Ketamine Therapy vs. Traditional Antidepressants – A Comparison
Depression is not a sad mood. It’s a severe mental health condition that changes your way of thinking, feeling, and existing. Individuals have gone as far as using traditional antidepressants for thousands of years just to be able to get therapy. But what if they don’t work? That is where ketamine therapy comes into play.
Ketamine was originally employed as an anesthetic, but it is currently also being explored as a potentially useful treatment for depression, especially in those who have not been helped by other treatments.
This blog entry will contrast the effectiveness, rapidity, and safety of ketamine treatment and traditional antidepressants.
Understanding the Basics
What Are Traditional Antidepressants?
Depression is treated with drugs called traditional antidepressants. They affect mood by altering serotonin and norepinephrine levels in the brain. Two of the most well-known traditional antidepressants are SSRIs (Prozac) and SNRIs (Cymbalta). They affect the mood-regulating chemicals serotonin and norepinephrine in the brain.
For most individuals, they will eliminate long-term depression symptoms. They will not work for everybody and will take weeks to do that.
What Is Ketamine Therapy?
Ketamine therapy is more recent. Low-dose ketamine, administered IV or sprayed intranasally, has an immediate effect in improving mood and symptoms within a few hours. Ketamine treatment, unlike typical antidepressants, affects a different brain chemical, glutamate. Such fast action is why it is becoming widely known as effective for individuals with treatment-resistant or severe depression.
In comparison to ketamine therapy, it’s obvious that they influence the brain differently and at different rates.
Efficacy- How Effective Are They?
Traditional Antidepressants
Traditional antidepressants have been around for decades and work for a lot of people. Science demonstrates that 60–70% of individuals improve after having taken one or more of them. They won’t fix everyone, however, particularly for those who have so-called “treatment-resistant depression,” i.e., two or more ineffective medications.
It may take a series of various antidepressants before the right one is found. Even after that, improvement is only partial, and symptoms persist.
Ketamine Therapy
Ketamine therapy has been extremely effective in individuals who have not responded to conventional medication. In trials, 60–70% of treatment-resistant depression patients improved rapidly. Sometimes within days or even hours.
The impact of ketamine is speedy and powerful, but maybe not quite lasting. It leaves individuals usually requiring more than a single session or other assistance. While further study is being conducted, early findings are simply incredible.
So, in comparison, the ketamine treatment and the traditional antidepressants, ketamine gets the prize for the speed and efficiency it offers in the acute cases, and the old-school ones just continue to serve the others with mild to moderate depression well enough.
Onset Time- How Quickly Do They Work?
Traditional Antidepressants
One of the biggest disadvantages of traditional antidepressants is that they are not fast enough. Anyone usually has to wait 4 to 6 weeks before they even begin to feel the difference. Side effects will manifest immediately in the interim, as the good changes are running catch-up. That wait can be frustrating, especially if a person is in crisis mode or is desperate.
Ketamine Therapy
Ketamine treatment has a faster reaction. Patients say they already noticed a difference hours after receiving their first treatment. That’s a huge difference, particularly for individuals who are in dire need of help, such as suicidal behavior or severe depression.
Where ketamine treatment is compared to traditional antidepressants, pace is where ketamine is in a class by itself. Its rapid onset literally can be the difference between the world and the good life for those begging for it. That is why it is most commonly referred to as a breakthrough for those who cannot afford to lose weeks to improve.
Safety and Side Effects
Traditional Antidepressants
As with all drugs, side effects follow the traditional antidepressants. Sexual functioning, dry mouth, insomnia, and weight gain are common side effects (Elia, 2021). Side effects may simply resolve within a few weeks in some, but will continue to annoy others.
The second issue is withdrawal. Discontinuation of antidepressant medication suddenly will result in dizziness, nervousness, or the flu. For that reason, doctors usually prescribe tapering slowly under supervision.
Although most individuals use these drugs without issues, occasionally, with repeat visits and referral from their doctor.
Ketamine Therapy
Ketamine therapy also brings about side effects, albeit different. Confusion, dizziness, nausea, or sensation of “floating” or unreality, known as dissociation, are a few sensations felt by some patients (Acevedo-Diaz et al., 2020). These disappear after an hour or two of therapy.
There is no risk of abuse added to that, either, because ketamine is a firmly established drug of abuse. It is for that reason that it is merely administered in controlled circumstances by professionals.
Safety lies in the patient’s hands with ketamine therapy compared to antidepressants primarily, and how care is being handled. Both can be safe under proper care, but they introduce two very distinct kinds of risk.
Which One Is Best for You?
We should not choose or rule out ketamine therapy in a vacuum. Every individual can experience depression in different forms, and therefore, the treatment scenario and methods also change. First-line treatment is usually for antidepressants. They are well-studied, often used, and covered by most insurers. Ketamine therapy is held in reserve for when others have failed or if a person needs it.
The ideal option for you will be based on your history, symptoms, and your preference for prompt assistance. Always have a mental health professional guide you through the advantages and disadvantages, and adopt the option most ideal for you.
In general, as opposed to standard antidepressants, ketamine treatment has its advantages. Classic medication provides long-term treatment, but is a rescue that quickly acts for the suffering few. Once you know how they work, when they work, and how safe they are, you’ll be an even better decision-maker.
