What you need to know:
• Over the last few years ketamine therapy has become a popular treatment for depression.
• In fact, you might have seen advertisements promoting it casually on platforms such as Instagram or TikTok. But Ketamine wasn’t created for that purpose.
Ketamine’s history:
• As an anesthetic commonly applied by medical practitioners and veterinarians, it was only ever intended for medical use.
• Throughout the 80s and into the 90s, however, its ability to numb physical and emotional pain seemed to appeal to people looking for a new kind of high.
• As a result, a stigma began to surround the drug and anyone who attempted to use it in an alternative way.
An alternative treatment:
• In recent years, those suffering from mental illness – who haven’t found relief from traditional treatments – are turning to ketamine therapy.
• It’s mainly used by those with severe depression, but it’s also been studied in patients with OCD, PTSD, anxiety, and other mental health conditions.
• As ketamine therapy becomes more mainstream, the stigma around it is fading.
On the latest episode of 1010 WINS In Depth we sit with comedian Phillip Markle. While he’s not a medical expert that can talk at length about the dangers of the drug, he is someone who undergoes ketamine therapy frequently. We also chat with Dr. John Mann, a professor of translational neuroscience in psychiatry and radiology at Columbia University.
Listen as we join Philip on one of his sessions and discuss the history of Ketamine in an effort to determine whether the drug has changed or our perception of it.