Treatment-resistant & postpartum depression
Ketamine Therapy for Depression
Struggling with depression Qhasn’t improved with medication? Ketamine therapy offers a fast-acting alternative for treatment-resistant depression
You did everything right
What Is Depression (Major Depressive Disorder)?
Gino Ang, MD, and the experienced team at Ketamine Center of Connecticut provide IV ketamine infusions designed for individuals struggling with depression that hasn’t improved with antidepressants or traditional therapy. This fast-acting treatment targets treatment-resistant depression and may help relieve symptoms when other options have failed.
As symptoms lift, many patients describe…
Intense sadness easing, pleasure starting to return, energy and motivation improving, negative thought loops softening, anxiety quieting — and, for many, suicidal thoughts beginning to ease. Improvement is measured with clinically validated rating scales, so progress is tracked rather than assumed.
How ketamine may help
By working on the brain’s glutamate system rather than serotonin, ketamine is thought to help regenerate nerve connections — which is why relief, for responders, can begin within hours to 24–48 hours instead of the weeks-to-months antidepressants often require. Treatment is delivered as a precise sub-anesthetic dose by a board-certified anesthesiologist, with hospital-grade Caretaker® monitoring throughout.
What treatment looks like
The standard protocol is a series of 6 infusions over about 12 days, each in a private room with dim lighting, music, and a clinician beside you the whole time. Most mood infusions take about 40–60 minutes, and many patients move to occasional as-needed booster infusions afterward to maintain results. We never recommend stopping your prescribed medication — ketamine is used alongside your existing care.
What many patients experience as symptoms begin to lift
Many patients report a noticeable easing of suicidal ideation within hours as the treatment helps interrupt the intense negative thought cycles often associated with severe depression. While individual responses vary, early relief can provide a crucial window of clarity and stability, allowing patients to re-engage with support, therapy, and a broader treatment plan.
Many patients experience a measurable reduction in intense sadness as ketamine begins to modulate glutamate pathways involved in mood regulation. This early shift can help reduce the weight of hopelessness and create space for improved functioning, even though full therapeutic effects may continue developing over subsequent sessions.
As ketamine influences neural pathways involved in reward and motivation, many patients begin to regain the capacity to experience interest and enjoyment in daily activities. This improvement often reflects early restoration of normal brain signaling rather than a sudden emotional shift, and may continue to strengthen as treatment progresses.
Ketamine’s impact on key neurotransmitter systems can lead to a noticeable reduction in physiological anxiety, including restlessness and persistent racing thoughts. Many patients report a calmer baseline as acute anxiety responses begin to settle, which can support clearer thinking and improved participation in ongoing treatment and daily activities.
As ketamine disrupts rigid neural patterns linked to obsessive or repetitive thinking, many patients experience a reduction in the intensity and frequency of these negative cognitive cycles. Doubt‑driven checking and repetitive mental loops often become less dominant, allowing for more flexible, balanced thought processes to emerge.
By influencing neural circuits involved in rumination, ketamine can reduce the intensity and persistence of repetitive negative thinking. Many patients notice that self‑critical patterns become less intrusive, creating space for clearer, more adaptive cognitive responses as treatment continues.
As ketamine begins to rebalance mood‑related neural pathways, many patients experience a gradual increase in energy and task‑initiation ability. Even small actions may feel more manageable, reflecting improved cognitive activation rather than a sudden boost in drive. This shift can support greater engagement in daily routines and ongoing therapeutic work.
Learn more about what to expect on your journey.
Frequently Asked Questions
Everyone has the blues now and again, and they know that their mood eventually improves and they feel better. Many people believe that depression goes away just as easily as the blues, but it doesn’t.
- Feel worthless and hopeless
- Lack energy nearly every day
- Have no interest in your activities or friends
- Eat too little or too much
- Sleep too little or too much
- Find it hard to concentrate
- Feel restless
- Think about suicide or death
Postpartum depression is not just the baby blues. It’s a type of major depression that occurs during pregnancy or after childbirth and, like major depression, it doesn’t improve on its own.
Your depression is treatment-resistant when your symptoms don’t improve after at least two trials of antidepressant medications. Many patients with depression don’t feel better even after taking four different types of antidepressants.
Ketamine has been safely used for decades as an anesthetic during surgical procedures. In a low dose, however, ketamine has a different effect: It relieves the symptoms of depression, even in patients with treatment-resistant depression.
The anesthesiologists at Ketamine Center of Connecticut give you an intravenous (IV) infusion of ketamine using a pump that precisely delivers the right dose. They also continuously monitor your heart rate and blood pressure using a wireless device called Caretaker®.
You don't have to feel "ready." You just have to make one call.
Ask the hard questions. No pressure just a clear conversation about whether ketamine therapy is right for you or someone you love.