About Ketamine

About Ketamine

Psychedelics have been a part of the human experience for as long as humans have been around, and we're on the verge of an exciting new phase of history.

It is my view that we should all become more knowledgeable and better prepared as we enter the courageous new world of psychedelic research, acceptance, and exploration.

Psychedelics are a class of psychoactive drugs that produce changes in perception, mood, and cognitive processes.

The classic psychedelics are characterized by distorted perceptions and thoughts. Empathogens tend to induce a sense of belonging or connectedness and dissociative can induce disconnected, euphoric, floaty experiences.

The neurotransmitter we're most interested in when it comes to psychedelics is called serotonin.

Serotonin is related to the flexibility and sensitivity of the brain and is involved in learning and development.

Research shows that psychedelics can affect brain activity in several important ways.

The most well-studied are:

  • The effects on the default mode network
  • Their effects on mental flexibility
  • Their effects on neuroplasticity

The Default Mode Network (DMN) connects areas of the brain responsible for a range of functions including remembering the past, envisioning the future, thinking about others, and thinking about yourself.

When the default mode network is in overdrive, it can result in repetitive focus on negative thoughts—the preoccupation or rumination typical of a major depressive episode.

And that's where psychedelics come in as potential therapeutic tools. We know from brain scans that activity across the Default Mode Network decreases while under the influence of psychedelics. This temporary decrease in default mode network activity is thought to explain the common ego-dissolution experience—the feeling of connection, interconnectedness, and loss of self.

Studies have shown that during psychedelic-assisted therapy an ego-dissolution experience can be positively associated with therapeutic outcomes. Turning down the default mode network with the help of psychedelics might help repetitive, negative brain patterns become unstuck, providing a fresh slate on which to build new and healthy mental habits.

A key feature of mental health is mental flexibility, or the ability to adapt and shift our thought patterns.

There are two types of mental flexibility:

  • Psychological flexibility is the ability to feel and think with openness, to voluntarily focus on the present moment, and to build habits based on values and aspirations.
  • Cognitive flexibility is the ability to move your attention from one thing to another - basically not getting stuck in repeating or ruminating thoughts. People with high cognitive inflexibility tend to get stuck in negative thought patterns.

Psychedelics have been shown to increase both psychological and cognitive flexibility by temporarily increasing the entropy or disorder of brain activity.

During a psychedelic experience, regions of the brain that normally don't communicate with each other are communicating, and doing so in patterns that are very different from a normal waking state. This temporary change in brain activity, allows for the relaxation of prior beliefs, and increases the potential for new ideas and insights.

Even though this drug-induced brain pattern change is temporary, the new pathways established during a psychedelic experience can persist after the experience, and their effects can be long-lasting.

Neuroplasticity is the brain's ability to reorganize its structure, function, and connections in response to a changing environment or a shifting set of demands. Psychedelics can enhance neuroplasticity, increasing the brain's ability to form new connections. In other words, during a psychedelic experience, your brain's ability to change how it's wired goes way up.

Neuroplasticity just means the capacity to change it doesn't indicate what type of change. Research has shown a supportive environment and a positive mindset going into the psychedelic experience can result in better outcomes or higher chances of those changes being productive and sustainable.

Working with professional therapists and trained sitters is recommended to achieve those long-lasting therapeutic benefits.

Many reputable organizations like MAPS have been leading the charge in systematically studying the properties of psychedelics to address some of the more challenging mental health conditions.

Ketamine is now an off-label treatment for various chronic treatment-resistant mental health conditions and is currently the only legal psychedelic medicine available to mental health providers for the treatment of emotional suffering.

Integrating psychotherapy and psychopharmacology with psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy can be highly effective in difficult to treat mental health conditions.

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