
Depression
Many patients who were unable to find relief with other treatments report a decrease in depression symptoms following Ketamine infusion therapy.
According to the CDC, between 2013 and 2016, 8.1% of Americans 20 year of age or older, experienced depression in a given 2-week period. Around 80% of adults with depression report some difficulty with work, home, and social activities caused by their depression.
While many individuals are able to find relief from their depression symptoms with typical therapy and/or medication, unfortunately, some individuals do not respond to repeated therapeutic attempts. This is considered treatment resistant, or treatment refractory depression.
Ketamine therapy is often an appropriate treatment for individuals with treatment-refractory depression. Treatment Refractory Depression refers to individuals with major depressive episodes that are highly resistant to treatment and do not respond to many sequential treatment regimens. It is not uncommon for multiple therapies to be attempted before finding the appropriate therapy for an individual. However, when individuals do not respond to many different treatment regimens, they are considered to have treatment-refractory depression. Ketamine has been found to help these individuals who have been unsuccessful finding help elsewhere.
Treatment-resistant depression is associated with reduced life expectancy because of an increased risk for suicide, as well as major medical disorders such as myocardial infarction and diabetes.
Suicide is the 10th most common cause of death in the United States and the only one in the top 10 increasing in rate and number.
Signs and symptoms of depression include feelings of sadness, tearfulness, emptiness, or hopelessness, angry outbursts, irritability, loss of interest/pleasure in normal activities, sleep disturbances, lack of energy, anxiety, restlessness, feelings of worthlessness or guilt, slowed thinking or movements and unexplained physical problems (e.g., back pain or headaches).
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db303.pdf