Ketamine is a legal drug that has been used in medicine for surgical anesthesia and pain relief since the middle of the last century. Recently, it has been found that in microdoses it has a pronounced antidepressant effect. Even a single injection of this drug has a significant and rapid antidepressant effect in patients with persistent depression that is not amenable to other drugs. As you know, traditional antidepressants begin to have an effect only after a few weeks or even months after the start of administration, and in general, their effectiveness has recently been questioned. So, in 2010 in a reputable medical journal JAMA published data that many popular antidepressants in most cases (for mild or moderate depression) work no better than ordinary placebos.
In March 2019, the US Drug Administration (FDA), an example for most other countries, approved use of ketamine to treat depression. According to Ronald Duman, professor of psychiatry and neuroscience at Yale University, "The discovery of the rapid therapeutic effect of ketamine in the treatment of resistant depression is the biggest breakthrough in the scientific study of depression in the past half century."
Research shows that ketamine increases brain neuroplasticity by helping regenerate synaptic connections between brain cells damaged by stress and depression. The drug acts at a completely different level of the neurotransmitter system compared to currently existing antidepressants. Therefore, there are more and more clinics abroad that use ketamine to treat patients with depression who have not been helped by standard drugs - after all, about 75% of patients aged 15 to 55 years are amenable to treatment with this anesthetic.
It is especially important that in the course of treatment, patients whose ability to intellectual activity and learning in depression often become reduced, become more receptive to psychotherapy. There is an important period during which it is possible to work effectively with the patient to achieve a long-term remission. By varying the dosage, you can achieve psychedelic states of consciousness with expanded space-time perception, which has a deep transpersonal and transformational effect. This leads to a revision of the system of internal values, sustainable and positive psychological changes.
Patients become more confident in themselves, their abilities and their future, less anxious and neurotic, more balanced, emotionally open and self-sufficient. Their level of internal tension, discomfort, emotional isolation decreases, self-esteem increases, a tendency to overcome a passive position appears, and creative activity increases.
A person’s understanding of the meaning of life and views on their own “I” and the world around them, life and death change, the spiritual horizon expands, relationships with other people improve, personal growth and self-knowledge begin.
The course of treatment, as a rule, consists of 4 - 6 droppers with microdoses of ketamine administered over 40 minutes once a week. The positive effects of the drug usually last 3-5 weeks after treatment, sometimes up to 12 weeks.
Ketamine has virtually no side effects as it has negligible toxicity. Most often, patients during the session note a state of peace, the disappearance of fear, peace of mind or elation. Sometimes there are sensations of warmth, slight drunkenness or restlessness, temporary headaches or dry mouth, slight fluctuations in blood pressure, or visual disturbances that disappear soon after stopping the drip. Therefore, we carefully monitor the patient's reactions, and do not recommend driving a car and dangerous machinery for 24 hours. You must return home with an escort.
Today, ketamine therapy is used in the treatment of not only depression, but also other consequences of chronic stress: neurosis, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), anxiety, suicidal thoughts, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), emotional burnout, and can also be effective in eliminating pain during migraine, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, and neuropathy in patients who have not previously been helped by other therapies.
Director of the Expio center V.L. Matrenitsky is a pioneer of ketamine therapy in Ukraine (since 2018) and in 2021-2022. he completed an advanced training course at the American ketamine therapy training center Polaris Insight Center.
We are often asked why this method is not common in Ukraine? The fact is that the majority of our citizens (including, unfortunately, psychiatrists and psychologists) still do not understand the difference between psychedelics and drugsTherefore, they are wary of ketamine therapy. Few psychiatrists and psychotherapists have the necessary knowledge and experience in psychedelic medicine.
As of 2024, we have conducted more than 700 sessions and gained vast experience in this area. Our specialists master the technique of ketamine therapy better than anyone in Eastern Europe, and the director of our center, V.L. Matrenitsky, is a pioneer of ketamine therapy in Ukraine.
Now, unscrupulous competitors have begun to appear who, without the proper knowledge and experience, copy information from our website and even our name, hoping at least in this way to attract customers.
Be careful! After all, working with altered states of consciousness that ketamine causes requires special qualifications. It is important to correctly remove a person from a state of dissociation and prevent the negative psychological consequences of this state, which can arise in the event of incompetence of a doctor or psychologist.
Ketamine psychotherapy session in our center
Media about ketamine therapy:
How does ketamine affect depression?
US approves ketamine nasal drops to treat depression
Depressed children are being treated with ketamine
Ketamine in the treatment of chronic headache
Ketamine therapy for neuropathic (nerve) pain during and after cancer treatment
Scientific articles about ketamine therapy:
Ketamine: a new look at therapeutic possibilities
Ketamine in the treatment of depression (review of current data)
Report of V. L. Matrenytskyi at International scientific and practical conference "Psychedelic-assisted therapy in the treatment of post-traumatic conditions. International experience and prospects of implementation in Ukraine"
What is ketamine therapy and how to treat mental disorders with its help - in the hromadske material.
The license of the State Medical Service of Ukraine for the use of ketamine in clinical practice was issued on October 25, 2018 to FOP Matrenitsky V.L.
Refutation of publications of the yellow press about the illegal use of ketamine by the Expio Center