A lot of times people always ask me, "What's a ketamine experience like? Is it going to be colors? Is it going to be memories? Am I going to have a spiritual experience? Am I going to have a mystical experience? Am I even going to remember?" There's a lot of questions because there is a lot of uncertainty and as humans, it’s natural for us to want to know what is going to happen. This made me think about an example which I want to share with you.
With food, you will only know how it actually tastes when you try it out for yourself. Similarly, wth ketamine infusions, no matter how much research you do, you will only know how it truly feels when you try it yourself.
Why A Ketamine Experience Is Like A Restaurant Experience
Let's say that you've heard of a great restaurant in town and someone is describing that restaurant and their meal. They're like, "Oh I had this burger. It was made out of wagyu beef and they had these truffle fries with this amazing chipotle mayo, etc." They're describing it in-depth and your mouth may be watering right now thinking about it.
As a matter of fact, not only do they describe it, but they bring you the menu. They say, "Hey check out this menu!" And so you go through the menu and think how great it would be for you to try out that restaurant.
From this experience, you realize hearing about the meal and reading the menu is entirely different from actually eating that meal itself. Maybe that burger wasn’t so great at all or maybe it was way better than what they described.
Similarly, with ketamine infusions, you can do all the research and read about it. You can hear other people's accounts, read all those descriptions, and watch the videos that we make about ketamine experiences. But at the end of the day, none of that compares really to something called "direct experience."
Because everyone is so unique, no ketamine experience will be exactly the same. This is why only you will be able to know what your experience will be like.
Experience Ketamine Yourself to Truly Know
If someone is telling you about that amazing burger they had, are you just going to read about it? Are you just going to hear about it? Or would you prefer to actually have the burger yourself? Your perspective and your experience will be different from the next person and from the friend who told you about the burger.
Personally, I’ve experienced going to a restaurant that everyone’s been talking about and I think, “What were they thinking?” Or the situation could be different and I go to a place that everyone doesn’t like but then it’s quite amazing. There's indeed a difference between hearing about an experience versus having the experience itself.
How does all of this relate to the ketamine infusions? Just like one’s taste buds and preferences, a ketamine experience is really dependent upon each individual. You are going to have your own unique experience based on your perspective and your unconscious experiences. Why? Because you are unique.
So instead of reading a menu or reading a narrative, I highly invite you to consider a direct experience of a ketamine infusion if you’re challenged with treatment resistant depression, PTSD, anxiety and chronic neuropathic pain.
Because you cannot predict nor control your ketamine experience, the best thing you can do is focus on what's in your power and incorporate good habits into your life before the infusion.
Focus On What’s In Your Power
Making the decision to have a ketamine experience is no easy feat. We completely understand if you’re immensely curious to know how it feels so that you’ll know what to expect. Maybe you’re thinking that the more you know, the less anxious you’ll feel about the actual infusion.
We believe that the best way to prepare for your infusion isn’t to extensively research about what a ketamine experience is like, but maybe think about how you can prepare for it instead. This includes things such as incorporating healthy habits or setting an intention for the infusion. Inasmuch as no one can predict what your experience will be, you can take some steps in the right direction to aid in making your ketamine experience as therapeutic and transformative as possible.
Despite reading not being enough to know what your ketamine experience will be, it’s important to be prepared and aware of what to expect.
Common related questions:
What are ketamine infusions like? What type of experience will I have?
Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic, meaning you go into this state where it feels like you feel separated from your environment and even your body. There are 4 types of dissociative experiences you may have, namely an empathogenic experience, out-of-body experience (OBE), near-death experience (NDE), and ego-dissolving transcendental experience (EDT).
The empathogenic experience involves you still being aware of your body while feeling euphoric and warmth. An OBE means that you are completely separate from your body and may even have visions of deceased relatives or non-terrestrial beings. When you have an NDE, you feel like you have departed from your body and begin to experience death of the body and mind. This “death” can make you start thinking about how your actions in life have affected others. The last one, which is the EDT, involves you feeling one with the universe and transcending normal mass/time/space continuum.
Learn more about these experiences here: The Four Types of Experiences You May Have With Ketamine
What if I don’t feel or see anything, what does that mean?
While each ketamine experience is unique and each person can react differently, there could be a couple reasons for not feeling or seeing anything. One could be related to the ketamine dose, or the amount of ketamine you receive. If this is the case, this is something your doctor is likely going to think about and may even consider increasing the amount you receive the next time.
Another reason could be related to your preparation for your ketamine infusion experience and in particular, your mindset going into the infusion. Had you been too busy and tired from work and other stressors to focus on your upcoming infusion? Are you questioning if the infusions are going to help at all? The things you see, hear, and feel are actually YOU having an experience within yourself and ketamine appears to be mediating all of it. Preparation of the body and mind is the key to not only having a good experience during the ketamine infusion, but also for integrating and remembering what you learned during the infusion.
Learn more about how to prepare at our blog: How to Prepare For And Integrate From a Ketamine Infusion
What do I do if I have a terrible or scary experience?
Because everyone’s ketamine experience is different from each other, there are chances that you may encounter a challenging and terrible one. Don’t worry as there are some ways to address this concern. One way is to utilize the greatest tool during your ketamine experience: your breath. When things get too overwhelming, focus on your breath to calm yourself down. Also, if things get too frightening or it feels like you want to run away, how about inviting a sense of curiosity instead of reacting? And by becoming curious, you become more fascinated instead of afraid.
After feeling curious, encourage yourself to fully feel the emotion. This takes courage but facing your emotions head on allows it to naturally pass and disappear without any forced feelings on your end.
Read more about how you can handle difficult ketamine experiences at our blog: How to Handle Challenging Experiences With Ketamine
If you have plans of trying out a ketamine infusion treatment, you may be absolutely curious as to know how it feels. In this blog post, we’ll talk about what you should expect (and not expect) during your first ketamine experience.
