Episode 54 - Ketamine For Suicidal Patients Offers Fast Treatment Options For Elderly
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We look forward to supporting you on your caregiving journey. Today's lesson is The Breakthrough Medication Ketamine Helps Suicidal Patients Overcome Thoughts. I am a mother of an Army veteran that completed suicide. He was a disabled veteran with a chronic pain condition, as well as PTSD and depression.
His first attempt to commit suicide was when he was in Madigan Army Medical Center. My son Jeff had a terrible pain condition, also known as the suicide disease. This pain condition, Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome, or CRPS. Also known as RSD, or Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, caused my son unrelenting pain.
Just the slightest change in the temperature, or a slight breeze, or just a change in water temperatures would send Jeff into horrible, terrible pain levels. Three times in the course of a year, while Jeff was in the hospital, he was given so much Dilaudid, an opioid, he stopped breathing, and had to be given Narcan to revive him.
Even those high doses of Dilaudid did not relieve his pain. Now the Narcan did, because the Narcan, when given to people, IV, Jeff says it feels like a fire going through your body. So other pain receptors took over and it helped relieve Jeff's pain. So many with this horrible condition are mistreated by healthcare professionals.
They are accused of drug seeking and their feelings of pain are discounted and dismissed. And I understand why so many with this horrible condition commit suicide. Because he expressed suicidal intent, Jeff was placed on a one on one at Madigan Army Medical Center. He was having a mental health crisis and he was having thoughts and feelings of hopelessness.
Jeff started to have thoughts of suicide as medical professionals accused him of drug seeking behaviors. The attitude of these medical professionals made him feel worse. His feelings of suicidal thoughts worsened. He lacked support services while in the VA hospital.
The healthcare professionals did not offer support. They did not spend time trying to understand his condition, and his mental health condition was deteriorating, and the lack of professional support made Jeff's suicidal thoughts worse. I want to say that many with chronic pain conditions or with mental health issues often have the response that they don't feel that anybody's understanding them or they actually feel mistreated by the health professionals.
Jeff's first attempt at suicide was when in his hospital room. He was on one on one, and his one on one left the room without a replacement. Jeff had a suicide plan in place. When his one on one left, he decided to take his own life and cut his wrists. Jeff was found on the hospital floor, in his hospital room, by the hospital chaplain.
The irony here is, this chaplain never enters a room with the door closed and Jeff's door to his room was closed but something compelled that chaplain to go into my son's room. Jeff was revived and had to have many stitches to both arms. So as I've learned about how ketamine reduced suicide ideation almost immediately, I felt compelled to share this information with my audience.
You see, suicide in the elderly is a growing problem. Since the pandemic, the mental health of our youth is also a problem. So before I share more about this groundbreaking medication, let's talk about the growing rate of suicide in this country. As the population of older adults increases, so does their alarming suicide rate. There are 15 deaths for 100, 000 individuals over the age of 65, and that rises to an even 17 deaths for 100, 000 for those aged 75 to 84.
Unfortunately, there are things called silent suicides, such as overdoses or self starvation go unreported. This issue has become a major public health priority that's only going to get more dire with each passing year. The elderly are particularly susceptible because they mainly rely on lethal methods to complete suicide.
Indeed, there have been an estimates placing under reporting at 40 percent or greater in recent years. So people are using lethal methods and they're not always getting reported. Depression is an ever present, yet often underestimated threat to the health of millions around the globe. Studies estimate that 5% of adults are living with mental health conditions like treatment resistant depression and suicidal ideation.
Some will experience a mental health crisis, which in some cases can spiral into suicidal thoughts and unfortunately take away lives too soon. Tragically, thousands of people in the United States reported to have taken their own lives are due to depression, with suicide being one of the top 10 leading causes of death across the nation and 494,169 individuals requiring hospital attention for self-harm, injuries every year, swift treatments are needed more than ever. Before this alarming trend is going to be brought under control, timely intervention could prove life changing. A critical time window exists where by those suffering from depression and those that experience suicidal thoughts can potentially receive rapid relief.
Thus, reducing the risk of suicide and taking further actions among themselves. Medications to battle depression have left many struggling to find relief outside the traditional antidepressants. Many are finding success and hope in ketamine therapy. This has been seen effective even in those suffering from treatment resistant depression and suicidal thoughts.
Mental health conditions can range from mild to severe. In some cases, suicidal feelings are a factor that must be carefully monitored. Unfortunately, there are other mental health conditions that carry substantial risk of suicide attempts. For example, an elderly man with depression and suicidal thoughts may face the highest degree of danger among those conditions.
Other mental health disorders include bipolar disorder, substance abuse, and or individuals that practice self harm. So what are the warning signs of suicide? It's important to look out for close friends and loved ones with depression as they may be struggling silently. Warning signs of a person feeling suicidal may include their expressing to others of wanting to die.
They express feelings of great guilt or shame, and they have a fear of being a burden to others. A suicidal person may feel empty, hopeless, trapped, or have no reason to live. Their stress levels are high and life may be putting things in their path that makes it difficult for them to cope. Other symptoms of suicidal thoughts include a person that may be extremely sad or have become more anxious, agitated, or full of rage. Some have extreme mood swings. Some may be experiencing unbearable emotional or physical pain. They may be sleeping too much or too little.
You may observe changes in their behavior such as making a plan or researching ways to die, withdrawing from friends, saying goodbye, or giving away prized possessions. Being aware of these signals is key. Offering immediate help when someone needs it most could all make the difference. There are circumstances to make a person high risk for thinking about suicide. Let's talk about the individual risk factors that will contribute to a suicidal crisis.
It may be that they have a history of a previous suicide attempt. They may have a history of depression or other mental illness. They may have a serious illness, such as a chronic pain condition. They may have criminal or legal problems. They may have job or financial problems or loss. They may have impulsive or aggressive tendencies.
They may have a substance abuse problem. They may have current or prior history of adverse childhood experiences. They may be a person that feels helpless and hopeless, or they have a past history of family violence. Relationship factors also contribute to thoughts of suicide. These may be hurtful experiences within their close relationships.
I can tell you many of my caregivers feel bullied by uninvolved siblings and other family members. I have to ask, is there a family history of a family member or a friend that completed suicide? Was there a loss of a relationships? Or a recent death of someone dear to them? Social isolation is another problem.
It occurs with so many of my caregivers and their care recipients. And this is one factor that I believe that occurs with spousal caregivers. Research indicates that suicide is a complex issue with various risk factors acting together to lead individuals down this darker path. Additionally, on a relationship level, many lack emotional support from family and friends that cause feelings of isolation and hopelessness.
Ultimately, numerous elements act together in various degrees to increase one's likelihood for attempting suicide. I know one of the things that we are seeing is an increase in suicide over the age of 80. It's usually the husband is the spousal caregiver caring for a very sick wife. Many have dementia and they kill their wives, and then they complete suicide.
So it's an increase in homicidal, suicidal situations in individuals over the age of 80 and this is occurring because caregiving is hard, it is stressful, and they don't see any reprieve or break from their pain.
Now let's discuss the new breakthrough treatment ketamine for treatment resistant depression and suicidal thoughts. With an inability to predict when a suicidal person might be considering taking their own life, it's vital that medical professionals are able to swiftly provide treatments which could help reduce the risk of suicidal behavior. According to Dr. Michael Grunbaum from Columbia University Medical Center, typical antidepressants can take weeks for patients with depression and suicidal thoughts to see any relief, leaving them in danger during this time period.
So Dr. Grunbaum and his team unearthed groundbreaking results in their latest study. Ketamine had the astonishing ability to reduce suicidal thoughts by half within 24 hours of administration. In comparison, participants who received a low dose of midazolam didn't experience any reduction in symptoms such as negative thoughts or self loathing or thoughts of suicide.
The 80 adults selected were those suffering from major depression with scores on the scale for suicide ideation, or SSI, as an indication that they all harbored suicidal thoughts prior to taking part in the study. Published recently in the American Journal of Psychiatry, it's clear this research could have potential implications moving forward into aiding individuals restruggling with such issues as feeling suicidal and depression.
After a six week study, the results are in, ketamine was found to be more successful than midazolam in reducing suicidal thoughts. An impressive 55% of the group who used ketamine experienced at least a 50% decline in suicidal thoughts compared with only 30% from those taking midazolam.
Moreover, individuals given ketamine also witness improvements such as improved outlooks, a dramatic decrease in their negative thoughts, and an increase in their energy levels. Ketamine infusions have shown promise as a potential treatment for suicide ideation. Several peer reviewed studies have demonstrated ketamine's efficacy in reducing suicidal thoughts and behaviors. In one study, ketamine was found to reduce the severity of suicidal thinking among those with major depressive disorder after just 24 hours of infusion therapy. Other research was found ketamine infusions to be effective at reducing self-harm behavior over longer periods of time.
The mechanism by which ketamine works to reduce suicide ideation is still not fully understood, but it is believed that ketamine acts on glutamate receptors in the brain, leading to improved neural communication and reduced symptoms of depression and suicidal thoughts. Ketamine as a suicide prevention strategy.
So let's talk. Ketamine is showing promise as a breakthrough treatment option for treatment resistant depression and suicide ideation. It is providing both short term and long term relief from distress. Those considering ketamine infusion should speak with their mental health provider before making any decisions regarding this type of treatment and therapy.
With proper monitoring and support, along with talk therapy, ketamine use may help individuals gain control over suicide ideation and move forward in their recovery journey. Once notorious for its use as a club drug, Ketamine is now being heralded by some as an effective treatment option for difficult to treat depression.
A recent study has identified which individuals are more likely to experience fast and significant relief from the potent antidepressant, offering hope and previously untouchable cases can finally find some respite from their suicide ideation. Talk with your mental health professional to see if ketamine therapy is a possible solution for your mental health condition.
