Anton is a well-to-do entrepreneur who lives with his spouse and children in one of Berlin’s trendiest neighborhoods.
Anxiety and depression symptoms have plagued Anton for most of his adulthood, and he has been undergoing psychotherapy for years.
Private clinics in Germany have been offering talk therapy for over three years, in which ketamine, known as a party drug and horse anesthetic, is administered.
The combined treatment should relieve symptoms of depression and anxiety quickly.
Anton heard about the new form of treatment, and the clinic was found a stone’s throw from his home.
Anton decided to give it a try.
In this story, Anton does not appear under his own name, because telling about the use of narcotic substances could cause harm to him or his close circle.
Ketamine unlocks the mind and creates new neural connections
Ketamine was originally developed in the 1960s as an anesthetic and pain reliever.
Unlike other anesthetics, ketamine does not have a respiratory depressant effect. Therefore, it is still used to anesthetize a patient in field hospitals or relieve pain in traffic accidents when ventilators are not available.
Ketamine has potential for abuse because it causes euphoria and hallucinations. It can expose addiction, mental health problems and memory loss.
In recent years, the substance has become more common in Finland as a party drug.
A new medical indication for ketamine has also been found in this millennium. In several international studies, it has been found to help with severe depression more strongly and faster than any other drug.
This is how ketamine works in the brain:
In Finland, it is given in a hospital as an intravenous infusion to suicidal patients who have not been helped by other drugs.
Ketamine infusion creates new nerve connections in areas of the brain whose dysfunction causes depression. However, the doses used in the treatment are so small that they hardly cause any psychedelic effects.
In Germany, therapy is performed under the supervision of a doctor and a therapist
At the beginning of the ketamine therapy, Anton discussed the goals of the meeting: he wanted to deal with the internal conflicts that were causing anxiety.
Then he laid down on the bed, and blindfolds were put on his face and headphones were put on his ears. Anton chose ambient, black metal and free jazz as background music.
During the first sessions, the doctor dosed ketamine moderately.
Anton spoke and Therapist took notes.
In low doses, ketamine relaxes and creates feelings of euphoria. It can give rise to the experience of opening the locks of the mind.
At the end of the therapy, Anton unpacked the thoughts that emerged during the session.
However, in Anton’s opinion, the experiences were too bland. He wanted to experience as hard a trip as possible in safe conditions.
A billion-dollar business was formed around a cheap drug
A dose of ketamine costs only a few tens of euros. It works immediately in about half of depression patients who are resistant to other drugs.
A huge business revolves around the substance.
The American pharmaceutical company Janssen-Cilag has launched a nasal spray containing a new type of ketamine molecule. A substance called esketamine is given as a nasal spray. One dose of medicine costs several hundred euros, medication lasting for weeks many thousands.
Already two years ago, ketamine therapy was estimated to be a business of more than three billion dollars alone in the US.
In recent years, ketamine and esketamine have also started to be used around the world as an aid to conversation therapy. That’s expensive too.
The large doses used in ketamine therapy create sensory distortions or even the impression of a split personality or separation of ego and body. Colloquially, the English term “K-hole” is used for the space.
Depending on the person and the situation, the experience can be very enjoyable or very distressing.
Anton got a hard trip
In his last two sessions, Anton reached the deep K-hole he was aiming for.
– It was like a near-death experience. I could look at myself and my own life as a fast reel. I was able to see what is meaningful in my life and what is completely useless.
I looked at myself neutrally. For a moment, I was able to reset the assumptions about myself and relationships with others. Kind of like booting the operating system.
Anton
Putting the worries on the scale eased Antoni’s symptoms of depression and anxiety.
Ketamine and hypnotherapist Axel Roselius similar results can be observed in the vast majority of clients within a month of the end of the treatment period.
According to Roselius, many patients wish for K-hole, and many also have previous experience with psychedelics.
– The beauty of ketamine is that its effect separates the conscious mind from the body and experiences. For example, you can relive a traumatic situation by observing the event from the outside, Roselius explains.
Evidence of the benefits of the new treatment is lacking
There is still no indisputable evidence of the long-term benefits of ketamine therapy, says Axel Roselius. According to him, a lot depends on whether the client knows how to apply the insights he made in therapy to everyday life.
– If you don’t make changes in your everyday life, the problems will return, says Roselius.
Neuropharmacology researcher Samuel Kohtalan , the effectiveness of ketamine medication in the treatment of depression is indisputable. Ketamine However, there is a lack of evidence for the benefits of combining medication and talk therapy.
In any case, Kohtala considers it important that ketamine and psychedelics are studied.
– The currently available means in the psychiatric treatment of depression leave much to be desired.
Kohtalan says that new treatments should be approached critically, because they generate enormous profits for pharmaceutical factories and private clinics.
Anton’s treatments were also expensive. He paid almost a thousand euros to visit for five therapy sessions.
However, he has no regrets.
After therapy, in a good way, I took myself less seriously and didn’t have as many unconscious fears.
Anton
Months later, the symptoms of depression and anxiety, on the other hand, returned.
Ketamine therapist Axel Roselius says that many people want to take new sessions a few months or years after the end of the treatment period. Their purpose is to deal with new problems that have arisen in life or to recall insights made earlier in therapy.
Anton has not returned to the clinic, but is still attending traditional talk therapy.
Anton has years of history of using mind-expanding substances. He still occasionally hangs out with his friends on his couch or roof terrace while listening to music.
– My use is equally therapeutic and entertaining, Anton describes.
For the story, an interview was also given by a substance abuse researcher Aleksi Hupli and associate professor of psychiatry Tero Taiminen.
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