Is there a miracle drug out there for depression, anxiety, and PTSD? One Houston woman says there is for her: Ketamine. Rachel Busch was assaulted on Jan. 16 after a night out with friends. She shared her story with KHOU 11’s Lauren Talarico in January.“He tried to rape me, and I said no,” Busch said. “I pushed him away, and all the sudden, he just started attacking me and I went unconscious.”
Busch was disfigured during the attack. The suspect, Donovan Micah Jones, is in jail charged with aggravated assault, causing serious bodily injury and is awaiting trial. Busch is about to begin the long process of reconstructive surgery for her injuries, but Busch said it’s the mental trauma that recently took an unbearable toll. “The past few months were rough,” Busch said. “I was contemplating suicide…wishing that he had finished me off. ”Busch said she was prescribed antidepressants, but they didn’t work. Then, someone told her about Dr. Quang Henderson, owner of Mindscape Ketamine & Infusion Therapy in Houston. “It kind of helps remodel the brain,” Dr. Henderson said, “the way it feels about certain things.”
How Ketamine Really Works
Ketamine is believed to affect the brain’s neurotransmitters called glutamate. It can be likened to the way Zoloft affects the neurotransmitter serotonin. Ketamine often gets a bad rap because of its history with people abusing it; its street name is “Special K,” however, it has been used in medicine for decades. “Ketamine actually is an anesthetic that’s been around for 50 years, but in the last 15 years, it’s actually been used for treatment of mood disorders that are resistant to certain medications,” Henderson said.
