Living with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) can be like living through a nightmare. No matter how severe, OCD can make you feel as if the whole world is against you, your thoughts going into overdrive. The feeling of hopelessness can follow you, making it difficult to carry out the simplest day-to-day activity. However, thanks to all the advancements in the field of medicine, researchers have come across a drug that could potentially dull down the effects of OCD.
This drug is known as ketamine and has a strong anesthetic-like effect. It was first introduced as a party drug but was later incorporated into medical treatments. To learn more about the correlation between Ketamine and OCD, carry on reading.
How Does Ketamine Work?
Ultimately, ketamine is used to numb neurotransmitters. By temporarily halting the NMDA receptors, your brain will slowly start to come around, getting over the usual obsessions and compulsions.
Its main purpose is to target glutamate, which handles memory and knowledge formation. Thus, with the help of its prime soothing effect, ketamine can work wonders when it comes to treating mental disorders.
Can Ketamine Be Used To Treat OCD?
Due to the recent discovery of ketamine, active research is still being carried out to understand how the drug affects one’s brain. But yes, ketamine can be used to help with OCD. It doesn’t work as a cure, but it can minimize obsessive compulsions.
OCD is typically treated with the help of antidepressants and other types of medications. However, there are numerous side effects attached to that treatment method. Plus, given how a person dealing with OCD is already knee-deep in their head space — filled with intrusive thoughts, illogical rituals, and nonsensical behavior — medicinal side effects can sometimes make it worse.
Thus, ketamine can be used to numb intense obsessions and compulsions plaguing the person. The treatment is considered to be successful if the drug is monitored in very low doses and delivers positive results.
Benefits of Ketamine
One of the biggest advantages of ketamine is how fast acting it is. That is to say, you will start to notice the changes made by ketamine almost instantly. It also stays long, so you do not have to stress over the effects fading anytime soon.
Since it was first used as an actual anesthetic, ketamine doesn’t negatively affect your heart rate or breathing in any way. In fact, it is so calming and helpful that people have switched to ketamine infusion therapy instead of relying on painkillers and other narcotics.
Closing Word
To sum it up, ketamine is a wonderful anesthetic drug that can be used to treat and soothe symptoms of OCD. As long as the dose is monitored and regularly infused into your system, your obsessive compulsions won’t bother you anytime soon.
For more information on the treatment, reach out to Balanced Ketamine today at (913) 871-9888. You can also drop by our clinic for infusion therapy at 6700 W 121st St Ste 300 A1, Overland Park, KS 66209, United States.