I'm saying this as a huge fan of the positive impact of ketamine.
There are some symptoms that seem like they need more rewiring.
I’ve done 20 ketamine sessions over the past 2 years (the last one about 5 months ago). I agree with you that a lot of the immediate relief from an infusion can fade after not that long. However, combined with some of the other work I was doing there was a slow accumulation of benefits and new perspectives on life.
Overall, the infusions definitely helped… it hasn’t been easy going though, and I have been continuing to work on myself.
A few months ago, I finally found a therapist who I felt was actually helping me. I had tried a few different therapists in years past and it wasn’t that helpful. My current therapist uses a lot of “somatic therapy” in her work, which I think is really important. With trauma, talk alone won’t get you very far.
I’ve made a lot of progress since November when I started seeing her. I think the Ketamine and the work I had been doing on my on own “prepped” me in a certain sense.
Your friend might benefit from finding a good somatic therapist.
I did 2 surveys and a phone consult then a baseline depression survey before my first infusion.
I go to the clinic and go in my room and they give me my IV then the doctor hangs the ketamine mix bag, hooks it up and leaves. The rooms are dark and they have colored lights or a dim light. I wear an eye mask.
I pay extra to receive talk therapy during the infusion so I have a therapist with me the whole time. We do a ceremony to start each infusion and set the intent just before the effects start.
They have a head doctor and then an anesthesiologist that handles the actual infusion.
what about side effects also ?
colorful emotions: Yes. I've gone inside a rainbow and swam in a lake of my own feelings
The biggest thing you do is disconnect from your self. I've become the particles I'm made of and often lose the sense of what it is to be human or if I am human or not.