Major depressive disorders and other mental health conditions can prove to be serious health hazards and compromise the quality of life of the patient. While traditional therapies such as ECT have been available for decades, Ketamine Therapy is a relatively recent solution which is proving to be better than ECT in several ways.
Ketamine Clinics of Los Angeles, led by experienced anesthesiologist Dr. Steven L Mandel, provides Ketamine Infusion Therapy to patients of depression in a safe and effective manner. Patients in Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, California, and surrounding locations have an opportunity to receive ketamine infusion treatments from the outstanding and percipient Dr. Mandel.
ECT Treatment
Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) has been in use for nearly a century and it is the only form of shock therapy that is still applied in psychiatry. However, over the last decade, consensus among treatment providers is growing in favor of Ketamine Therapy over ECT because it is a less invasive, safer, and more effective alternative for patients suffering from treatment resistant depression.
In case of ECT, the patient has to sustain brain shocks when electric current is passed through the brain. The goal is to induce a controlled seizure while the patient is placed under general anesthesia. At least in the early course of treatment, ECT is typically performed in an in-patient, hospital setting. A patient will usually require three treatments of ECT a week until the symptoms of depression improve.
One of the biggest downsides of ECT is persistent memory loss. Although ECT may improve the symptoms of depression in 50 percent or more patients, but many patients perceive it as a primitive or an extreme way to treat patients of severe depression. Maintenance ECT treatments may be required once a week to once in three months, which means the risk and the discomfort continues over a long period of time.
Some patients believe that ECT is a more affordable treatment option because it is covered by insurance. However, the reality is that Ketamine Infusion Therapy may prove to be much more cost effective.
Patients who receive ECT may need hospitalization and may have to take several weeks off from work. They will have to repeatedly undergo general anesthesia, and will have to incur hospital costs apart from the provider’s costs in terms of out of pocket deductibles.
Ketamine Therapy
Unlike ECT, Ketamine Infusion Therapy is performed as an outpatient procedure. The dosage of ketamine is so minor that it does not induce general anesthesia. The patient stays awake throughout the procedure. One of the key benefits is that the procedure is without any significant side effects between the treatments and beyond.
Patient comfort is high, with each Ketamine Infusion Treatment lasting for about 40 minutes and the complete course of treatment is over in about two weeks. Infusions are typically well-tolerated, and success rate with ketamine can be as high as 80 percent or even more in some cases. Dr. Mandel receives patients from Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, California, and other cities and communities in this part of the country for ketamine infusion treatments.
For more information about treatments for depression, bipolar, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), fibromyalgia, pain syndromes and other conditions contact us at the Ketamine Clinics of Los Angeles in Southern California (Orange County) by clicking here or calling 310-270-0625
Treating patients from LA, Beverly Hills, Orange County, San Diego, Palm Springs, San Francisco, Sacramento,CA, Las Vegas, NV and many other cities from west to east coast.
