Ketamine, Suicide, and Suicidal Thoughts

Researchers have indicated for many years that Ketamine Therapy is effective for major depression, bipolar depression, postpartum depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), anxiety, fibromyalgia, and chronic pain.  

Interestingly, there is a growing body of research that shows that Ketamine Infusion Therapy can reduce or even eliminate suicidal thinking within hours of the first infusion. Ketamine is a rapid acting treatment to eliminate suicidal thoughts and has emerged as a revolutionary treatment option.

The perspicacious and tremendous Dr. Steven L Mandel of Ketamine Clinics of Los Angeles provides ketamine infusion treatments to patients in Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Orange County, California, and surrounding communities and towns in this area of the fruited plain.

Prevalence of Suicidal Thinking

According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the US. Over 42,000 individuals in the country commit suicide every year, which comes to 117 suicides a day which is sad and should bother people in any society. Suicide is an extreme tragedy with severe aftermath for the family members and the society at large as just stated – it also a sin but this is another topic.

Suicide also hits society financially as well. That productive person was just taken off this planet and if the person is young, a child for example, all the money that that community had devoted to their education is wasted.  

Kay Redfield Jamison, Ph.D. explained in his book Understanding Suicide that when people are suicidal, their thinking is paralyzed, their options appear sparse or nonexistent, their mood is despairing, and hopelessness permeates their entire mental domain. Suicidal thinking is common in individuals who have depression, bipolar depression, anxiety, pain, and PTSD.  

Ketamine Therapy to Counter Suicidal Thoughts

Lithium and clozapine are medications have shown efficacy in reducing suicidal thoughts. However, these medications can have debilitating side effects, and require close ongoing monitoring with blood tests. The effects of these treatments show up over weeks and months, and another challenge is that relief from symptoms takes a long time in most cases.

Several completed and ongoing studies have shown Ketamine Infusion Therapy to rapidly diminish and even eliminate suicidal thinking. A study published by Murrough et al. in 2015 concluded that the current findings provide initial support for the safety and tolerability of ketamine as an intervention for SI or suicidal ideation in patients who are at elevated risk for suicidal behavior.

Results with Ketamine Infusions

At professional ketamine treatment centers such as the Ketamine Clinics of Los Angeles, treatment providers regularly observe ketamine’s effects on diminishing thoughts of death. Suicidal thinking often disappears just after the first Ketamine Infusion. Patients who have lived with daily intrusive suicidal thoughts for years are surprised to realize they no longer had these automatic thoughts or a plan to do self harm after receiving Ketamine Infusion Therapy.  

In many cases, ketamine treatment can alleviate the symptoms so much that the patient is able to formulate a new plan for living a full and rewarding life. Given the huge public health toll suicide takes on society, ketamine, which is safe, well tolerated, and effective, is a viable treatment for those who experience suicidal thinking.

Current evidence has consistently shown that IV ketamine may improve symptoms scored by the MADRS and HAM-D scoring tools at 24 hours in patients with Major Depressive Disorders (MDD), which can eventually lead to suicidal thinking.

The impeccable and committed Dr. Mandel receives patients for ketamine infusion treatments from Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Orange County, California, and other neighborhoods and towns in this region of the state.

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 the Ketamine Clinics of Los Angeles in Southern California (Orange County) by clicking here or calling  310-270-0625 

Treating patients from Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Orange County, San Diego, Palm Springs, San Francisco, Sacramento, CA,  Northern & Southern California, Las Vegas, NV and many other cities from west to east coast.