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KBS, Inc. and its affiliates (“Innerwell”) provide a platform that connects medical professionals with individuals. Innerwell does not control or direct the activity of the medical professionals providing care through the platform. Innerwell does not provide medical advice and nothing on the platform should be considered medical advice.

Most people with depression improve with medication, therapy, or a combination of both; however, 10-20% of patients continue to struggle even after trying several treatments. When depression doesn't respond to standard approaches, it's called treatment-resistant depression, a condition that leaves people cycling through failed medications and therapies, often for years.

Ketamine therapy breaks that pattern by targeting the brain's glutamate network instead of serotonin, catalyzing synaptic repair rather than slowly modulating neurotransmitter levels. Relief can emerge within hours instead of weeks.

If you're considering ketamine therapy, you have options. IV infusion has been extensively studied, but sublingual ketamine—taken at home under licensed clinical supervision—offers the same therapeutic mechanism with greater accessibility and lower cost. This guide compares both approaches so you can make an informed decision.

What Is Ketamine Therapy and How Is It Delivered?

Ketamine therapy is a medical treatment that delivers controlled doses of ketamine to treat psychiatric conditions, particularly treatment-resistant depression. Originally developed as an anesthetic and FDA-approved for surgical use, ketamine has emerged as a breakthrough intervention for patients who haven't responded to traditional antidepressants.

The medication works by blocking NMDA receptors in the brain, triggering a surge of glutamate that stimulates the rapid growth of new neural connections. Your brain builds new connections rather than simply adjusting existing chemical levels. Because these structural changes happen quickly, many people notice mood lifts the same day or within a few treatments.

Traditional antidepressants often take several weeks to work and don't achieve full remission for many patients with treatment-resistant depression. Clinical research shows that patients who had failed multiple medications often experience meaningful relief with ketamine, including sharp drops in suicidal thoughts.

IV Infusion: Delivered directly into the bloodstream over 40 minutes in a clinical facility. This is the most researched form, allowing for precise dosing adjustments during treatment. You'll need to arrange transportation and spend several hours at a clinic for each session.

Sublingual (At-Home): Medication dissolves under the tongue and absorbs through the mucous membranes. Patients take this at home while licensed clinicians provide remote supervision via video or phone. This is Innerwell's primary delivery method and offers the same clinical oversight as in-person infusion.

Both methods block the same NMDA receptors, trigger the same glutamate surge, and promote the same neuroplastic changes. The difference lies in delivery, setting, and accessibility—not therapeutic mechanism or effectiveness.

IV Infusion vs. Sublingual Ketamine Comparison Table

The treatment experience differs based on delivery method, but both involve comprehensive clinical evaluation, supervised sessions, and structured aftercare.

Your journey starts with an intake evaluation where a clinician reviews your medical and psychiatric history, current medications, and previous treatment attempts. You'll receive specific instructions about eating, drinking, and medications on treatment day. You should arrange transportation in advance, as you cannot drive yourself home after treatment.

When you arrive at the clinic, staff take baseline vital signs and insert a small IV catheter. The medication delivers over approximately 40 minutes while monitoring equipment tracks your vital signs and a nurse remains nearby. Within the first few minutes, you may notice subtle changes in perception: a gentle sense of detachment, altered time perception, or slightly vivid colors. The dissociative effects typically peak around the midpoint and gradually ease as the session continues.

After the infusion completes, you'll be monitored while effects fade and vital signs return to baseline. Then, your pre-arranged ride takes you home, where you should plan for light activities and rest for the remainder of the day.

With at-home sublingual ketamine therapy, your psychiatric clinician conducts a comprehensive virtual evaluation and determines your starting dose. Medicine arrives at your door in Innerwell's specially designed treatment box. You prepare your space with comfortable seating, water nearby, and your phone charged for clinical check-ins. Most people dim their lights, prepare calming music, and ensure they won't be disturbed.

You place the medication under your tongue, where it dissolves over several minutes. Your clinician checks in via video or phone at scheduled intervals throughout the experience. Effects emerge gradually and feel gentler for most people compared to IV infusion. You'll experience similar dissociative effects: altered perception, introspection, and emotional processing in the comfort and privacy of your own home.

Effects typically fade within an hour or two. You rest at home for the remainder of the day with no need for transportation arrangements. Your care team follows up within 24 hours to discuss the experience and adjust dosing if needed.

What Are The Benefits of Ketamine Therapy?

Ketamine therapy offers distinct advantages over traditional antidepressants. These benefits apply to both IV infusion and sublingual delivery methods.

Rapid Relief: The antidepressant effect can emerge within hours, sometimes the same day of your first session, instead of the weeks typically required by traditional medications.

High Response Rate: Innerwell patients achieve a 69% reduction in depression symptoms and a 60% reduction in anxiety symptoms after 10 weeks of treatment. 87% of patients see improvement within 4 weeks.

Reduces Suicidal Thinking: Research suggests this therapy can reduce suicidal thoughts in 24 hours, providing a critical safety window when every hour matters.

Promotes Neuroplasticity: It jump-starts the growth of new synaptic connections in mood-regulating regions of the brain.

Long-Term Stability: When combined with ongoing therapy and maintenance sessions, benefits can extend for months.

Ketamine therapy is safe when administered with licensed clinical oversight. Most side effects are mild, temporary, and resolve within an hour after treatment ends.

Drifting, "out-of-body" feeling, or mild dissociation

Altered perception of time or mild visual distortion

Recreational ketamine abuse involves high doses taken without supervision, but medical ketamine therapy uses low, controlled doses with precise psychiatric follow-up. Structured integration therapy helps you process insights and lock in new neural pathways after sessions, extending relief and reducing relapse risk.

Why Innerwell's Sublingual Approach Works

Innerwell delivers clinical-grade ketamine therapy through a sublingual at-home model that maintains the rigor of in-clinic IV infusion while dramatically improving accessibility. Our team consists exclusively of Master's and Doctoral-level licensed therapists with specialized training in ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, working collaboratively across psychiatry, therapy, and specialized care.

We've secured insurance partnerships that bring treatment costs down to $54 per session in California and New York, compared to $150-200+ charged by IV infusion clinics. Our technology platform enhances care through treatment personalization, secure communication with your care team, and structured integration therapy built into every treatment plan.

The sublingual model doesn't compromise on clinical oversight—it enhances accessibility while maintaining the same therapeutic outcomes as IV infusion. You receive the same NMDA receptor blockade, the same neuroplastic changes, and comprehensive support that makes ketamine therapy transformative for treatment-resistant depression.

If you've tried multiple antidepressants without success, ketamine therapy offers a fundamentally different path. Whether you choose IV infusion or sublingual delivery, the therapeutic mechanism remains the same: rapid synaptic growth that can provide relief within hours instead of weeks.

Innerwell combines licensed clinical teams, comprehensive psychiatric support, and structured integration therapy with insurance partnerships that bring costs down to $54 per session in California and New York—making effective treatment accessible without the barriers of in-clinic infusions.

Take Innerwell's free mental health assessment to find out if ketamine therapy is right for you.

How much does ketamine therapy cost?
IV ketamine infusion therapy typically costs $150-200+ per session at most providers operating on cash-pay models. Innerwell offers sublingual ketamine with insurance partnerships in California and New York that bring costs down to as low as $54 per session with coverage, making this treatment accessible to millions more patients who couldn't afford traditional infusion pricing.

Is sublingual ketamine as effective as IV infusion? 
Yes. Both delivery methods block NMDA receptors and trigger the same neuroplastic changes that relieve depression. The therapeutic mechanism is identical—only the delivery differs. Innerwell's sublingual model maintains the same clinical oversight and safety protocols as in-clinic infusion while offering the added benefits of home convenience and lower cost.

Compare IV ketamine infusion and at-home sublingual treatment. Learn how both methods work, their costs, accessibility, and which option fits your needs.

At Home Ketamine vs. Infusion Therapy: Key Differences Explained

Introduction

What to Expect During Ketamine Treatment

Is Ketamine Therapy Safe?

Is Ketamine Therapy Right for You?

FAQs

Ketamine for mental health might sound unconventional, especially if you associate it with anesthesia or recreational use. You're right to be cautious. Understanding how this medication works therapeutically and what benefits research actually supports matters before considering treatment.

Ketamine therapy operates differently from traditional antidepressants. It targets glutamate pathways rather than serotonin, offering rapid symptom relief for treatment-resistant conditions where conventional approaches have failed.

This guide covers eight potential benefits of ketamine therapy, from rapid depression relief to enhanced neuroplasticity, plus what the research shows about safety and who makes a good candidate.

Why Consider Ketamine for Your Mental Health?

Ketamine therapy works through a fundamentally different mechanism than traditional antidepressants. Instead of adjusting serotonin levels over weeks, it triggers rapid glutamate release that can ease symptoms within hours, even in treatment-resistant cases.

If you've spent months or years cycling through pills and talk therapy only to watch the same symptoms creep back, the exhaustion is understandable. Traditional antidepressants ask you to wait four, six, sometimes eight weeks for relief that may never fully arrive.

The core issue runs deeper than you might expect. SSRIs focus on serotonin, just one chemical messenger in your brain. They rarely touch the underlying circuitry that keeps depressive or anxious loops running, which is why some patients remain "treatment-resistant."

Ketamine works through a completely different doorway. By blocking NMDA receptors, it triggers a rapid surge of glutamate, your brain's most abundant excitatory neurotransmitter. This activates a powerful cascade that jump-starts neuroplasticity, essentially rewiring your brain's capacity to form new, healthier patterns.

Within hours, the treatment can promote changes in brain connectivity and activity associated with stress and hopelessness. These include rapid neuroplasticity effects that may lead to structural changes, not just temporary chemical adjustments.

Many patients report a tangible lift on the very day of treatment: less emotional weight, fewer intrusive thoughts, a genuine sense of relief.

Here are eight ways ketamine therapy can support mental health treatment:

1. Rapid Relief from Depression and Suicidal Thoughts

SSRIs typically require four to six weeks for noticeable change. That's an eternity when every day feels heavy. Ketamine therapy works differently.

By blocking NMDA receptors, ketamine triggers new synaptic activity in hours, not weeks. Clinical research shows marked mood improvements within 24 to 72 hours for people who had failed multiple antidepressants, along with reduced suicidal thinking.

Changes in brain regions associated with emotion regulation appear linked to this turnaround. When you've been waiting years for relief, that speed can be life-saving.

2. Effective Treatment for PTSD and Anxiety

Trauma rewires the brain toward hypervigilance. Traditional medications often dampen symptoms without touching the circuitry itself.

Research shows that ketamine can decrease PTSD symptoms within one day, with benefits persisting for weeks. Continued symptom reductions appear when infusions are paired with psychotherapy. Patients report calmer physiological states:

Repeated infusions can reduce overall trauma severity. By opening a neuroplastic window, the treatment also appears to enhance extinction learning, making therapies like EMDR more potent.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder creates rigid thought patterns through overactive pathways in the brain's cortico-striatal circuit.

Low-dose ketamine infusions may reduce obsessive-compulsive symptoms within the same day in certain patients. Some maintain these improvements for a week or longer with regular dosing. 

For people who haven't responded to exposure and response prevention therapy, this neurological reset can create an opening for other therapeutic approaches to finally take hold.

4. Enhanced Neuroplasticity and Cognitive Function

Beyond symptom relief, ketamine treatment actively rebuilds the neural architecture that mood disorders erode. NMDA antagonism triggers a cascade that boosts neuroplasticity markers and activates pathways responsible for synaptogenesis.

Imaging research shows structural brain changes in prefrontal regions linked to decision-making and emotional control after treatment. Patients commonly describe newfound mental flexibility, gaining the ability to step back from entrenched negative thoughts and choose different responses.

This window of malleability lasts for hours to days. It creates an ideal timeframe for therapy, meditation, or lifestyle changes to lock in healthier circuitry.

5. Long-Lasting Effects with Minimal Treatment

Ketamine therapy’s neurological remodeling effect means benefits linger after treatment. After an initial series (typically six sessions over two to three weeks), many patients maintain relief with only occasional booster doses rather than daily pills.

Compared with years of daily SSRIs and their side-effect baggage, a periodic maintenance plan can translate into:

This frees you to invest energy back into living instead of merely coping.

Treatment accessibility matters when you're struggling with mental health conditions. Ketamine can be administered through IV infusions in clinical settings, intranasal spray, intramuscular injections, or sublingual lozenges for at-home use.

Innerwell specializes in at-home sublingual ketamine therapy, removing barriers like travel time, clinic appointments, and needle anxiety. You receive treatment in a familiar, comfortable environment with real-time telehealth support from licensed therapists throughout your session, combining convenience with clinical oversight.

Many patients arrive at ketamine therapy after years of cycling through multiple daily medications. The periodic dosing schedule offers a different approach.

After an initial treatment series, patients often maintain improvements with occasional booster sessions rather than daily pills. This can mean:

For people tired of pill organizers and pharmacy runs, this shift can feel liberating.

Ketamine therapy doesn't replace other mental health treatments. Instead, it can enhance them. The neuroplastic window created by ketamine appears to make the brain more receptive to therapeutic interventions.

Combining ketamine with psychotherapy, EMDR, or cognitive behavioral therapy may deepen therapeutic work and accelerate progress. The treatment creates an opportunity for other approaches to work more effectively, potentially shortening the overall time needed in intensive therapy.

Ketamine therapy demonstrates both safety and efficacy when administered under proper clinical supervision. The FDA's approval of Spravato (esketamine) for treatment-resistant depression validates the therapeutic approach at the regulatory level.

Regarding safety, rigorous safety protocols ensure patient well-being during treatment:

Licensed clinical oversight is essential to address potential side effects, such as dissociation or cardiovascular effects. This differentiates clinical use from recreational misuse.

While risks exist, they are professionally managed through a structured approach that prioritizes patient safety. Clinical treatment offers a safer and regulated path compared to unsupervised use, providing potent relief with careful professional management.

Who Is (and Isn't) a Good Candidate for Ketamine Therapy?

If you've tried two or more antidepressants without meaningful relief, you are likely dealing with treatment-resistant depression. That's exactly what ketamine therapy excels at treating.

It has shown promise for people who haven't responded to conventional treatments, with many patients experiencing mood improvements more quickly than traditional antidepressants provide.

The benefits extend well beyond depression:

Veterans and civilians with entrenched PTSD experience measurable drops in flashbacks and hypervigilance after a short course of infusions.

Chronic anxiety patients report calmer nervous systems and improved sleep.

For OCD, even a single low-dose infusion can disrupt rigid thought loops for days.

However, the treatment isn't right for everyone. Because it can temporarily raise blood pressure and alter perception, clinicians screen out anyone with:

If you've cycled through treatments that left you exhausted and skeptical, the thorough evaluation ensures you're positioned for the breakthrough relief you've been seeking.

Getting Started with Ketamine Therapy for Mental Health

Ketamine therapy targets glutamate pathways that conventional antidepressants miss, delivering rapid relief from depression, PTSD, anxiety, and OCD. Patients often experience meaningful improvements within hours or days rather than waiting weeks for traditional medications to work.

Innerwell provides clinically supervised at-home ketamine therapy with licensed therapists guiding each session. Our patients achieve significant reductions in depression and anxiety symptoms, combining breakthrough medicine with comprehensive mental health support at costs starting from $54 per session with insurance.

Ready to explore if ketamine therapy is right for you? Take our free mental health assessment.

Can I drive after a ketamine therapy session? 
No. You should not drive or operate machinery until the next day after a restful sleep. The treatment can affect attention, judgment, and reaction time. Most providers require someone to drive you home or arrange transportation after each session.

How many ketamine therapy sessions will I need? 
Most treatment plans start with six sessions over two to three weeks. After this initial series, many patients transition to maintenance sessions every few weeks or months. Your provider will customize the schedule based on your response and symptoms.

Will ketamine therapy interact with my current medications? 
Ketamine can interact with certain medications, including MAOIs and some blood pressure drugs. Your clinician will review all your current medications during intake to identify any potential interactions and adjust your treatment plan accordingly.

Discover 8 evidence-backed benefits of ketamine therapy, including rapid depression relief, PTSD treatment, enhanced neuroplasticity & flexible at-home options.

 8 Key Benefits of Ketamine Therapy for Mental Health Treatment

8 Key Benefits of Ketamine Therapy

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8 Key Benefits of Ketamine Therapy for Mental Health

Living with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can feel like being trapped in an endless cycle of hypervigilance, intrusive memories, and emotional distress.

While traditional PTSD treatment helps many people, a significant number continue to struggle despite trying multiple medications and therapy approaches. It leaves them searching for alternatives that work differently. That's where ketamine therapy for PTSD comes in as an innovative option.

In this guide, you'll learn how ketamine therapy works for PTSD, the research supporting its use, Innerwell's patient-centered approach, and how to determine if this innovative treatment might be right for your healing journey.

Post-traumatic stress disorder is a psychiatric condition that develops after exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence, either through direct experience, witnessing the event, learning it happened to someone close, or repeated exposure to trauma details. 

The disorder manifests through four core symptom clusters:

Intrusive re-experiencing of the traumatic event

Persistent avoidance of trauma-related stimuli

Negative alterations in cognition and mood

These symptoms persist for more than one month and significantly impair functioning across social, occupational, and other important life domains.

The disorder will affect almost one in ten American adults at some point in their lives, and depression appears alongside PTSD in about half of all cases. When left untreated, these symptoms erode work performance, strain relationships, and chip away at physical health through chronic stress.

Traditional Treatments For PTSD & Their Limitations

When you're diagnosed with PTSD, your doctor will typically recommend trauma-focused therapy—like Prolonged Exposure or Cognitive Processing Therapy—alongside FDA-approved antidepressants such as sertraline or paroxetine. These standard PTSD treatments work well for many people, but they're far from perfect solutions for everyone.

The reality is that a significant portion of patients find these standard approaches only partially effective, or they don't work at all. 

Antidepressants often take weeks before you notice any improvement, and they come with side effects that can be hard to live with, like weight gain, sexual dysfunction, or feeling emotionally numb. Many people stop taking them because the downsides outweigh the benefits.

Therapy presents its own hurdles. Re-entering traumatic memories is effective, but emotionally taxing—many clients drop out before completion. For those who do persevere, gains can still be modest if treatment resistance, comorbid depression, or logistical barriers interfere.

You might feel stuck even while "doing everything right." That frustration has fueled interest in faster-acting, biologically distinct options, creating space for ketamine as a next-step treatment when conventional paths fall short.

Unlike traditional antidepressants that work on serotonin pathways, ketamine targets your brain's glutamate system—the mechanism that often keeps your nervous system locked in constant alarm mode. 

At therapeutic doses, it blocks NMDA receptors, reducing the flood of glutamate and creating a biochemical shift that can decrease limbic overactivity within hours. This shift opens a window of enhanced neuroplasticity, where ketamine acts as a psychoplastogen—triggering increased production of brain-derived neurotrophic factor and helping neurons form new connections that allow the prefrontal cortex to regain control over an overactive amygdala.

In short, ketamine helps your brain rewire itself out of survival mode.

The drug also accelerates fear extinction—the process by which your brain learns that certain triggers are no longer dangerous. By restoring healthy dopamine signaling and strengthening connections between the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus, ketamine helps process traumatic memories more effectively; many patients notice decreased intrusive memories and hypervigilance within 24 hours.

The clinical evidence supports these rapid changes. Randomized trials at Mount Sinai found 70 percent response after six infusions, with benefits lasting weeks to months. Since ketamine temporarily heightens neuroplasticity, combining it with trauma therapy can help lock in these improvements, allowing you to process difficult memories while your brain is most receptive to change.

What Are the Risks Of Ketamine Therapy for PTSD?

Most side effects from ketamine therapy are short-lived. During or soon after dosing you might notice a floating, dissociative sensation, mild nausea, dizziness, a transient blood-pressure spike, or drowsiness. These typically peak around the 40-minute mark and resolve within two hours. 

Its use for PTSD remains off-label, meaning the FDA has not yet cleared it for this specific indication. 

Innerwell mitigates these risks through comprehensive screening, licensed clinician oversight, and integration therapy that helps you process any lingering dissociation once the medicine wears off.

How Does Innerwell Approach Ketamine Therapy for PTSD?

Healing from trauma rarely follows a straight line, so Innerwell designed a program that meets you where you are—at home, under the guidance of a trauma-trained clinical team. 

By pairing low-dose ketamine with structured therapy, the process aims to reopen neural flexibility while giving you the psychological support to make lasting use of that window.

Ketamine therapy for PTSD offers rapid relief when traditional treatments fall short. Learn about the treatment, safety, and Innerwell's approach.

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