Earlier this year, the federal government greenlit the exploration of alternative treatments for mental health.
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And with a new focus being given to these therapies, there is heightened interest in alternative medicines. One in particular is garnering attention here in South Florida.
“It really started around Covid, where there was a lot of trauma,” said Steven Radowitz, the Chief Medical Officer of Nushama.
Radowitz spoke about the attention given to ketamine therapy, which his clinic that just opened in Aventura offers.
“People who are really stuck in some past trauma, past difficult life events that have not been properly processed, they’ve been through therapy, they’ve been through many medication trials, and they feel like they just don’t know where to go,” Radowitz said about his clients. “These are the majority of the people who come in here, and they do incredibly well.”
Ketamine is FDA-approved as an anesthetic and as a nasal treatment used to treat depression. While not FDA- approved when used in other forms, it is legal.
At Nushama, ketamine is given through a controlled IV drip to treat various psychiatric illnesses. So far, it’s been administered to over 3,000 of their patients.
“What the ketamine does is it opens up those neural pathways, allows the brain to work in a little more free flow, and makes us more open to different perspectives, to different perspectives about ourselves, about the world,” Radowitz said. “So, we don’t react to respond, as in only a safety mechanism. We actually can live a little bit instead of just trying to protect ourselves and just trying to exist.”
Cleveland Clinic warns that those specifically with substance use disorder and depression may have adverse effects, like addiction, to recreational ketamine use, as seen in the tragic death of actor Matthew Perry.
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But Dr. Lina Auguis with Florida International University explained that patients who are approved for this clinical treatment are likely not to get addicted because the dosage is low. And while some can experience psychedelic symptoms, she said ketamine should not be compared to “classic” psychedelics like LSD or psilocybin.
“The risks for, you know, misuse or abuse are more relating to someone not having the proper guidance, medical clearance and the support around the ketamine experience,” Dr. Auguis said.
She noted that because ketamine therapy is not FDA-approved, it can be costly. She also noted it’s important to find providers who are trained in proper administration of the drug and have a background in mental health.
In April of this year, an executive order was issued to accelerate research around Schedule 1 psychedelic and psychoactive treatments to treat severe mental illnesses.
Healthcare providers, like the ones at Nushama, believe that with more exploration of how psychedelics can benefit mental health, the future for treatments could look very different.
“(I’m) very excited. I think it’s opening up a lot of research avenues into other psychedelics. So not just ketamine, although ketamine I think is incredibly effective and probably just as effective as any of these other ones we’re studying,” Radowitz said. “But I’m very encouraged by the work, and they will open up for all of it. And I think in the future will probably be using different eight or different types of psychedelic medicine to get people through their problems.”
According to the National Institutes of Health, ketamine can raise blood pressure and heart rates for certain patients.
Dr. Auguis said that for patients suffering from depression or other mental health illnesses and who find that ketamine therapy is not working for them, she asks that they don’t lose hope but explore other treatment options, such as transcranial magnetic stimulation, ECT/electroconvulsive therapy or augmentation therapies
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