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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 11 of 11. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Hugh on September 23, 2022, at 10:18:23
Ketamine and photos of smiling people help with treatment-resistant depression, Pitt study finds
90.5 WESA | By Sarah Boden
Published September 21, 2022A drug often used as anesthesia during surgery can help treat depression, according to a new study on ketamine from University of Pittsburgh researchers.
A ketamine infusion will produce a brief, dream-like state of floating detachment. For decades, it's been used as a therapeutic for people with mood disorders. Patients with treatment-resistant depression often experience rapid, though temporary, alleviation of symptoms following a single ketamine infusion.
But perhaps more interestingly, after the euphoria wears off, there remains a one-to-two-week period when the brain is more malleable and able to learn new things. Pitt psychologist Rebecca Price says this creates a window when a person can develop more positive ways of thinking that override older, more rigid pathways.
Therefore, after giving ketamine to research volunteers with treatment-resistant depression, Price put people through a short training program to help them form associations between themselves and positive stimuli.
"So we take things like smiling faces of actors from these standardized sets, and then we just pair it over and over again with pictures of the patient, so that the patient starts to associate, in this really basic way, themselves with more positive things," said Price. "Basically, you equate positive stuff."
It's important to note that ketamine doesn't make the brain super flexible, like a lump of clay on a potter's wheel that can be shaped in unique and distinctive forms. Instead, the drug's effect is more like writing a message in wet cement.
Still, the intervention produced statistically significant results. The month after receiving ketamine and positive brain training, volunteers reported fewer depressive symptoms than those who only received ketamine and those who received training and a placebo saline drip.
Price's findings, published Wednesday in the American Journal of Psychiatry, could lead to more long-lasting and accessible treatments due to the low cost of ketamine and the simplicity of the brain training utilized in the Pitt study.
Yale University's Gerald Sanacora says Price's results could have profound public health implications for these reasons. "The demand [for behavioral health care] is so much greater than the supply at this point We need to find ways of providing effective treatments more efficiently."
As an expert in novel treatment approaches to neuropsychiatric disorders, Sanacora said much remains unknown about ketamine's therapeutic properties. For example, is the floating bliss people feel while on ketamine connected to the window of malleability? How is the rapid relief of depressive symptoms related to a person's ability to learn more positive thought patterns?
Therefore, as clinicians look for ways to help patients with ketamine, Sanacora cautions it's important to go about treatment responsibly.
Posted by Jay2112 on September 25, 2022, at 20:30:49
In reply to Ketamine creates window of opportunity, posted by Hugh on September 23, 2022, at 10:18:23
I believe if every single person treated with psych drugs, including the psychadelics, were assigned a 'life coach', someone who is not a therapist, but say a person who had formal training in social work, would lead them in the area that has been transformative for all...support in "recovery principles". Here are the 10 principles of Recovery, by the APA (American Psychological Association):
Self-direction: Consumers determine their own path to recovery.
Individualized and person-centered: There are multiple pathways to recovery based on individuals unique strengths, needs, preferences, experiences and cultural backgrounds.
Empowerment: Consumers can choose among options and participate in all decisions that affect them.
Holistic: Recovery focuses on peoples entire lives, including mind, body, spirit and community.
Nonlinear: Recovery isnt a step-by-step process but one based on continual growth, occasional setbacks and learning from experience.
Strengths-based: Recovery builds on peoples strengths.
Peer support: Mutual support plays an invaluable role in recovery.
Respect: Acceptance and appreciation by society, communities, systems of care and consumers themselves are crucial to recovery.
Responsibility: Consumers are responsible for their own self-care and journeys of recovery.
Hope: Recoverys central, motivating message is a better future that people can and do overcome obstacles.
ALL are deeply important in our journey, and maybe having a 'Recovery Guide' would really help?Thoughts?
Jay
Posted by undopaminergic on September 26, 2022, at 10:45:22
In reply to Re: Ketamine creates window of opportunity, posted by Jay2112 on September 25, 2022, at 20:30:49
>
> ALL are deeply important in our journey, and maybe having a 'Recovery Guide' would really help?
>
> Thoughts?
>
> JayI think that yes, there are many people without formal qualifications in psychotherapy who are nevertheless capable of effective de facto therapy, sometimes better than many who do have such qualifications. These people are a resource society should try and tap into. But without a diploma or something equivalent, how do you know who these people are? Trial and error?
-undopaminergic
Posted by Hugh on September 26, 2022, at 16:11:40
In reply to Re: Ketamine creates window of opportunity, posted by Jay2112 on September 25, 2022, at 20:30:49
I certainly could have used a life coach/recovery guide. A good one could have saved me from years of fumbling in the dark.
Posted by Jay2112 on September 27, 2022, at 0:04:33
In reply to Re: Ketamine creates window of opportunity, posted by undopaminergic on September 26, 2022, at 10:45:22
> >
> > ALL are deeply important in our journey, and maybe having a 'Recovery Guide' would really help?
> >
> > Thoughts?
> >
> > Jay
>
> I think that yes, there are many people without formal qualifications in psychotherapy who are nevertheless capable of effective de facto therapy, sometimes better than many who do have such qualifications. These people are a resource society should try and tap into. But without a diploma or something equivalent, how do you know who these people are? Trial and error?
>
> -undopaminergic
>Yes, I was kinda thinking out loud. I think a social worker would do the job well, if they had some specific training in mental health/addictions. I am a social worker, and have seen some real 'apples' out there trying to take peoples money for "therapy"...say people get a psych degree, or whatever degree, and go masking, offering "therapy". I was looking for some personal help during the pandemic, online, and didn't have $$$$ loot to get professional psychotherapy. What I found was...well, people with some pretty funky diploma titles masquerading as 'therapists'. So, the online world is...just...scary!
So, yes, best to be looking for some type of professional, even if you don't have a lot of money, there are clinical/practical psychologists and social workers, human service workers, who are usually registered with someone...and will offer group and/or individual therapy. That last part about being registered, usually is what you want to look for. If not, have a social work/social service work degree; applied psych degree..etc..from a recognizable college/university.
So...that's my take...
Jay
Posted by Jay2112 on September 27, 2022, at 0:22:22
In reply to Re: Ketamine creates window of opportunity » Jay2112, posted by Hugh on September 26, 2022, at 16:11:40
> I certainly could have used a life coach/recovery guide. A good one could have saved me from years of fumbling in the dark.
Yes, me three!!! lol. Seriously, though, I got my social work diploma over 25 years ago, and have been lost, blind in the dark up until a year and a half ago. I found an organization who assigned me a free community counselor, and damn, is he *good*!! One thing you might want to google is 'strengths based recovery', which is what this guy uses, and I have gone on to use it in working with homeless folks. It is 'all the rage' in social work. Seriously, I used to think it was BS...but....
What is a Strengths-Based Approach to Mental Health?
You are not your mental illness, nor does your illness define who you are and how you live your life. A strengths-based approach to mental health recognizes and embraces these facts.
Strengths is a concept that encompasses many aspects of who people are. Strengths include character traits, talents, and abilities. When you recognize, develop, and use them, you can take forward action and be who you are. You are empowered to live well in spite of mental illness and other challenges.
Therapists draw from a variety of theories and techniques to help people work past mental health challenges. Some are problem-oriented and seek to uncover what is wrong. Other mental health professionals, such as strengths-based counselors, arent as concerned with the problem as they are with what is already working and what people have within them.
A strengths-based approach to mental health leans heavily toward exploring, developing, and using your traits and abilities to transcend problems; however, that doesnt mean that strengths-based therapy never explores problems. Therapy is rarely all-or-nothing but instead uses a wide range of approaches to help people heal. Strengths-based therapy just focuses more on things within you that already work.
Posted by SLS on September 27, 2022, at 11:51:45
In reply to Re: Ketamine creates window of opportunity » Jay2112, posted by Hugh on September 26, 2022, at 16:11:40
> I certainly could have used a life coach/recovery guide. A good one could have saved me from years of fumbling in the dark.
"Recovery" is the word that I think best labels the entire process from diagnosis to biological treatment to psychotherapy to life coach to vocational rehabilitation. Capturing a biological "remission" through the application of biological psychiatry is only the first step towards the recovery of the individual.
- Scott
Posted by Jay2112 on October 2, 2022, at 18:50:58
In reply to 'Recovery', posted by SLS on September 27, 2022, at 11:51:45
> > I certainly could have used a life coach/recovery guide. A good one could have saved me from years of fumbling in the dark.
>
> "Recovery" is the word that I think best labels the entire process from diagnosis to biological treatment to psychotherapy to life coach to vocational rehabilitation. Capturing a biological "remission" through the application of biological psychiatry is only the first step towards the recovery of the individual.
>
>
> - ScottYeah, it's all part in parcel, really. Psychobiosocial model.
Jay
Posted by Hugh on October 2, 2022, at 20:29:14
In reply to 'Recovery', posted by SLS on September 27, 2022, at 11:51:45
For many years, Martin Seligman was one of the leading proponents of cognitive-behavioral therapy, following in the footsteps of Aaron Beck and Albert Ellis. Then it occurred to Seligman that psychology's main focus was on researching and treating sickness, and that very little emphasis was placed on wellness. Seligman changed his focus from helping his patients survive to helping them thrive. He calls this approach positive psychology and flourishing.
Posted by SLS on January 1, 2023, at 19:18:42
In reply to Re: 'Recovery', posted by Hugh on October 2, 2022, at 20:29:14
> For many years, Martin Seligman was one of the leading proponents of cognitive-behavioral therapy, following in the footsteps of Aaron Beck and Albert Ellis. Then it occurred to Seligman that psychology's main focus was on researching and treating sickness, and that very little emphasis was placed on wellness. Seligman changed his focus from helping his patients survive to helping them thrive. He calls this approach positive psychology and flourishing.
>
> https://positivepsychology.com/flourishing/
Nice.
From what I understand, Albert Ellis was all "tough love". Although Ellis might not have been a true *ssh*l*, he certainly went out of his way to portray himself as one when working with people. I heard a story that, early on, Ellis walked up to every woman he came across in the Bronx Botanical Gardens and asked each of them whether or not they would go on a date with him. As you can imagine, he was turned down every time during his first excursion in doing the "homework assignment" he gave himself. Ellis used this exercise as a way to desensitize himself to the fear-provoking situation of asking women out on dates."FEAR OF APPROACHING WOMEN"
Article published by the REBT Network:
Ask Dr. Ellis
May, 2006""At the age of 19, he [Albert Ellis] gave himself a homework assignment."
http://www.rebtnetwork.org/ask/may06.html
- Scott
Posted by Hugh on January 27, 2023, at 12:02:20
In reply to Re: 'Recovery' » Hugh, posted by SLS on January 1, 2023, at 19:18:42
Hi Scott,
Back in the '90s, I was a big fan of Albert Ellis. I read a dozen or more of his books. What you posted about Ellis reminds me of something David Burns wrote in Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy. In an attempt to get over his shyness, Burns entered a crowded elevator and started talking to people -- announcing each floor the elevator stopped at, etc. Burns said that it wasn't nearly as bad as he feared it would be. I didn't have the courage to try this myself.
This radio report from This American Life has a tape recording of Ellis with a patient:
https://www.thisamericanlife.org/540/a-front/act-three-0
> > For many years, Martin Seligman was one of the leading proponents of cognitive-behavioral therapy, following in the footsteps of Aaron Beck and Albert Ellis. Then it occurred to Seligman that psychology's main focus was on researching and treating sickness, and that very little emphasis was placed on wellness. Seligman changed his focus from helping his patients survive to helping them thrive. He calls this approach positive psychology and flourishing.
> >
> > https://positivepsychology.com/flourishing/
>
>
> Nice.
>
>
> From what I understand, Albert Ellis was all "tough love". Although Ellis might not have been a true *ssh*l*, he certainly went out of his way to portray himself as one when working with people. I heard a story that, early on, Ellis walked up to every woman he came across in the Bronx Botanical Gardens and asked each of them whether or not they would go on a date with him. As you can imagine, he was turned down every time during his first excursion in doing the "homework assignment" he gave himself. Ellis used this exercise as a way to desensitize himself to the fear-provoking situation of asking women out on dates.
>
> "FEAR OF APPROACHING WOMEN"
>
> Article published by the REBT Network:
>
> Ask Dr. Ellis
> May, 2006"
>
> "At the age of 19, he [Albert Ellis] gave himself a homework assignment."
>
> http://www.rebtnetwork.org/ask/may06.html
>
>
> - Scott
This is the end of the thread.
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