Do You Ever Wonder If We are Making A Difference?

Sometimes mental illness feels like nothing can help and that life won’t ever get any better. We recently received the following from Sue Twombley, the originator of our Summit Mt. Washington hike and a long-time Hike for Mental Health supporter.

A few months ago, my psychiatric nurse practitioner suggested I try Ketamine therapy. I was going through a particularly difficult period of depression that my usual medications were not working anymore.

My husband was skeptical because he only knew Ketamine as a drug used by veterinarians and illegally by humans. We learned that Ketamine is administered orally, through nasal mists, and IV infusions. My psychiatrist told me that by taking Ketamine orally in low doses, under her direct supervision, it would help me talk about the painful experiences in my life that I had been suppressing and likely causing my depression.

This was a six week process, but during that time we identified that past traumas that were holding me back and we addressed them, which was very liberating, but I was still struggling with depression. So my doctors said that I would be a good candidate for intensive IV Ketamine treatments.

I was referred to the Reichbach Center in Sarasota, Florida for this treatment. They explained to me that the Ketamine treatment acts as a rapid brain “rewiring” or “reset” for depression and other conditions like PTSD, for which I also suffer from. The treatments were to take at least six weeks, with the first three weeks requiring two sessions per week. I felt like I didn’t have anything to lose so I committed to the treatment.

I didn’t feel very different after the first two sessions, but by the third session I started to feel the difference. By the end of the three weeks of treatments my depression was gone, I had hope once again and was enjoying life like I haven’t in a very long time. It was so noticeable that my husband said that he noticed a difference in me after the first week.

I was very skeptical about this treatment when I was first told about it but I am now a believer. It has changed my life.

I also found out after my first couple of treatments, that much of the research that led to discovery and ultimate FDA approval for ketamine as a treatment for treatment-resistant depression was funded by grants from the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation. Yes, the same BBRF to which Hike for Mental Health has donated more than $700,000 from our charity hikes over the past fifteen years! That was icing on the cake, and I’m unbelievable grateful to be the recipient of the impact of that research.