Compassionate Ketamine Therapy for Suicidal

Anesthesiologist-led IV ketamine infusion therapy in Milford & Westport, CT — a different mechanism for trauma that standard antidepressants and therapy alone haven’t reached.

If you are in immediate danger or thinking about ending your life, you deserve support this moment — not after.

Call or text 988 — the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline — available 24/7. If there is an emergency or someone is in immediate danger, call 911 or go to your nearest emergency room right now. Ketamine does not replace emergency care — it can help make ongoing care possible. Reaching out is not the act of someone who is out of options. It is the opposite.

You are still here, still fighting

Suicidality

In 2017, Connecticut officials reported that suicide was the second leading cause of death for people between the ages of 10 to 34. In many cases, patients who think about or attempt suicide struggle with mental health disorders that didn’t improve with standard psychiatric treatment.

These are not patients who gave up these are patients who tried. They followed the prescriptions, attended the sessions, and did everything they were told. Yet for many, standard antidepressants and conventional therapy simply were not enough. Research suggests that up to 30% of people with major depression do not respond adequately to traditional treatments leaving them vulnerable, exhausted, and without a clear path forward.

That is why access to alternative, evidence-based options is not optional. It is urgent.

At Ketamine Center of Connecticut, Dr. Gino Ang, MD a licensed and experienced ketamine specialist leads a dedicated clinical team that offers evidence-based relief from suicidality through medically supervised ketamine infusions. Ketamine has been shown in peer-reviewed research to rapidly reduce suicidal ideation, often within hours, in patients where traditional treatments have failed.

Our team has helped patients across Milford and Westport, Connecticut find relief when they thought none was left. Every infusion is administered in a safe, monitored, and compassionate clinical environment because we understand that reaching out takes courage, and you deserve care that meets that courage with expertise.

For people who respond, many describe…

Suicidal thoughts beginning to ease — sometimes within hours — hopelessness softening, acute distress calming, a sense of safety and control returning, and thinking becoming clearer. That shift can open just enough space to keep going and to engage the rest of your care. Improvement is not guaranteed and varies from person to person.

How ketamine may help and what it is not

By acting rapidly on the glutamate system, ketamine may ease acute distress and suicidal thinking far faster than standard antidepressants. But it is never a rescue on its own and never a replacement for ongoing treatment. As our team puts it plainly: ketamine does not replace ongoing care — it makes ongoing care possible.

You don't have to figure this out alone

If you are in danger right now, please reach 988 or 911 first — then, when you’re safe, let’s talk. Treatment is delivered as a precise sub-anesthetic dose by a board-certified anesthesiologist, with hospital-grade Caretaker® monitoring throughout, and is coordinated alongside the care you already have. We never recommend stopping your prescribed medication.

What many patients experience as symptoms begin to lift

Suicidal thoughts ease

Many patients report a noticeable reduction in acute suicidal ideation within hours of their first ketamine infusion a response that traditional antidepressants, which can take weeks, are unable to provide at this speed.

Overwhelming hopelessness softens

The crushing weight of pain and despair becomes less consuming. Patients describe a shift not from sadness to happiness, but from darkness to a place where hope feels possible again.

Acute emotional distress calms

The intensity of panic and emotional pain drops significantly. Ketamine’s rapid action on the brain’s glutamate system helps regulate the emotional overload that makes crises feel unsurvivable.

Sense of safety and control returns

Patients report feeling more grounded, more present, and more capable of planning for the next hour, the next day. That sense of agency — however small — is clinically significant.

Thinking becomes clearer

Reduced emotional overload allows for better decision-making and improved cognitive function. Patients are better able to engage meaningfully with their care team and loved ones.

Opens space for follow-up care

Rapid relief creates a critical window an opportunity for therapy, safety planning, and longer-term treatment to take root. Ketamine does not replace ongoing care. It makes ongoing care possible.

Learn more about what to expect on your journey.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is suicidality?

Suicidality, also called suicidal ideation, refers to thinking about killing yourself. Suicidal ideation ranges from experiencing a passing desire to die to creating an active plan to make it happen.

Thoughts of suicide often occur in patients with mental health problems such as major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, and substance use disorders. Suicidality is also a side effect of some types of medications, including antidepressants.

While patients with psychological disorders have a higher risk of suicide, they’re not the only people affected by suicidality. Other health problems, such as chronic pain, traumatic brain injuries, and chronic health conditions also increase a person’s risk of committing suicide.

What symptoms indicate suicidality?

Many different behaviors may signal a person is suicidal, so these are only a few examples. A person may be suicidal when they:

Talk about wanting to die or kill themselves
Say they have no reason to live
Look for a way to commit suicide
Stockpile pills or buy a gun
Talk about being a burden to others
Talk about how you’d be better off without them
Use alcohol or drugs more frequently
Show anger or talk about getting revenge
Take risks that could lead to death, like driving too fast

For most patients struggling with suicidality, death feels like the only option when they can’t cope with problems. They truly can’t think of alternative solutions, and they believe their pain won’t end.

How does ketamine treat suicidality?

Ketamine is an exceptional option for treating suicidality because it produces quick results. Standard psychiatric medications take weeks before they improve your symptoms, if they help at all. By comparison, ketamine takes effect within 24 hours of your infusion. These quick results are essential when you’re faced with suicidal ideation.

Ketamine produces rapid results by directly affecting the levels of a brain chemical called glutamate. As the medication balances glutamate levels, most patients experience a quick improvement in the symptoms caused by suicidal ideation, major depression, and bipolar depression.

What should I expect during ketamine treatment?

After you relax in a private room at the Ketamine Center of Connecticut, your anesthesiologist starts an intravenous (IV) line and delivers a low dose of ketamine through the IV and into your bloodstream.

While you should experience an improvement in symptoms with the first dose, your results may only last a week. Your provider at Ketamine Center of Connecticut may recommend six treatments over 12 days, which produces longer-lasting results.

To learn more about using ketamine to treat suicidality, schedule an appointment by calling Ketamine Center of Connecticut.

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.