned out that patients recovering from surgery for any random condition who had co-occurring treatment-resistant depression had amazing emotional relief within 24 hours of their surgery. Kismet.
The finding was relatively simple. Ketamine promotes glutamine production, which triggers a complex cascading series of events that prompts the brain to form new neural connections. This is commonly referred to as increased neuroplasticity. When this cascading happens, patients can make more positive inroads for seeing their lives differently.
Yale researcher, Dr. Sanacora, believes it is most important for people to know that ketamine’s positive effects will not last without accompanying psychological treatment. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is what is recommended by Yale. Here, at KAP @TheAttachPlace, we use two basic forms of psychotherapy to facilitate long-lasting change from the neuroplasticity of Ketamine: 1) Internal Family Systems and 2) Neuro-curating, an advanced method for using cognitive re-structuring to support belief and behavior change.
