All too often, chronic pain and depression occur together, and this isn’t some unfortunate coincidence. The link between the two conditions is well-established, anecdotally and scientifically.
By the numbers, nearly a quarter of adults in the United States report chronic pain and 29% of Americans have been diagnosed with depression. Intertwined in these statistics is the fact that more than half of adults with chronic pain also experience depression and/or anxiety.
Our team of highly experienced pain management experts at Pain Medicine Consultants is very familiar with the link between chronic pain and depression. That’s why we’re so pleased to offer ketamine infusion therapy.
This novel approach to depression and chronic pain addresses both issues at the same time, allowing patients to break free from their vicious cycle.
On the surface, the link between chronic pain and depression certainly makes sense. Dealing with ongoing and daily pain doesn’t exactly promote happiness. This is especially true if the pain is preventing you from engaging in activities you once enjoyed.
The link is biological, as well. Pain is processed in your nervous system, which includes your brain, and mental health issues like depression also stem from your brain. So, it’s little wonder that there’s considerable overlap between the two.
For example, there are molecular mechanisms and certain areas of your brain involved in both chronic pain and depression that lead to:
The bottom line is that chronic pain can alter neural activity in your brain in a way that makes you more vulnerable to mental health issues like depression and anxiety.
If chronic pain has worn you down mentally and physically and you’re also dealing with clinical depression, ketamine infusion therapy can make a meaningful difference.
Ketamine has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration as an effective solution for treatment-resistent depression.
It works by targeting certain neurotransmitters in your brain — mainly glutamate — to form newer, healthier neural pathways that improve mood regulation.
Ketamine not only works well — it works fast, offering almost immediate relief from depression.
Since ketamine was originally introduced as an anesthetic, it also works wonders for chronic pain, offering you immediate results in this area, too.
We deliver the ketamine intravenously under our care, and most of our patients benefit from a series of ketamine infusions. As we just mentioned, most of our patients report great immediate results, and these results only improve over the course of your ketamine therapy.
If you’d like to explore for yourself whether ketamine infusion therapy is right for your chronic pain and your related depression, we invite you to come in and sit down with one of our specialists.
To get that ball rolling, please contact one of our offices in Pleasant Hill, Corte Madera, or Pleasanton, California, to schedule an appointment.
