KAP
I got to try ketamine-assisted psychotherapy for depression and described the experience. I also added some broader context. Time to read ~40 mins, time to write — I don't know, some months.
It's better to read all entries sequentially to get the whole picture. But I do start pretty far: some notes on psychedelics in general (based on Michael Pollan's book), on ketamine specifically, on the process, the sessions, and some overall reflections at the very end. It's the path from “the whole world” to “the one specific bed in one specific clinic.”
But if you're only curious about the trips, read just the three parts about them. All the “therapy” will be lost in that case.
Context
How to Change Your Mind. Michael Pollan
It’s a perfect book to learn about the current state and history of psychedelics in culture, science, and medicine: * what neuroscientists think about the way psychedelics work; * what doctors think about psychedelics as medication for mental health issues; * how the psychedelics were introduced…
Andrey
1. On ketamine-assisted psychotherapy
🤓This post is very much in the “scientist rapes reporter” genre. I rely on some personal experiences, a few studies (read with no medical training), and some pop-sci books with podcasts. A more natural approach would be: to first learn some about ketamine-assisted psychotherapy and then sign up. I…
Andrey
2. On my case specifically
To sign up for ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, the patient has to pass a couple of reasonable filters: ensure there are indications for it and no contraindications. Easy. Indications: a diagnosed disorder and dissatisfactory efficacy of two other attempted approaches to treat it (talk therapy and…
Andrey
3. On experiences
Psychedelic experiences are hard to translate into the language of everyday life. Virtually every “trip report” starts with a similar preamble. Probably that’s the reason William James put “ineffability” as the first trait of “mystical experience” in his classification. One of the early names of ps…
Andrey
The sessions
4.1 On session one
Some things that happen here for the first time reoccur in the subsequent sessions. Due to that, the description of the first session is a bit wordier than the other two. That applies to the speed I sunk into the trip. You look back 15–20 minutes after the injection
Andrey
4.2 On session two
Temperature, pee in the can, “feel okay?” and let’s go. drugs After the first session, I was slightly less enthused about the second one, though not entirely averse. We raised the dose a little. The kernel of the sensations at the start was pretty much the same as the first
Andrey
4.3 On session three
The first two times, it was suggested to me to think about a theme for the trip, assume an intention, ask a question. It was not supposed to be a goal but a direction. I ignored it the first two times, but I decided not to this time. The first
Andrey
Reflections
5. On all three together
🙄This post is mostly written in my “internal language.” I wrote it to myself, so I wouldn’t need to reread the whole thing if I needed to remind myself of something. But it’s part of the cycle, so let it be here too. On stories “Initial condition → Transformation → Consequence” in
Andrey
6. Onwards
Now, after all these cute splashings in a somewhat shallow psychedelic pond, let’s look at it with more cynical eyes. In the introduction, it was important to me to highlight the strangeness of the things I attempted to cover and to acknowledge the limitations of my verbal explanations. In conclusi…
Andrey