Table of Contents
Does Ketamine Therapy Get You High is now facing a colossal application when treating different mental health disorders including anxiety, major depressive disorder, and PTSD. In order to give a clear perspective about ketamine therapy like any other therapy there are many questions that come up and among them is, does ketamine make you high? You are encouraged to continue reading in this article to get the further explanation of what ketamine therapy is, how it can be used and if it is true that ketamine can make people high.
What is Ketamine Therapy?
Ketamine is an anaesthetic agent that may be described as a phencyclidine-like anaesthetic; its use has been reported since as early as the sixties of the preceding century. It was initially designed for operation purposes and as an anaesthetic since it was widely used in both human and animal-associated surgical operations. (Does Ketamine Therapy Get You High) Later on in medical research it was found that ketamine had huge impacts on the human brain and thus was prescribed for conditions like depression and anxiety among others due to lack of a recognized medical use.
Does Ketamine Therapy Get You High treatment is given in the form of intravenous (IV) drip or as intranasal (nasal) infrusions. (Does Ketamine Therapy Get You High) Ketamine therapy is used to help patients experience fast and persistent enhancements in mood and to relieve signs of mental health disorders as well as to assist patients who are not helped by other forms of medication like antidepressants or psychotherapy.
Ketamine Effects and the Brain
In this light, if they want to answer the question on whether ketamine makes one high or not they need to find out what ketamine does in the brain. In contrast to most of the other depression therapies, ketamine is associated primarily with the glutamate chain. Of all these neurotransmitters, glutamate is by far the most abundant in the brain and plays a very central role in synaptic plasticity which by definition is the capability of neurons to form connections. It is very important during the learning process, memory and learning that takes place at one time or another in the human being’s life span.
(Does Ketamine Therapy Get You High) Ketamine acts on NMDA receptors as a type of glutamate and also causes the release of other neurotransmitters including BDNF. It is believed that this action triggers the fast rate of synaptic changes, which are beneficial to the brain, making people happier. The result is often an almost instant remission of depressive symptoms.
Ketamine in Mental Health
Notably, ketamine has been known to work in managing many mental health disorders including the depression that is proving hard to treat. A large number of patients, who did not see results when they were on traditional antidepressants or even psychotherapy, report their condition improved dramatically after ketamine treatments. Specialists have also discovered that ketamine has the ability to reduce patients’ anxiety and symptoms of PTSD and chronic pain.
(Does Ketamine Therapy Get You High) Ketamine is not the same as other forms of antidepressants which may take up to several weeks for this medicine to show the first signs of having an impact on a patient. Not all arthritis patients ease pain immediately; some have a chance to get relieved within hours or sometimes in minutes after a dose. The sudden effects of Estrofem are particularly useful for patients complaining of acute episodes of depression or suicidal inclinations.
Does Ketamine Therapy Cause You To Get High however?
Now that we’ve discussed how ketamine works in the brain and its therapeutic effects, let’s address the central question: does ketamine therapy get you high?
The “High” associated with ketamine
(Does Ketamine Therapy Get You High) Ketamine is used as dissociative anesthetic and recreational use of this substance may cause feelings of pleasure, and disconnection from the environment and the surrounding space and time. If the person is on a high dose or has had a long period of abstinence, the “high” may be more intense than when they get a fix from a low dose, which can be experienced for several weeks or even months. Some users find it similar to OBE or out of body feelings while others find vision or hearing abnormally altered.
In therapy, on the other hand, the purpose of ketamine treatment is not to produce a state like the one described above, but to achieve a balanced, pesticide and focused state which can be conducive to improvement. It should be noted, that when ketamine is used for therapeutic purposes, the dose of the drug is significantly lower compared with doses that is used to obtain a ‘high’, though when administered in the right clinical setting and under the supervision of a professional, the dopaminergic effect of ketamine is much stronger.
Therapy vs. Recreational Use
The most common form of recreational use of ketamine is taking high doses that produce heady and other forms of dissociative experiences. This kind of usage can be rather risky, mainly, it affects coordination, orientation, memory – sometimes it might cause delirium. Long-term regular abuse of ketamine can also trigger a number of psychological and physical side effects that include problems with the bladder and impaired thinking.
However, the dosages which are administered in Ketamine therapy are controlled and are generally lower than the dosages that are usually ingested by recreational users. It is not about derealization or even a state of being high – though some therapeutic effects can be had from these such as uplifting moods, eradicating depression, and rewiring synapses. Sometimes the feelings may diverge significantly from one patient to another but most of them report feeling extremely relaxed, somewhat hallucinating and emotionally vulnerable but without the euphoric rush one might normally expect.
Ketamine therapy has shown, in most cases, to be safe for use, but there are side effects whose symptoms differ depending on the amount that was administered.
Even though there are no serious side effects of ketamine therapy, there are several patients who may display certain symptoms during or after the procedure. These side effects can include:
- Dissociation: As with most Ketamine therapies, some of the patients or clients may experience what can be described as a feeling of being out of body or out of place, due to the mechanism through which ketamine works. This is often short lived and disappears once the effect of the given drug is out of the system.
- Mild Hallucinations: Visual or auditory distortions are sometimes described, although these are usually transient and not especially disturbing.
- Elevated Blood Pressure: Quick rise in blood pressure and heart rate may be experienced with Ketamine and thus people with cardiovascular disorders require close observation.
- Nausea and Vomiting: Ketamine infusion has been reported to cause some side effects such as nausea and vomiting which should only be administered infrequently to patients, and the infusion given slowly.
- Drowsiness or Fatigue: Patients may be drowsy after the relatively numb or like they are ‘floating’. This usually passes off after a few hours The after effects of anesthesia involve temporary feeling of weakness or tiredness which is common after a treatment session.
Conclusion: Ketamine Therapy and the “High” Experience
(Does Ketamine Therapy Get You High) To sum up, ketamine can lead to a psychotropic or ‘high’ effect when taken in abuse ,however the dosages used in ketamine therapy are not going to cause this. Ketamine treatment is not intended to cause feelings of high or distortion for entertainment purposes, but to help people suffering from mental disorders.
Patients, however, report initially enjoying the experience of Does Ketamine Therapy Get You High, as it may leave them feeling more relaxed, openly emotional and experience mild perceptual alteration but such effects are constantly monitored and regulated. Main reasons for using ketamine vary significantly from the sensational euphoria typical for recreational ketamine use. They have an opportunity to go through a therapy session, which might result in a lasting positive shift of the mood as well as a general state of the patient.
Anyone with a mental health condition thinking of undergoing ketamine therapy must ensure they are working with a qualified practitioner who will advise on when and how to get appropriate treatment.
