Ketamine Infusion Therapy: Expert Dr. Craig Heacock Discusses Safe Protocols & Risks

Jan 12, 2022

Dr. Craig Heacock is an adolescent and adult psychiatrist and addiction specialist in Colorado and the host and co-producer of the podcast Back from the Abyss: Psychiatry in Stories. First, Dr. Heacock gives us a brief history of ketamine from the last fifty years as an FDA-approved drug. We talk about how ketamine became a go-to treatment for resistant depression and bipolar disorder. Tune in as Dr. Heacock reveals how a state-of-the-art assessment delivery and follow-up for ketamine would look like.

 

IN THIS EPISODE:

 

• [02:00] Ketamine: a brief history of the past fifty years.  
• [05:00] How would a state-of-the-art assessment delivery and follow-up for ketamine look like?  
• [09:00] Who is running the ketamine clinics if there’s a shortage of psychiatrists?  
• [11:55] How money and profit drive some of this ketamine delivery. 
• [16:09] Dr. Heacock’s experience with individuals who abuse ketamine.

 

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

 

• Ketamine is a go-to treatment for resistant depression and bipolar disorder.
• A state-of-the-art ketamine therapy involves a true psychiatric evaluation to see if there are other things that should be happening first.
• Ketamine does not replace medications; it augments them and helps them work better.
• Most people that are receiving ketamine treatments are very middle class.

 

LINKS MENTIONED:

 

Website

 

craigheacockmd.com

 

Podcast: Back from the Abyss: Psychiatry in Stories

 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/back-from-the-abyss-psychiatry-in-stories/id1469826718

 

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/theabysspod/

 

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/backfromtheabysspodcast/

 

LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/craig-heacock-md-1a8618196

 

https://oconnorpg.com/podcasts/ketamine-infusion-therapy-expert-dr-craig-heacock-discusses-safe-protocols-risks

 

BIO:

 

Dr. Craig Heacock is an adolescent and adult psychiatrist and addiction specialist in Colorado and the host and co-producer of the podcast Back from the Abyss: Psychiatry in Stories. He was a co-therapist in the Phase 3 trial of MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy for PTSD and has particular interest in the use of ketamine and other psychedelics to treat severe mood disorders and PTSD. He is a graduate of the University of New Mexico School of Medicine and did his psychiatry training at Brown University.