PTSD Treatment
Ketamine for PTSD Treatment in Naples, FL
Described as a “growing epidemic” by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) affects nearly 8 percent of Americans at some point in their lifetime. Nearly everyone will experience a range of reactions after trauma, yet most people recover from initial symptoms naturally. Those who continue to experience problems may be diagnosed with PTSD. People with PTSD may feel stressed or frightened even when not in danger.
What Causes PTSD?
What is a Traumatic Event?
War-time combat is the most publicly acknowledged form of trauma. However, other forms, such as sexual trauma, child abuse, intimate partner violence, and natural disasters, are all common origins of PTSD.
Proxy events like witnessing a car wreck or losing a loved one can also trigger the onset of PTSD. First responders constitute a significant subgroup that suffers from PTSD symptoms. Reports are exceptionally high for those dealing with particularly gruesome scenes.
What Triggers PTSD Symptoms?
In severe cases of PTSD, trivial experiences in someone’s environment can cause flashbacks to trauma, setting off their stress response. This response may vary from heightened anxiety to delusional paranoia. For example, a car may backfire, which reminds someone of a gunshot, engulfing them in the memory of their assault experience. Those with PTSD may be technically aware that they are safe even though their anxiety levels are heightened and unmanageable, or they may be convinced that they’re in danger and take action that can be dangerous for them and those around them.
What Are the Typical PTSD Symptoms?
The effects of this mental health disorder involve a wide range of symptoms. One of the most common symptoms that people experience is disruptive flashbacks. These may involve visual hallucinations of the traumatic event. Distracting daydreams and distressing nightmares may follow. People who have flashbacks describe them as being so vivid that they feel they are back in the moment that caused their trauma.
Avoidance is another of the most common and challenging symptoms. Someone may avoid going past a place that triggers their PTSD symptoms. This can lead to an avoidance of usual responsibilities. If someone reminds them of a trauma, like a police officer, they may go out of their way to avoid them. Someone with PTSD may also refuse to talk to other people about the painful experience that they went through, and this can severely hinder the healing process.
You may also experience these symptoms of PTSD:
- Feelings of guilt or shame
- Nausea or a lack of appetite
- A sense of constantly being on edge
- Irritability and outbursts of anger
When Do PTSD Symptoms Begin?
PTSD symptoms tend to appear within three months of the traumatic event. However, people can go many years without a problem until something triggers their brain’s responses. This PTSD response is more typical of childhood traumas, which may have required a person to suppress their reaction to remain relatively safe. Becoming a new parent may surface the trauma, or experiencing a recent trauma may do the same. When PTSD symptoms emerge long after the traumatic event, it is essential to note them seriously since they signal a need for professional treatment.
What are the Complications of Post-Traumatic Stress?
Untreated post-traumatic stress disorder is highly disruptive. The complications it imposes on everyday life can compound anxiety disorders and depression. In severe cases, people may start thinking about suicide to escape their symptoms. If the PTSD symptoms are severe, a person may be unable to function. Avoidance and the physical symptoms of panic may prevent a person from working, commuting, or getting regular sleep. In the long run, these patterns severely diminish a person’s quality of life.
How Does Ketamine Treat PTSD?
Many brain areas are affected by PTSD. The current understanding is that specific synapses within the brain fail to function appropriately. Recent evidence points to ketamine’s inhibitory effects on the NMDA receptor in the lateral habenula. The lateral habenula is a brain region primarily responsible for encoding negative rewards or anti-reward cause-and-effect relationships. Those with PTSD show an overactivity of their NMDA receptors. As a non-competitive NMDA antagonist, ketamine prevents glutamate from activating the NMDA receptor.
The inhibition of the NMDA receptor may cause a build-up of free glutamate, which then activates the AMPA receptors. When surplus glutamate activates the AMPA receptor, it releases a brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) chemical. BDNF, in interaction with mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), promotes new neural growth. This new growth may reroute the brain from hyperactive areas associated with negative reward signals, providing long-term relief from PTSD.
Ketamine treatment for PTSD reduces the rates of suicide. It is also effective for treating war combat veterans with some of the most extreme PTSD symptoms. Those with co-existing conditions, such as depression, also find relief from those symptoms. This allows many people to use a single treatment instead of a cocktail of medications.
Getting Treatment
Post-traumatic stress disorder is a severe mental health issue that can increase in severity over time. You should consider treatment at the first sign that you cannot effectively cope with a tragic event. Getting help as soon as possible reduces the effects that trauma has on your brain in the long term. Turn to Dura Medical in Naples, Florida. Behavioral health specialists Stephen Durand, CRNA, APRN, Kathryn Hart, APRN, PMHNP-BC, CPNP-PC, and their exceptional team offer a variety of highly effective treatments for depression. Call the office to book an appointment or schedule one online today.
