Category: The Psychedelic News

Maybe you’ve recently completed the marathon you’ve been training six months for, published the book you’ve spent two years writing, received the degree you’ve been working towards your entire academic career. You’ve crossed the finish line, seen your work in print, walked across that stage and threw your cap into the air.

Now the crowd has dissipated, the reviews have stopped rolling in, and your grad cap is lost in the sea of scattered polyester and acetate.

Everyone else is moving on, but you’re still standing there trying to relish in the glory of your achievement.

Or, if you’re like some people, maybe that euphoric high of achieving the milestone doesn’t reach its peak upon completion. For some, the fun is in the challenge, in the anxiety of wondering if you’ll ever make it to see the finish line at all.

Which doesn’t sound like an inherently bad thing, but it can leave you feeling guilty if you find yourself not sharing the same excitement as the people around you. If people come to watch you cross the finish line, for example, or send you pictures of them holding your book or clearing a spot for it on their shelf. You don’t want to seem bummed in comparison or make everyone wonder if something is amiss, so you put on a face.

This can lead to questions like: What’s wrong with me? Am I depressed? Why am I not happy?

Why am I not happy?

Why am I not happy?

You know, the kind of questions that leave you spiraling if you continue to keep everything bottled up.

In fact, even looking for answers online doesn’t come up with much. When I turned to Google for answers, I had maybe three articles to choose from. The rest were just the search engine zeroing in on the word “milestone” which left me with a bunch of articles about the stages of being a child.

Which, while helpful to new parents, I myself am not one. No where close. My dog is my child, and he surpassed all his major milestones in the second month I had him when he conquered potty training.

So why do some of us face an almost, if not explicitly, depressive episode in the wake of a major achievement?

Understanding Why

Ron Friedman describes the sensation in his article for Harvard Business Review, “Staying Motivated After a Major Achievement” where he writes, “When we think about achieving a major goal, we picture the exhilaration of reaching new heights. What we often fail to anticipate, however, is that once we’ve scaled that mountain, it can be surprisingly chilly on the other side. After a period of massive productivity we have to revert back to life as usual and settle back into an established workplace routine.

For one thing, it’s because of the emotional letdown of going from an exciting, challenging, or pressure-filled situation to one that’s considerably less demanding. High-stress situations and the adrenaline rush they produce can be addictive. When the constant sense of urgency we’ve adapted to comes to an abrupt halt, we experience withdrawal.”

Friedman goes on to say that, for many of us workaholics, to be fully engaged we need to “experience an ongoing sense of growth on the job.” Which basically boils down to the idea that we view reaching a milestone as a setback instead of an achievement, because there’s no longer obstacles in place to challenge us further.

He then goes on to talk about something that I should have recognized immediately, if not for the fact that we are often blind to our own shortcomings. In this case, many of us fail to recognize the symptoms of burnout.

Burnout, essentially, is reaching our peak exhaustion levels when it comes to our emotional, physical, and mental states. Often, by the time many of us reach our goals, we’re so stressed that we’re ready for it all to just be over with. You don’t want to take a victory lap or attend a book release party because maybe you’re antsy to start the ‘Next Big Thing,’ or maybe you simply want to wipe your hands of the stress that comes from big projects and simply catch up on some much-needed sleep.

(Sidenote: A deeper dive—with some tailored search filters—led me to an article that introduced me to the arrival fallacy, which, Forbes explains, operates under the assumption that if you’re working towards a goal, you will reach the goal, which preemptively triggers the brain’s reward center. This feeling persists and adjusts along your journey, until it’s no longer stimulating your brain enough by the time you reach your goal. In a way it’s kind of like burnout, but instead of being exhausted at your finish line, you’re simply bored instead).

In the aftermath of a large milestone, if you find yourself feeling underwhelmed, first understand that your feelings are not not normal. If you don’t feel like attending a party in your honor or feel the adrenaline rush that comes with finishing a big project, don’t simmer in it. My advice would be to take a much needed break, no matter what that timeline looks like, and then set your sights on the Next Big Thing.

Life is long, and after a time it’s on us to create our own milestones to keep us from being caught in a monotonous cycle. Or worse, finding yourself one day waking up from autopilot.

Don’t let the depressive episode following one accomplishment keep you from reaching for that high again.

So have your moments, and then sit down at your desk to write or lace up your running shoes and go get it, whatever it is that you’re running towards.

There’s always something to work towards.

The search for knowledge is never-ending and can lead to new and wonderful opportunities, as made evident by Christi Myers, owner of Flow Integrative of Encinitas, CA. Even though she already had quite the list of credentials under her belt, Myers wasn’t satisfied knowing that there was more that could be done for those who suffer from mood disorders.

Besides being a seasoned paramedic and educator, Myers has taken on the task of helping those who suffer from their mental health by opening a clinic for the residents of Encinitas. There, they can expect innovative treatment for conditions like depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, and more.

When we sat down with Christi we asked a series of questions that she answered with grace, showing the compassion behind the hardworking mindset that this field requires.

Continue reading to see a transcript of our conversation below.

Can you tell me about your education?

My profession began with the fire service and emergency medicine. I have an associate’s degree in paramedicine as well as fire science. I hold a bachelor’s in public safety and a master’s in leadership.

So what turned you to ketamine?

I have been a paramedic for 16 years. I transitioned into a teaching role about a decade ago. And in that, I teach pharmacology, where we as providers started to incorporate ketamine in this county. Part of what I teach is all the drugs that we hold in our scope of practice, ketamine being one of them. Now I had to actually take the time to learn more about this medication. I came into this with the preconceived idea that ketamine is essentially a horse tranquilizer, as well being used recreationally as having street names such as, “Special K.” There are two perspectives with this type of medication: the recreational side, then the conscious sedation side. Working in an emergency room prior to and during paramedic school, ketamine being used as conscious sedation to help with certain procedures. It’s different in the sense that those patients are completely inundated with the drug which puts you in a lucid state where the effect is amnesic in a sense.

Now my perception has shifted and being able to break the stigma and share how wonderful ketamine is, when used mindfully. The mental health component in our profession, as well as my own personal journey through the Covid-19 pandemic, all of the research has allowed me to see the benefit of ketamine and how it helps provide perspective shifts. Psychedelics as whole such as; psilocybin, MDMA, and now ketamine are FDA-approved, and are now being integrated for mental health. So really, it was in the teaching spectrum, not only to my students, but to myself is where I discovered ketamine.

What was your first exposure to [ketamine] for mental health treatment?

The first exposure was at MAPS which is a conference of beautiful sound-minded experts that discuss the revelations of medicine and new treatment modalities. Early 2020 I attended this conference where ketamine and PTSD were becoming more spotlighted in the mental health community, which led to infinite amounts of research. Once I was exposed to the new found knowledge and opportunities, I immediately became invested. Starting out by becoming invested in myself and willing to experience ketamine and begin to heal myself as a human, which in turn helped me grow into an even better medical provider.

Wow. So when you say personal experience… Did you have infusions?

I did. I had an intravenous infusion so that I could speak from a place of understanding in addition to solely the intellectual side of this process. The realization that these types of psychedelics are able to give us a sense of awareness. Which would give clarity and allow us to actively look into the self, where true change and progress can manifest. . I do a lot of inner work consistently on my psychology. I have now been able to make the proper adjustments to my lifestyle which has given me the strength to live with a sober mind. Living with a clear and sober mind evokes self actualization in the sense that you are experiencing emotion and introspection in its rawest form. I’ve come full circle with my journey in mental health, being able to see, love, and appreciate my own spirit and self.

I allow for that to be a catalyst in my ability to sort through, and grow in that healing. I truly go into these experiences with the intent of achieving a deeper awareness that was not presented initially.. So my experience with ketamine was a reminder of how autonomic or self-regulated our body truly is. The reality being I need my body, my body doesn’t need me. We don’t have a healthy awareness and understanding of our parasympathetic nervous system, which is the Rest and Restoration phase our bodies should be experiencing. The goal of therapy is to understand how important our bodies are and how we need to learn to sufficiently take care of it. Rather than abusing and overindulging our bodies. When we understand correct self-care and self-love we would be able to identify what is really needed for our bodies to thrive, not just survive.

So is there anything more you can speak to about the importance of ketamine? It’s not just a medicine. It’s not a Band-Aid. It’s a tool as part of a broader mental health treatment plan.

Absolutely. It is a tool. It’s a catalyst. A lot of times we get stuck in our belief systems or in the program that we’re currently running. We sometimes don’t have a true awareness of just how complex and programmable it is. Our perspective lenses become limited or distorted, which can be altered with a catalyst. Those catalysts are in the form of plant medicine and psychedelics. With my whole heart, I believe that there is a better way of treatment outside of the current modalities such as antidepressants or medication that has been essentially created or in use just temporary avoidance or dismissal of our own emotions.

So allowing yourself to see it and experience it through emotion and feeling is incredible. Then the proper tools are able to continuously be put it into practice when we are feeling either limited, stuck, scripted or habitual in our ways of being. The understanding of this concept and realization of the correct tools needed, will allow us to evolve into a greater version of self because we are not harboring or holding onto all those previous thoughts, emotions, or wounds.

So what is the process then at your clinic in terms of making sure patients feel like they’re in that safe place, but also like they’re taken care of?

Yes, of course. So we have a few collaborative pieces embedded that help reassure patients they are comfortable and safe when stepping outside of their comfort zone, as well as being vulnerable. The set and setting is a commonly discussed component of the ketamine treatment. Rightfully so, because it is about the expectation of what each patient plans with specific intentions to address, accomplish, and release through ketamine therapy treatment. We optimize set and setting in an attempt to provide an experience that will have a long term positive impact on you. This includes customizing your ketamine dosing based on a variety of factors. Set is the current state of mind of the individual patient. Setting is the physical space treatment will take place. Which includes the room, our presence and guidance through your treatment session experience. The continuum of care outside of the conversations that are had beforehand or the ability to have access to providers and resources. When questions arise, using Osmind as another way of communicating, journaling, and tracking mood.

They’ve done such a good job with creating an app that allows your medical care to be handled remotely by phone. With that convenience and how much we are on our phones already it’s not an inconvenience to document how you feel or what you’re going through in real-time. Which then allows us to communicate directly and indirectly to see how patients are really processing what they’re experiencing, as well as if they have questions or concerns arise. There’s a means of continuous communication so that you don’t feel as if you’re alone throughout your journey.

So, on the note of ketamine’s accessibility, do you think psychedelics are going to follow suit within the next five years?

Absolutely I do. I believe that with my whole heart that psychedelics are coming to fruition, MDMA and psilocybin being first and then DMT, LSD, and ayahuasca to follow suit. A lot of this is truly about debunking the stigmas set in place decades ago.

What have been some of the highlights or things that you’re most proud of?

Developing the quality of perseverance despite adversity, resulting in being graced by grit. Incorporating how to reset your human and allow expansion in consciousness. Realizing that when we help ourselves we in return help all. So it is very fulfilling and it is very challenging in the same sense. So it’s idealistic in continuously progressing forward and becoming a better version of self each and every day.

Ketamine, it’s thought, works through connection – a reconnection of old neuronal activity or sparking new connections. This makes it useful for the treatment of conditions like depression, anxiety, or chronic pain, according to current science.

The thing about connection is that it’s therapeutic across the board. No person is an island, truly. As humans, we are happier and healthier if we surround ourselves with people that encourage us, inspire us, or challenge us.

My experience in the ketamine infusion space has been no different. I have never felt more sure of the urgency or importance of what we contribute in this space than when I have reached out and connected to others.

Those whose lives have been touched by ketamine infusions, either directly or indirectly, remain the most inspiring part of the job. That’s the strength of the community: our ability to connect to each other and encourage growth.

With Zoom and Google Meet now the norm, it’s easier than ever for us to have conversations. I recently reached out to Nykol Rice, CRNA and owner of Boise Ketamine Clinic and Mindful Infusions.

We talked about the importance of sharing these stories, the effect of a safe and comfortable patient experience, and the future of mental health treatment. Check out a transcript of our conversation below.

Can you tell me a bit about your background and education?

Sure. I’m a certified registered nurse anesthetist, so I have a master’s degree in anesthesia and just a couple of weeks ago I completed my psych nurse practitioner degree, so I’m dual-certified.

I’m pretty passionate about including the mental health component, and so I went back and got a second degree.

What can you tell me about your experience in healthcare?

I have been a registered nurse since I was 19 years old, so I have been in health care for well over 15 years which is crazy. So I’ve been in healthcare a long time.

I was a critical care nurse. I did some neurocritical care for the University of Utah. I was a critical care fellow for their critical care internship program. I helped train registered nurses to function in the various ICUs. So they had a neuro, a surgical, a burn, the ER.

I did that for a number of years, then I went back to anesthesia school and I attended Westminster College in Salt Lake City, Utah, and completed my master’s there in the fall of 2014. So I’ve been in anesthesia now six years.

What was it that led you to start a ketamine clinic?

So it was kind of an interesting pattern of events that led to opening the clinic. I lost someone to suicide in my early 20s, I actually lost a fiancee to suicide. And I had always been searching for something that was a little quicker than traditional antidepressants, something that was effective and safe.

Pretty early on into my anesthesia career, I came across a continuing education article that was talking about using microdose ketamine in a clinic setting for refractory depression and suicidality.

As soon as I read it, my interest was piqued. From there, I spent about a year and a half talking to other clinics and [doing] a lot of research, buying a lot of books, and really working towards opening ketamine clinics. When I opened, I could find online about 10 clinics. So I called and talked to a few different clinic owners and got some good advice on how to proceed..

Then I spent a lot of time talking to the Idaho DEA and the Board of Nursing and then ending up taking the risk and opening up. It’s just been one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done.

I can’t help but notice the treatment room. Can you tell me a little bit about the environment?

So what I have here is a custom bed that you can program the firmness or softness. You can adjust the height and feet, and this is for our pain patients. It massages and adjusts so that they’re totally comfortable in our setting here.

We’re pretty unique as far as our setting goes. It’s a little different than what you see in a lot of traditional clinics. When people come in, the whole room is set up for “psychedelics”

We’ve got this light show that plays really cool music. It’s just kind of customized and quiet and private. All of our rooms are like this. They all have different lights that people can put on. People really like it.

What else can you tell me about making sure patients feel comfortable?

I think it’s part of helping people feel comfortable having good collaborative care, as well as having open lines of communication and reasonable expectations.

I think you need to be honest with patients about what you can provide and also really make sure that you’re involving the whole person. With ketamine, you really need a variety of approaches to include all aspects of a person.

You want to make sure that they’re getting some counseling, that they’re adhering to medication regimens, that they’re getting the help they need outside of the clinic as well because ketamine is wonderful but it’s not a magic cure.

[Everyone] really needs to be doing the work outside of the clinic as well as coming and doing the work in the clinic. If they understand that, they tend to do pretty well.

The other thing that we offer is preparatory and integration work with a psychologist as well as a certified life coach. They do a really good job of helping people prepare for their sessions and then put what they’re getting out of their sessions into their lives.

They have these big life-changing experiences and they don’t know how to implement the changes that they’re feeling like they need to make. It’s really no good if they have these big revelations and then they don’t know what to do with them from there. So having that component available, I think, is really beneficial for patients.

What are some of the transformations you’ve seen in patients who are able to understand that aspect of it?

Sure, we have some people that have had anything from feeling like they really need to change career paths to people feeling like their sexual identity isn’t what they thought it was, and they’re going to have to work through that. People really have some major stuff come up during these sessions and just working through those impressions and the things that they’re feeling they need to act on is a pretty big deal.

What have you learned about mental health?

That it’s really not a one-size-fits-all approach. If you’re going to get into mental health, it’s very important to come up with some customized plans and approach the patient as an individual and get a thorough history. Ketamine is just a piece of the puzzle. Making sure that you can help patients get all of the pieces they need to really become well is a really important approach.

I think helping patients get lined up with counseling, addressing diet, addressing rest, addressing stressors at home, and having the professionals in place that can help guide them in those areas is paramount to success..

What does that look like at your clinics? Say I’m a patient, how do you connect me to these resources?

So, we have a patient resource guide that goes over different practices that work well with ours. We also have practitioners in-house. We have a psychologist on board as well as the life coach, and they offer some of those integration sessions.

They’re separate counseling sessions where they would come in and they would talk about the things that are coming up in their ketamine sessions or in their life that they feel like they want to really make some meaningful changes, and they would go through a plan of action with these mental health professionals.

I think our set and setting is incredibly unique. We offer the private rooms and the whole clinic is private from door to door. We’re in a commercially zoned home, so it’s kind of an interesting setting. Patients comment all the time how comfortable they are being in this type of setting, because it’s not your standard “whitewalls, no decor” kind of clinic.

We have everything pretty honed in where each room is very comfortable, very private, and patients can really have a personal experience here in a very safe way.

How important is that to making sure it’s a pleasant experience for patients?

Well, if you’ve read anything about the different greats in the psychedelic space – Tim Leary, Hoffman – they all talk about set and setting. So I think it’s important to pay close attention to the setting because it can be very impactful for how patients do in your clinic, and that refers to the mindset that a patient presents.

So what’s going on in their home lives? How are they feeling that day? Are they acutely stressed? The setting is something that the clinic controls and the mindset is something that the patient controls, and having those two pieces come together makes for good sessions.

You mentioned Tim Leary and psychedelics – I wanted to get your opinion on the psychedelic movement.

Psychedelic is not a naughty word. Psychedelic just means mind-manifesting, and that really is what you’re doing here.

When you’re using ketamine in micro-doses the way that most clinics are, it’s functioning as a psychedelic. People are getting vision changes, they’re having out-of-body experiences. I think we’d be remiss to dismiss the fact that it is working very similarly to how psychedelics work.

You’re changing people’s perceptions of their current reality. That’s a psychedelic. You’re bringing up the things that they’re holding on to in a very deep way, things that they can’t seem to get over. Those things come up in their sessions. Their minds are manifesting in these sessions. So I think that you would be silly to say that ketamine is not a psychedelic or that we need to avoid those kinds of side effects. I think there’s a lot of power in being able to access a little bit different state of mind.

Where do you see ketamine being in five years?

Ideally, I would hope that ketamine sees more widespread acceptance and legitimacy. We’re seeing promising research come out of major academic institutions all over the country. You’re seeing Johns Hopkins, you’re seeing Yale, you’re seeing Stanford release a lot of promising high-quality data that shows that there’s many clinical indications for ketamine. There’s a lot of utility with this medication. I think as you see other psychedelics hopefully hit the market in the next five years, you’re going to see psilocybin, MDMA, possibly even LSD.

I think that we were a little remiss in dismissing these medications so quickly. We’re seeing now that there is clinical utility in each and every one of these medications. You just have to find the appropriate patient selection and the criteria for people who can benefit from this.

As long as we can do this in an ethical, responsible way where we’re not causing harm to anyone. I think there’s millions and millions of people that can really be helped by these medications.

So I think what’s going to happen in the next five to ten years is you’re going to see a mental health renaissance with the option of all sorts of different psychedelics.

My hope for ketamine in that time is that it only strengthens its position. Ketamine is very predictable, so it makes it very user-friendly to use in a clinical setting the way we are in. It’s really hard to get a medication that has a 10-minute onset and offset in a predictable manner like ketamine tends to work.

Ketamine is not an expensive medication, and I think that people deserve to have some reasonable access to it. People need other options. It’s very clear that we’re really just not meeting the mental health care needs that we have in this country.

People are in crisis and I think they deserve to have some options available to them in an affordable way.

The bottom line is for the average cost of an ER stay or two, you could really treat someone with ketamine for many, many months to prevent those days. If you look at inpatient stays, even a day or two of inpatient stays, you could maintain someone on ketamine in a much, much more affordable manner and less disruptive to people’s lives. Now, there’s always going to be a clinical indication for inpatient status. That’s not going away.

But if we could cut back on the need for ER visits due to suicidality or cut back on inpatient admissions or length of stays by really utilizing this medication to its fullest potential, it’d only save both the health care payor and the patient’s time and money in the long term.

One hundred percent may not be realistic, but if we get 70 percent of people with treatment-resistant depression feeling better, that’s a really big deal.

What are some of your favorite patient stories?

A 17-year old male went from suicidal with around-the-clock parent supervision and unable to attend school to being able to resume playing on his high school football team and completed his high school diploma.

A 33-year old female with autism presented for severe social anxiety which prevented her from being able to leave the house. After her 3rd session, she was able to go downtown with her family to the farmer’s market and out to eat. She had not been able to be in a social setting in nearly two years.

A 32-year old female presented with CRPS which caused her such crippling pain she was unable to work. After ten sessions she was able to return to work and has been gainfully employed and on a booster regimen for over 3 years.

What are you most proud of?

The thing I’m really most proud of is the team and setting we’ve created at Boise Ketamine Clinic. Over the course of our 5 years in business we’ve worked diligently to improve our services and provide people the support they need to implement lasting change in their lives.

Between myself, Marisa Weppner (life coach) and Dr. Mike Sapiro (psychologist) we’ve evolved into offering nearly all forms of ketamine as well as adding preparatory and integration counseling sessions in addition to Ketamine Assisted Therapy options. This approach offers both a unique medication and a very specialized type of guidance.

During our lives, we walk through many landscapes and endure many conditions. It’s a system of give-and-take, push and pull. There are times where we dance in the rain and others where we trek through the storms. Sometimes these paths lead to dead ends, and there is nothing to be done other than taking a breath, tightening your shoes, and doubling back.

Along these paths that we take are doors, and some are locked while others are already half-cracked with a welcome mat out front. These doors symbolize opportunity, choice, and often lead down paths where there are no road signs letting you know if you’re headed for a road block. It takes courage to come across one of these locked doors and knock, which is exactly what Trey Slann, owner of Exodus Health of Pearland, TX did.

“I’ve always kinda been entrepreneurial,” Trey responds when asked why he decided to open a ketamine clinic, “but every time I tried to do something the door would get shut–and even slammed–in my face sometimes.”

Trey earned his anesthesia degree from Texas Christian University and has been a nurse since 2004. After becoming a CRNA in 2010, he worked in Odessa and then at a hospital in Angleton, Texas before opening his own clinic in Pearland.

“I had a good friend of mine who owned a ketamine clinic and told me about it. I had thought about it and thought that it sounded interesting, but I didn’t really pursue it for a good while. I just kind of served as a support for her and encourager for her in opening up her clinic.

A couple years went by and I thought about ketamine and happened to get in touch with Chris [Walden]. We had a pretty long conversation about it and things just started to happen.”

Chris Walden and his wife Cassy Walden founded Ketamine Media in 2016 after working on a national rollout plan for another provider.

“I decided from that point to seriously consider it. So I told my wife that I felt like God was preparing me for a change. I didn’t know what, but I was just open.”

For Trey, this was more than just a new business venture. Opening up a ketamine clinic would mean being able to open the door for treatment that many had been turned away from, like his wife.

“My wife suffered from postpartum depression with the birth of both of our children. It was a really rough time in our lives. There were several times where I didn’t think my wife would make it through it.

But she did, with the help of really good support and family and medicine. Of course, we didn’t know about ketamine at the time. She got through it, but was left with chronic anxiety, PTSD, and lot of OCD with intrusive thoughts. After finding out about ketamine and all it can do, I suggested she try it.

She did, she went through the infusion process, and I got my wife back. It was just amazing, what it did. It helped her to process a lot of things that she was still dealing with and didn’t know .”

Trey shares that the desire to help his wife was one of the driving forces to start Exodus Health. He figured that if he could help even one person, and help a family the way ketamine helped his, then he was doing the right thing. He was so dedicated to the new path set before him that he gave up his anesthesia job and dipped into his savings so that he could continue to take one step after another.

“You talk about walking by faith,” says Trey, “this is definitely one of those times; but to walk on water you have to get out of the boat.”

Since Exodus Health’s opening, the clinic has seen its fair share of patients, but one in particular stands out to Trey when asked about ketamine and how it sees success when other treatments fail.

“There is a particular patient, talking about what it does for people when nothing else works. I had a Vietnam vet who suffered with PTSD ever since. We’re talking 40, 50 years of really bad PTSD. He’s tried everything.

Nothing worked, nothing ever worked. So he just lived with it. With the pandemic, it was becoming essentially all-consuming for him and debilitating. It was starting to interfere with his family interaction and he knew it but couldn’t stop it.

He told me he knew about ketamine but was afraid or too proud to do it. But he finally did and trusted Exodus Health to help him through this process.

This is someone I’m told is back to the man he was 45 years ago before he went to war. He’s laughing, he’s smiling, he’s having fun, he’s not thinking about destructive things or suicide. It’s been miraculous in what it has done for him when nothing else worked, nothing else even came close to working.

At most, all anything else did was provide a numbing and that’s it. Now he’s actually living life. That’s what I tell people: before ketamine, you’re existing. After, you’re living.”

After hearing a story like that, it’s hard to imagine that things can get even better after working in a clinic for some time, but Trey says helping someone never gets old. When asked what his proudest moment has been from his time with Exodus, he responded:

“I don’t think I can pin it down to one specific moment because every time I see a patient that makes it through the process, and tell me, ‘You saved me. This saved my life,’ that’s my new proudest moment.

That means what I’ve done has really impacted somebody’s life. I get stoked every single time- so excited! – every time I hear a patient has had a successful outcome. I get new proudest moments every week.”

Trey brings up that working in a ketamine clinic setting has taught him a lot in the time that his clinic has been open. When prodded as to just what exactly he’s learned, he says:

“I’ve learned that mental health is just as vital for a person’s wellbeing as anything else. I’ve found that people who struggle with mental health issues a lot of times feel alone. They struggle and they fight and they feel as though they are doing it all by themselves, or that there’s a stigma with mental health and seeking treatment.

I think it’s getting better but there’s still a pretty big stigma with mental health. More than anything it’s helped me to see how prevalent it is and how real of a struggle it is for so many people–way more people than I thought.

I don’t think there’s anybody out there that doesn’t have a close connection in some way with someone who struggles with mental health in some capacity.

And now we finally have a truly effective treatment for it. Is it a cure? No, it isn’t a cure. But it’s extremely effective and it doesn’t come with all the untoward side effects that traditional medications bring. It’s a total game changer.

I really feel like we’re on the cusp of the next big thing for mental health treatment and ketamine is a part of it. A big part of it.”

Now, you may be wondering just what Trey means by ‘next big thing,’ and he was open with his answer:

“[In a perfect world], we see a drastic reduction in traditional depression treatments like SSRIs or antidepressants and more ketamine clinics. In five years, we might have psychedelics. New innovative treatments should be emerging.

You have ketamine, you have psychedelics coming up, you have TMS. All of those things take different roads to the same destination. All of the roads are much better in my opinion than traditional antidepressant medicines.

Right now, ketamine is considered off-label use and it’s not covered by insurance. In 5 years I would hope that not only is it covered by insurance but it’s the next gold standard of mood disorder treatment options.”

Hopefully the world shares Trey’s optimism for mental health, but in the meantime residents of Pearland, TX and the Houston area can take solace in knowing there is someone like Trey fighting in their corner.

If you are currently on a path where every door feels locked and you have been barred entry, consider Exodus Health for treatment, where with the help of Trey and his team you may just find the key you’ve been seeking.

If you would like to learn more about Exodus Health or speak with Trey you can visit or reach them at:

2743 Smith Ranch Rd #504
Pearland, TX 77578
Phone: (281) 603-1722
Email: info@newexodushealth.com
Website: https://newexodushealth.com

Leaving Our Homes for the Outside World Once More

Following the rollout of the vaccines (Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson), the world seems to finally be returning to the “normal” that it knew prior to COVID-19. While many are elated to shed the mask requirements, social distancing, and work-from-home orders, some have found comfort in these defense tactics. Others have adopted this as their new normal, and may find it difficult to revert to old ways now that everyone is beginning to trickle out into the world again. Public spaces are seeing numbers grow as crowds slowly begin to fill the once empty sidewalks.

Agoraphobia is the fear of public places, which mental health experts believe many will face as people begin to emerge from their plague shelters.

There is a comfort that comes from working in your own home, but let’s dive into this a little more as to why that is. There are certain pleasures that stem from the ability to work from the comfort of your own couch, in clothes that fit your body just right, and the ability to seek out your pet when the stress calls for a five-minute ‘let’s-dote-on-our-furry-children’ break.

Personally, the pandemic hit hard. The mayor of my city recently lifted the mask requirement, making it so that now public establishments can no longer enforce the public to wear masks if they do not wish to. When I recently revisited the county that I grew up in, I still wore my mask because I have loved ones in my life who, while vaccinated, are immunocompromised, thus still vulnerable to the virus until their vaccine kicks in (which takes roughly two weeks from the time the vaccine has been administered to be fully effective).

One would think that returning to normal would feel safe, comforting, but instead I was a little unnerved to see so many maskless faces in such a small, enclosed area (I visited a gas station and briefly went in to pay for gas on pump three). It was a moment of realization that things had been different for an entire year, and that returning to “normal” overnight is going to be difficult for a number of people, (evidently myself included).

It can be a bizarre feeling, watching the world grow excited to return to a state of normal pre-plague, but it can also feel a bit alienating to those who found comfort in the caution.

Perhaps you are one of the individuals who are happy that the vaccine is working but upset that this means having to leave your bunker, where you’ve accumulated all of your best comforts to get you through the pandemic. It’s a fantastic example of one of those vicious cycles that pop up so often in life: we need our security blankets to get us through the pandemic, and now that the pandemic is over we need our security blanket to face the open world.

As we peek through our windows at the busy sidewalks and ‘open’ signs where maskless people are popping in and out, a shared question rests on the tongue of many home-dwellers.

When Can That Be Me?

What is Agoraphobia?

To first understand how to beat something like agoraphobia, let’s first take a look at just what the anxiety disorder consists of, which is the avoidance of places and situations that make someone feel:

• Trapped
• Scared
• Helpless
• Panicked
• Scared

What Causes Agoraphobia?

Though the exact cause of this condition is unknown, there are certain factors that contribute to the disorder, like:

• Depression (increased depression numbers post-covid)
• Other phobias (hypochondriac)
• Substance abuse problems
• Other anxiety disorders, like OCD and generalized anxiety disorder

By this point you may be wondering how people overcome this disorder, or when you’ll be able to re-enter the world of the recovering. Your process may be a bit slower than your neighbor or your friends, and that’s okay. With less severe cases the symptoms may go away with time, but for more extreme cases you may want to consider the following:

Treatment Options

Therapy:

• Psychotherapy
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
• Exposure Therapy

Medication:

There are certain medications that can help with symptoms related to agoraphobia, but be sure to get with your doctor before self-medicating.

Lifestyle Changes:

Lifestyle choices won’t necessarily directly affect your symptoms, but eating a balanced diet, regularly exercising, and taking care of your mental health are all great ways of making sure both your body and mind are well taken care of. Everything else will follow suit over time.

Embracing The Unknown

At the end of the day, there are many reasons to stay inside, but it’s the very uncertainty that’s holding us back that should be pushing us out our front doors. For the past year we have been surviving, but now it’s time to live again.

Recognizing Something is Off

Growing up, our parents are often the ones with all the answers. You have a problem and your dad has the solution. You shed a tear and your mom is armed with tissues and your favorite foods. If you have a bad day and feel as though the world is against you, you can at least take some comfort in knowing you can call home.

But what happens when there is a shift in the dynamic? What if one or both parents develop a mental health disorder and suddenly there are cracks in the foundation? How do you cope? How can you help?

Where do you even start?

Learn the Symptoms

It’s important to first learn what mental health disorders look like so that you know how to move forward.

What Does Depression Look Like?

Depression presents itself in a multitude of ways, with symptoms most commonly looking like:

• Feeling hopeless and/or helpless. Possibly the most obvious indicator of depression. If your mom or dad was once a ray of sunshine but now lives with a lasting rain cloud over their head, then it may be worth bringing up to them.
• Loss of interest in daily activities. If your dad was once an avid fisherman or your mom was an active shopper, or vice versa, but now they prefer to lay in bed or refuse to get up from the couch, then this could be a sign that they’ve lost interest in doing things they once enjoyed.
• Appetite or weight change. It’s normal for weight to fluctuate as one ages, but if the change is dramatic and combined with other symptoms, then it may be worth reaching out and asking how they’re feeling.
• Sleep change. If he or she complains about never being able to fall asleep, or suddenly claim that they are sleeping too much, this can be an indication of something bigger happening.
• Anger or irritability. Shortness in temper can be a sign that someone is dealing with a great amount of stress, and depression can make even the most mild-tempered soul grow the sharpest tongue. Try not to let their words affect you, but also be firm in that they cannot allow their situation to affect their relationships with others. Depression is a disorder that deserves to be understood, but it is not an excuse to treat others poorly without actively trying to get better.

What Does Bipolar Disorder Look Like?

• Mood swings. This is greater than just your mother or father not getting their full eight hours and giving you some morning sass. The mood swings will be major, and likely out of character depending on where your parent defaults to on the mood scale.
• Difficulty sleeping. Bipolar disorder can disrupt the sleep schedule of even the most routine-driven retiree.
• Feeling extremely restless or impulsive. If your content, mild-mannered parent is now looking to sell the house and go travel the country while living out of a van, or suddenly wants to engage in behaviors they once found unsafe, then it may be time to seek professional help.

What Does OCD Look Like?

• The urge to arrange things in a certain way. Have you ever checked your parents’ pantry and noticed that every box perfectly lines with one another? Or that all the soup cans have their label meticulously facing outwards?
• Ritualistic behaviors such as checking the door repeatedly before going to bed or washing hands repeatedly due to fear of germs. If your dad religiously checks the door locks multiple times before bed each night, or will turn the car around if your mother can’t promise she turned off the stove (even though it hadn’t been used that morning), then this is a clear indication that he may be suffering from OCD.
• Obsessions Without Visible Compulsions. Identified by intrusive thoughts about religious, intimate, or aggressive themes. Triggers related to these themes are typically steered clear of as much as possible.
  Hoarding. Characterized through obsessive anxieties of getting rid of items or belongings that you may need one day.

What to Say to Your Parent

It’s okay if, at first, things feel a little uncomfortable. Your parent, who was once your superhero, your rock, has now proven to be just as vulnerable to the world as you are. It can be an odd sensation to view your parents as anything less than untouchable.

So long as your parents’ mental condition doesn’t resort to toxic behaviors towards you, then there will come a time that you have to look past the discomfort and be strong for them.

They’ve held your hand during your first steps, holding you steady so you wouldn’t fall. Even though one day they let go of your hand for the last time, knowing you were strong enough to stand on your own, they were always there in the moments to catch you before you could fall.

You can do the same for them.

Ask them how you can help.

Vocalize your support.

A parent will never grow tired of hearing they are loved by their children, nor will they ever let you forget that you are loved by them.

What Not to Say

That leads into some helpful advice on what not to say to someone who is suffering from poor mental health:

• “This is all in your head”
• “It could be worse”
• “Everyone goes through tough times.”
• “Why do you want to die when you have so much to live for?”
• “I can’t do anything about your situation.”
• “Just snap out of it.”
• “You should be feeling better by now.”
• “Try to look on the bright side.”

Moving Forward

Situations differ, as does one’s relationship with their parents. Some people will relate to every example listed in this article, while others won’t identify with a single one.

It’s okay if your relationship with your parents has seen hard or rocky times. If you find yourself stumbling upon this article, then it’s likely because you are looking to help, no matter what that may look like.

Whatever your situation, just know that this can be equally as scary and nerve-wracking for your mother or father as it is for you.

Remember, tread carefully; love fiercely.

Take it one step at a time.

In the late 1800s, the world was getting bigger. The advent of the railway meant that previously disconnected towns or hard-to-reach peoples were now situated upon metal pathways linking them to the rest of the world.

In the state of Texas, halfway through the laborious trek from Fort Worth to El Paso, Midway Station was soon built for this very purpose. An entire region of the state became connected to resources it could only have dreamt of decades earlier.

Many years later in modern-day Midway Station – now known as Midland, Texas – the Ketamine Clinic of West Texas carries on the legacy of their town’s namesake.

Rather than connecting people with giant metal pathways, owner Tammy Vaught and the providers at the Ketamine Clinic of West Texas seek to heal people through reconnection of important mental pathways.

Vaught is no stranger to healthcare, having earned her stripes in arduous and high-stress environments.

“So, I have been a nurse since 1998 and I’ve been a nurse anesthesiologist since 2009, so about 12 years. Most of my background was spent in a level 1 trauma center in Detroit, so I did a lot of work with mental health patients before I ever went into this realm of work.”

The decision to shift to providing ketamine treatment – at the time, an innovative but experimental option – was purely personal at first, Vaught explains.

“Why I branched out to owning the clinic stemmed from doing research for a friend suffering from chronic pain as well as treatment-resistant depression.

I was looking for options for him, for something out of the box. Ketamine came up in my research so I started researching, talking to clinicians. But when I went to look for a clinic there wasn’t one within 5 hours of us. That was going to mean he would have to spend money to travel, so I decided to open a clinic.

Honestly, my goal was to help my friend, but then it just developed into the most rewarding professional decision of my life.

My friend died by suicide within seven months of us opening the clinic, and that was the catalyst that pushed me to keep going in this direction. Three and a half years and hundreds of patients later, here we are.”

Since then, the Ketamine Clinic of West Texas has indeed gone on to serve hundreds of patients, but some experiences stand out in Vaught’s memory.

“Patients suffering from PTSD are some of my favorite people to treat because they often get great results. My very first patient battled PTSD and I’ve treated several veterans who’ve had great results.

Often for me, the most rewarding thing is when a patient’s family comes to me midway through treatment and is like, ‘I’m starting to get my wife back. I see the old “Sally” in her eyes, in the way she’s reacting to things.’

Or a mother who brings in her daughter for a booster and tells me, ‘She’s engaging in life again, she’s working again.’

Also, when a patient is on a laundry list of prescription medicines and through ketamine therapy they’re able to diminish their list of medication.”

Some people are cautious, or even downright hesitant, to try ketamine infusion therapy. Skepticism is in fact healthy, according to Vaught.

“It is responsible to always be cautious and do research. However, ketamine is known to be a very safe drug. It’s gotten a bad rap because of years of being abused, but when we utilize it under a medical professional’s care, someone who is well-studied and continues to do research to optimize their practice, I think that it’s worth giving a try.

While ketamine’s history is somewhat arduous, it doesn’t mean it’s any less valid to consider when trying to save someone’s life.

It’s changed my life. Personally, I’ve treated four of my family members. I would treat myself, my child, my husband. I would treat anyone, if they met the criteria, without hesitancy.”

Vaught’s time with ketamine infusion treatment has indeed changed her life, she explains.

“One of the things I’ve learned is that mental health disorders don’t discriminate. We’re currently treating patients that can’t afford groceries, but we’re also treating some of the wealthiest individuals in our community. There is very much an economic discrepancy, but mental health doesn’t discriminate.

I believe that it’s opened my eyes to the fact that more of us are dealing with mental health challenges than we realize.

Having patients trust me when they feel like they don’t have any more choices – that’s a lot of pressure, for someone to trust you like that, to tell you that you’re their last stop.

It’s very humbling, stressful, and rewarding to be able to walk along that journey with someone. When someone tells you that they may not be alive without the treatment you offered… it’s been very life-changing.

When I worked in the ER, I was dealing with patients on their worst day. In this line of work, I’m now dealing with people in their worst season of life. It’s not just a bad day. If they’ve come to me, they’ve been in a bad season of life for a long, long time.”

If ketamine is such a powerful source of hope for those suffering – and the research confirms it is – what is preventing it from receiving more widespread acceptance from the medical community?

“The fact that even though it’s a drug that has been around since the ‘60s, and was actively studied for mental health since the early 2000s, most insurance companies still consider it experimental.

How many years do we have to treat people with this before it’s not experimental? I know the results. I would guess millions of lives have been changed with this medication.

The fact that I am an advanced practitioner is a barrier. The fact that I didn’t have a degree in psychiatry is a barrier, but that’s why I’m back in school now.”

An essential part of the process, Vaught explained to me, was each providers’ willingness to continue to educate themselves on the ever-expanding scientific consensus.

“I’m currently due to graduate in August with my post-master’s certificate as a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner.”

As it inevitably does in most of my conversations with ketamine providers, the conversation soon shifts towards our shared grievance over the current stigma ketamine faces. Vaught sees that the biggest challenge this industry faces is the stigma.

“The stigma of the drug, because it has been abused. But you can also abuse Benadryl. Opioids are abused like crazy. I think that we, as an industry, are trying to do everything that we can. We need more task forces that are going to talk to political entities, medical entities. More clinics increasing publicity.

I try on my own personal outlets to talk about mental health in general as much as I can.”

Our conversation ended on a note of hope. Where does Vaught want to see the state of ketamine in ten years’ time?

“I want to see it covered by insurance. I want to see it used as a frontline treatment instead of a ‘once everything else has failed’ treatment.

We’re seeing complete remission with those who are trying ketamine first. If you treat a patient within a few months of the traumatic event, you can completely reverse or prevent the PTSD.

I want to see an exploration of more utilization. I want it to become a standard of care. I want all veterans to be able to get it like, yesterday.”

Time will tell how ketamine infusions progress as a treatment, but one thing is for sure: providers like the Ketamine Clinic of West Texas – ingrained with a sense of compassion and medical experience – are going to be a necessary ingredient of the journey no matter what.

Take Some Time for You This National Stress Awareness Day

We’ve all been there. Flat tire on the way to work, getting stuck in traffic, receiving word that your in-laws are coming to town… all recipes for stress.

A little stress is healthy, but if it persists and grows worse over time then it is no longer harmless to your health. Learning the difference between healthy stress and harmful stress can be difficult, and that’s what this month is all about. More than that, it’s what the day is about. April happens to be National Stress Awareness Month, but the 16th is a little special. It’s a full day of learning how to take care of yourself and mend the stressors in your life, especially following a hectic year like 2020.

What’s Significant About April 16th?

April 16th, the day after Tax Day, has been marked in calendars as National Stress Awareness Day. It’s a day for people to reflect on the stressors in their lives and see what can be done about them. It’s not something that has to be done in solidarity, either. By using hashtags like #NationalStressAwarenessMonth and #StressAwarenessMonth on social media, you can find others who are going through similar situations.

It’s all about knowing that you aren’t alone in your struggles or your worries. Oftentimes the things that plague us most are universal, and talking about them can be the first step towards finding some type of closure or coping mechanisms.

How to Observe

There are a multitude of ways that you can observe a day like National Stress Awareness Day, but it’s important to remember that the theme is about taking care of YOU. Think of it like the ultimate self-care day that’s all about putting your mental health first.

If you’re struggling for ways to pamper yourself, consider:

• Doing something fun that you’ve been putting off. If you’ve been delaying the start of a new Netflix binge-watch, procrastinating the beginning of a new hobby, or holding yourself back from treating yourself to something new, this is the day to do it.
• Get outside. Disconnect yourself from technology if social media is a stressor.
• Treating yourself to good food. Whether it’s from a restaurant or trying out a new recipe, try something new or sate an old craving.
• Calling a friend or a family member you’ve been missing. Set some time aside to catch up and laugh and find that your worries seem to subside.

Even if none of these suggestions stand out to you, set some time aside this upcoming Friday to take a step back, release the tension in your shoulders, unclench your jaw, and let out that breath you’ve been holding. The year has only just begun, and you deserve to meet it head-on with as little stress as possible holding you back.