Why Ketamine
Ketamine was first developed in the 1960s and is officially classified as a prescription “dissociative” drug used for general anesthesia. In the 1990s it was discovered that subanesthetic doses administered in certain settings could induce profound psychedelic experiences and evoke a gentle lifting of existential burdens. When people enter the dreamlike state ketamine offers, it can free them from their anchors to physical reality. Some say it produces an awareness of a more whole self.
The transformative force of ketamine comes from its ability to help you to open up, whether a little or a lot, giving you the capacity to see the world differently and to think more nimbly. This is why ketamine seems to help with ruminations and other forms of psychological suffering that have a habitual or repetitive element – experiences traditional mental health professionals might diagnose as depression, anxiety, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and addiction. It’s also why ketamine can help people look beyond their suffering, leading them into a deeper form of contemplation. As the ancient Buddhists and Ayurvedics knew – and modern research bears this out – becoming unstuck from stubborn thought patterns or reaching moments of awakening happens most readily during states of contemplation. Neuroplasticity is the word many mental health professionals are now using to describe these positive effects of ketamine. Ketamine has a long history of safe use in medical settings at doses much higher than any dose you will receive at CARDEA.
The clinical evidence to date indicates that ketamine isn’t very effective on its own (or delivered to your home in a box as some companies are promoting). With decades of experience in the healing fields, we have witnessed the history of hype in the selling of pharmaceuticals (and more recently, psychedelics) as magic bullets and we have seen how such quick-fix offers have led to disappointment, and in some cases, disaster. However, we’ve found that with the right practitioners and amplified by live sound or customized sound sessions, the experience can be multi-dimensional and awakening.
