Anxiety Disorder Treatments
While moments of anxiety before big events are an expected part of life for most people, persistent anxiety, or anxiety disorders, can interfere with a person’s ability to function in everyday situations. Ketamine therapy from Florida Mind Health Center is a new way forward for treating anxiety and other mood disorders. Anxiety disorders encompass several conditions, from social anxiety to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and can inhibit a person’s performance at work or school and their ability to maintain relationships or enjoy things in life. Ketamine infusions can begin alleviating anxious feelings of panic, dread, or phobia within 24 hours.
If you haven’t heard about ketamine infusion therapy for anxiety, it’s because this is a newer treatment. Before ketamine therapy, anxiety disorders were treated with generic antidepressants, including SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors), SNRIs (selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors), and benzodiazepine. Unfortunately, these medications can take 6–12 weeks to take effect and won’t work for 30 percent to 40 percent of people. In contrast, ketamine can reduce feelings of anxiety immediately and has even been shown to work in cases of treatment-resistant anxiety and depression — where past methods have failed, ketamine therapy can achieve results.
Anxiety Disorders Treated With Ketamine
Ketamine therapy works quickly to alleviate symptoms of anxiety. Almost instantly, ketamine targets synaptic receptors in the brain to mediate the brain’s response to stress and the formation of traumatic memories. The broad applications of ketamine for mental health also mean that ketamine infusions can treat an array of anxiety disorders, including:
- Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD or social phobia): fear of being judged or rejected in a social situation
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD): excessive concern over multiple matters at once, such as money, family, and health
- PTSD: severe anxiety, nightmares, and uncontrollable thoughts after experiencing a terrifying event
- Simple Phobias And Phobia-Related Disorders: intense fear of specific objects or situations, such as blood or flying
- Panic Disorder: recurrent panic attacks that may include accelerated heart rates, sweating, and feelings of doom
Anxiety Treatments In Gainesville, FL
Ketamine has been used in medicine for ages as an analgesic, but as a treatment for anxiety, ketamine therapy is only starting to catch on. However, while ketamine may be an innovative treatment for mood disorders, the benefits of ketamine for anxiety are well established in medical and psychiatric literature. Psychiatry Advisor calls ketamine, “a promising novel therapy for anxiety,” while in that same publication, the CEO of Centers of Psychiatric Excellence (COPE) says “Ketamine can play an important role in the treatment of anxiety disorders.” Its results are proven as well, including by researchers in Neuropsychopharmacology, who concluded that patients with social anxiety disorder, “were significantly more likely to exhibit a treatment response after ketamine infusion relative to placebo” — in other words, psychiatric research shows ketamine therapy works.
Many people feel a difference within a day after ketamine infusions (compared to waiting weeks or months for SSRIs to take full effect). Even patients who couldn’t get results from other medications or behavioral therapies, such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and mentalization-based therapy (MBT), can still achieve a remission of anxiety symptoms with ketamine therapy. However, because no two cases of anxiety disorder are alike, ketamine infusions should be part of an individualized plan designed for every patient — that’s our approach at Florida Mind Health Center. At our ketamine therapy clinic in Gainesville, FL, our philosophy is that every patient deserves a comprehensive yet personalized approach to their mental and physical health. Are you ready to defeat anxiety and feel like your true, confident self? Contact us to schedule a consultation.