0:00:00.5 April Pride, host: Between you and me, I call this Season Ketamine for Divorce, Depression and Dependency. Join me in the new year for a very personal Fourth Season here on the High Guide podcast, a show all about women changing their lives thanks to altered states of consciousness. And one of those women is me, your host and Sister Tripper, April Pride. This season, I invite you to learn how ketamine-assisted therapy had a profoundly positive impact on my life in 2022. Categorized as a dissociative anesthetic, ketamine has been used in clinical settings since the 1960s. Outside of the clinic, street ketamine is vilified for its addictive allure among recreational consumers.
0:00:42.8 April Pride, host: Today, ketamine is an FDA-approved treatment for major depressive disorder. And unlike the weeks an SSRI can take to relieve symptoms of depression, ketamine has been proven to relieve symptoms within about 40 minutes. Having no experience with ketamine recreationally, nor a history of diagnosed depression, my research was for you, listeners of this show, who may have read recent headlines about ketamine success treating mental health conditions, which in addition to depression, include anxiety, PTSD, and OCD. Then, out of the blue, a ketamine company contacted me as host of this show, and this season took a whole new meaning for you and for me.
0:01:25.3 April Pride, host: Lauren Swanson, one of this season’s high guides and lead clinician for ketamine telehealth company WonderMed, shared the following story that connected dots in my own life, making sense when I could not seem to do so for myself.
0:01:39.4 Lauren Swanson, Wondermed: I had a patient, he would smoke weed every day. So when he came to us, his intention was not to stop smoking. His intention was to feel better, right? ‘Cause he had this major depression and this social anxiety disorder. And after just one month of the treatment, he’s not smoking at all. Because when he smoked, especially the amount that he was smoking, he felt disconnected with the world. The ketamine brought out the opposite. He wanted to engage, ask people how they’re doing and be present.
0:02:06.0 April Pride, host: It was only after talking to WonderMed that I realized I was less than a year post divorce, depressed and self medicating with cannabis. Dr. Bridget Carnahan, another high guide you’ll hear from this season, exactly lays out how I was feeling, and goes on to explain how ultimately ketamine assisted therapy brought light and levity to my mind.
0:02:27.8 Dr. Bridget Carnahan, Field Trip Health: People have a lack of motivation, they have a brain fog, they have a lack of interest. Ketamine comes in and it resets this pattern. So it gives you a period of freedom. It gives you this window where you can experience what it’s like to not be in that automatic fear-based response, to not be in a brain fog. And it creates a sense of, “I can change my perspective on this and see the beauty in how my life is unfolding, even though there have been these challenges.”
0:02:55.2 April Pride, host: Oh, and this year has been filled with challenges. But as you may expect, it’s not as easy as taking medicine to properly crawl your way out of, let’s face it, a midlife crisis. Over this season, we’ll hear from medical experts who explain how ketamine, when coupled with intentional integrative practices, promotes neuroplasticity to effect prolonged change. We’ll learn about the different ways ketamine is administered. The potency of each modality and how to choose which is best for you for your desired outcome, and your budget. If you or someone you love is suffering, and the words in this trailer connect with you, be sure to subscribe to The High Guide wherever you listen to podcasts and not miss an episode of this very personal fourth season, beginning on January 6th, just in time to explore what new year, new you can truly mean.
