PSYCHED UP

Local clinics are finding ketamine may be a mental health game changer.

KETAMINE AS A CATALYST for mental health treatment? It’s not as out there as you might think.

“It’s not a mystical experience that cures; the healing starts with people’s deep connections to their emotions and accepting what is,” says Justin Lubin, founder and executive director of Wauwatosa-based Perspective Wellness, Wisconsin’s first nonprofit clinic to administer the drug to patients. “My challenge is less debunking the skepticism or stigma about psychedelics and more managing people’s expectations.”

Ketamine is a psychedelic drug – meaning it temporarily and profoundly alters mood, thoughts and perceptions – similar to LSD and plant-based psychedelics like

ayahuasca, peyote or psilocybin mushrooms that have been used for decades in religious ceremonies or for recreational use.

A widening body of research shows that psychedelics promote “neuroplasticity” by enhancing perceptions in the mind, which allows the brain to function differently through the creation of new neural pathways. Ketamine is the only one of these substances legally approved to be administered by a medical professional in Wisconsin. It’s often used by patients seeking relief from depression, anxiety, trauma or addiction – paired with follow-up therapy to support the physical changes in the brain.

Benefits can be noticed by patients as soon as the next day, while traditional antidepressants can take several weeks to produce results, if any.

“Often we hear that people feel like they have been given their life back,” says Dr. Kevin Kane, of Edelica Health on Bluemound Road, which in 2017 became Wisconsin’s first dedicated ketamine clinic. “It’s very gratifying to be a part of it.”