Clinical depression is the second most common form of mental illness in the United States after anxiety disorders, and may impact as many as 16 million Americans annually. Clinical depression can be difficult to recognize at first; after all, everyone goes through periods where they are sad or moody. Yet for many individuals, depression causes significant emotional and even physical distress, and can undermine ones ability to function in normal situations, such as work, school, and social settings.
Over the past several decades, a well-known anesthetic known as ketamine has emerged as a new and highly successful treatment options for individuals suffering from depression and other mood disorders. Unlike traditional antidepressants, which can take days and even weeks to “kick in”, Ketamine Infusion Therapy offers many patients immediate relief from depressive symptoms. More importantly, ketamine can deliver relief from depressive symptoms over the long term, including patients for whom traditional antidepressants have not proven effective.
How do we know ketamine works? We know it works because our patients tell us it works. At Ketamine Clinics of Los Angeles, Dr. Steven L. Mandel has developed a reliable, sustainable monitoring methodology that enables him to regularly assess the long term impact of ketamine treatments on his patients. Dr. Mandel utilizes these regular assessments to modify the original treatment plan as needed to ensure his patients’ long term mental health.
Our Assessment Methodology: How We Monitor Results of Ketamine Infusion Therapy Treatments
Dr. Steven L. Mandel’s successful assessment methodology is centered on his unique Mood Monitor, a HIPPA-compliant encrypted assessment service via text messaging that makes routine communication and assessment with each client easy to complete, while maintaining our patients’ confidentiality and safety. The Mood Monitor uses the PHQ-9 (a standard depression assessment tool) that asks patients to rank their mood, feelings, and activities across 10 basic questions. The “score” of each PHQ-9 assessment indicates the severity of the patient’s depression, from severe to mild or none.
Through Mood Monitor, each patient takes the PHQ-9 starting with an initial diagnostic assessment, before each infusion, and then into the maintenance phase every two weeks. Each PHQ-9 score is graphed onto an easily-readable chart. Most patients start with a score “in the red”, which indicates severe depression. As the ketamine infusions take hold, each successive PHQ-9 score is plotted onto the chart. Most patients will see their graphed scores as a line showing an upward trajectory on the chart as they experience continued relief from their depressive symptoms: from severe or moderately severe, to moderate, mild, and then “green” indicating no depressive symptoms.
Our goal—aided by regular assessments through Mood Monitor—is to help all patients land in that “green” zone and then stay there. Some patients find that relief immediately and require none or perhaps minimal booster treatments to maintain long term results. For other patients, it might take longer to see those results, or it may require more regular or more frequent booster treatments to maintain long term mental health. Through our regular, long term monitoring methodology, we can easily and effectively develop unique treatment plans for each patient, depending on their response to treatment and long term mental health needs.
To see several sample charts indicating actual patient results, we encourage you to visit our website at
https://www.ketamineclinics.com/treatment-results/.
Contact Ketamine Clinics of Los Angeles
If you or someone you love is struggling with depression and you believe Ketamine Infusion Therapy might offer a solution, we encourage you to contact Dr. Steven L. Mandel at Ketamine Clinics of Los Angeles immediately to find out if IV Ketamine Infusion Therapy may offer a solution.
For more information about Ketamine Infusion Therapy treatments for depression, bipolar, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), fibromyalgia, pain syndromes and other conditions contact us at Ketamine Clinics of Los Angeles in Southern California (Orange County) by clicking here or calling 310-270-0625.
