Chase Hudson, founder and CEO of CBD hemp products company Hemplucid, offers ketamine psychotherapy as a mental health benefit to his 20 employees. Ketamine psychotherapy typically involves six infusions of ketamine, an anesthetic with hallucinogenic effects. Patients are monitored under the guidance of a therapist over a several-week period.
This is not considered the go-to treatment for mental health disorders, but rather a solution for patients with depression or PTSD after other forms of therapy have failed. Yet Hudson considers this treatment plan to be far more effective than traditional therapy and has seen the difference it makes on his workforce.
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"We've been running this program for three years, and the reaction from the employees is extremely positive," he says. "We see a stronger culture within our work environment, with higher levels of productivity and less time requested off for mental health days."
The CDC estimates that depression causes an estimated 200 million lost workdays, with employers losing up to $44 billion a year. It may be necessary for employers to think outside the box when it comes to mental health help — however, something like ketamine psychotherapy cannot be done without the right expertise and care, says Hudson.
That's why Hudson's company is partnered with Numinus, a mental health company that provides psychedelic-assisted therapies. Dr. Reid Robinson, chief clinical officer of Numinus, recalls his first ketamine clinical trial in 2010, noting that 70% of patients reported feeling relief from their depression. He knew this solution had a lot of promise.
"In this altered state of therapeutic consciousness, paired with psychotherapy, ketamine allows for some deep work on healing with more lasting change," says Dr. Robinson. "Ketamine serves as a catalyst to the therapy work that can provide insight on our patterns and thoughts."
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Essentially, ketamine makes it easier for patients to explore their own thinking alongside their therapist. Research published in the
Patients, while awake through the session, may feel in a heightened sensory state or completely out of their bodies. Talk therapy can then occur once the ketamine's effects wear off, which may last five to 30 minutes.
"We typically use ketamine through intramuscular injection, providing this optimal window for therapy," says Dr. Robinson. "Most people embarking on a course of ketamine therapy do benefit from five to six sessions spread out over time."
Still, Dr. Robinson underlines ketamine is not a quick fix, and patients have to be ready to work with their therapist even after they've stopped receiving infusions. Not unlike traditional therapy, patients will have to revisit and discuss traumatic experiences as well as their reactions to challenging times in their lives, explains Dr. Robinson.
"You need to feel worse for a moment before you feel better, or there's this saying that you've gotta 'feel it to heal it,'" says Dr. Robinson. "Ketamine helps people see themselves from a new perspective, revisit difficult memories and be an active participant in their healing work."
Ketamine can cause patients to feel calm but also anxious and dissociative, with notable symptoms including nausea, drowsiness, dizziness, poor coordination and an increase in blood pressure. And while ketamine is the only legal psychedelic medicine used in treatment, it can still cause addiction. Dr. Robinson notes that ketamine should be administered in low doses over an extended period of time, lessening the chance of causing an addictive high. Addiction is unlikely to occur under professional supervision, he says. Doses will likely be a week or more apart.
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Hudson can personally speak to how effective ketamine psychotherapy is, receiving three sessions a year to confront his feelings of stress, depression and anxiety.
"It just helps me completely clear my mind, reground me and remove the chaos out of my mind," he says. "I've even had employees on the brink of suicide, and after treatment, they're in shock that they even considered harming themselves."
Since treatments like ketamine psychotherapy are not typically covered through insurance, Hudson advises employers to seek mental health solutions outside of their health plans. But he cautions employers to do their research.
"If corporations are going to offer this type of program, align with a reputable partner within the space," he says. "Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy is still fairly new and there are a lot of kinks being worked out."
Regardless of whether employers look at ketamine psychotherapy as a solution, Dr. Robinson encourages employers to find the best mental health benefits for their workforce — the longer they wait, the harder it will be to help.
"Take a proactive stance," says Dr. Robinson. "Unfortunately, in our western healthcare system, we too often wait for our struggles to really blow up before we tackle them."
