Ketamine therapy for mental health a 'Wild West' for doctors and patients
ABC News
Ketamine is emerging as an alternative mental health treatment, but with little regulation and varying treatment protocols, it’s a medical "wild west," practitioners say.
This is a KFF Health News story.
In late 2022, Sarah Gutilla's treatment-resistant depression had grown so severe, she was actively contemplating suicide. Raised in foster care, the 34-year-old's childhood was marked by physical violence, sexual abuse, and drug use, leaving her with life-threatening mental scars.
Out of desperation, her husband scraped together $600 for the first of six rounds of intravenous ketamine therapy at Ketamine Clinics Los Angeles, which administers the generic anesthetic for off-label uses such as treating depression. When Gutilla got into an Uber for the 75-mile drive to Los Angeles, it was the first time she had left her home in Llano, California, in two years. The results, she said, were instant.
"The amount of relief I felt after the first treatment was what I think 'normal' is supposed to feel like," she said. "I've never felt so OK, and so at peace."
