best depression treatment in utah

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Depression, anxiety, and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) are more and more common in today’s world. With estimates of 33% of the US population suffering from one of these disorders, too many of us are either watching our loved ones suffer or experiencing the debilitating effects ourselves. There are a variety of treatments available for depression, anxiety, and PTSD, ranging from traditional psychotherapy to prescription mood stabilizers, and SSRIs. However, many people find that these treatments provide no lasting relief. In fact, a study  in 2008 has found that most antidepressant drugs work no better than a placebo.

In the last 18 years, studies are showing positive results for a treatment using ketamine infusions. Ketamine is an FDA-approved anesthesia drug that is used daily in hospitals and emergency rooms across the country.  The World Health Organization (WHO) places ketamine on its list of essential medicines and is perhaps the most widely used medicine in the world for sedation.

Some patients suffering from depression, anxiety, PTSD, and even chronic pain, have found relief from their symptoms through intravenous infusions of ketamine. How does ketamine help when no other drugs have been able to before? There are still many studies being conducted to understand this better. We currently know that through slow infusions, ketamine creates a unique environment within your brain. This environment allows receptors, proteins, and neural pathways to work in more optimal and healthy ways that were not able to before due to the effects of depression and anxiety. It is a potent synaptogenic for your brain cell connections, that helps your brain to reset.

Testimonials and research studies on the effects of ketamine on depression, anxiety, PTSD, and chronic pain are encouraging. Thankfully, many people who have lived their entire lives in a state of fear or depression, simply surviving, are finding immediate relief and are truly living again. If you are suffering and conventional treatments have not worked, ketamine may provide the relief you are seeking.

We will do an initial consultation with you to discuss your history and current experiences with depression, anxiety, PTSD and/or chronic pain. We ask you about your medical history, medications you are currently taking, allergies and history of surgeries. This helps us determine if ketamine would be a good fit for you. This helps us determine which dose of ketamine will be best for you.

Ketamine is administered by IV infusion. On the day of your appointment, we will bring you into your own room, in a calming environment. You will receive the infusion in one of our comfortable reclining chairs with pillows and blankets if desired. There are soft headphones and calming music or you can bring you own calming music. There are 2 chairs in each room if you would like to bring one family member or friend, though some people like to be alone so they can wait in the reception area if you choose. We want to create a relaxing environment in which your body and brain has every opportunity to reset. 

It is not safe to drive or operate heavy machinery after the treatment so you will need to have another person available to take you home. For most patients, the effects wear off within minutes to about an hour after the infusion is completed. You will be awake during the infusion but in a deep state of relaxation.  

                                                                         WHAT'S INCLUDED

• CUSTOM TAILORED KETAMINE DOSING
• CONTINUOUS VITAL SIGNS MONITORING
• ANY SUPPLEMENTAL MEDICATIONS NEEDED DURING TREATMENTS, E.G. ANTI-NAUSEA, BLOOD PRESSURE LOWERING, ALLERGIC REACTIONS, ETC.
• PREPARATION GUIDELINES
• SPECIALLY CURATED PLAYLIST DELIVERED VIA WIRELESS BLUETOOTH HEADPHONES 
• EYESHADES

Studies have shown that the best way to get results is to have multiple infusions over a short period of time.  Accordingly, we will set up six appointments with you over a 2 to 4 week period, providing 1 - 4 infusions per week.  Some patients experience lasting relief from their symptoms while others need occasional single booster doses thats frequency decreases over time.

It is uncommon, however, if after the first 4-5 infusions, there is no change in your mood or pain, you may simply be a "non-responder."  At this point, we will recommend discontinuing any additional treatments. 

Depression (major depressive disorder) is a common and serious medical illness that negatively affects your mood the way you think and how you act.  which can have a severe impact on your ability to function in everyday life.

Depression symptoms can vary from mild to severe and can include:

• Feeling sad or having a depressed mood
• Loss of interest or pleasure in activities once enjoyed
• Changes in appetite — weight loss or gain unrelated to dieting
• Feeling worthless or guilty
• Sleeping too much or trouble sleeping
• Loss of energy or increased fatigue
• Increase in purposeless physical activity (e.g., inability to sit still, pacing, handwringing) or slowed movements or speech (these actions must be severe enough to be observable by others)
• Difficulty thinking, concentrating or making decisions
• Thoughts of death or suicide

Symptoms must last at least two weeks and must represent a change in your previous level of functioning for a depression diagnosis.

Depression is much different than grief or sadness. It can last much longer while grief and sadness come in waves and subside. Depression is always present and doesn’t go away. However, events that trigger grief and sadness can also trigger depression.

Utahs High Depression and Suicide Rate

With a suicide rate of 22.2 per 100,000 persons, Utah had the fifth highest age-adjusted suicide rate in the United States between 2016 and 2018, according to the Utah Department of Health. That averages out to 647 suicides per year.

Suicide is particularly a problem among young Utahns. It was the leading cause of death for Utahns ages 10 to 17 in 2018 and the second leading cause of death for Utahns ages 18 to 44.

Some organizations have reported mental health crisis calls to have increased by 41% compared to this time last year, which has left longstanding impacts on first responders.

Depression is one of the most common mental health disorders that many Utahns suffer from.

According to researchers at the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, Utah suffered the highest rate of major depression in 2017 in the United States.

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