The term "burnout" was first coined by Dr. Herbert Freundenberger in the 1970s and is now recognized as a valid illness with a set of symptoms that can include many of those found in other illnesses such as depression, anxiety, and PTSD. Burnout now even has its own place in the latest international medical reference book for classifying diseases. According to research, in the US and Europe, where the problem has been studied since the 1970s, one in three people experience professional burnout.
Burnout occurs after prolonged exposure to chronic stress and leads to:
- physical and emotional exhaustion
- cynicism and alienation
- a sense of inefficiency and lack of achievement.
- anxiety, apathy, and feelings of hopelessness, loss of energy, increased irritability, difficulty concentrating, and sleep disturbances.
Emotional burnout syndrome is often accompanied by chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), which is also a consequence of chronic stress. It can manifest itself as progressive fatigue, decreased performance; muscle weakness and muscle pain; prolonged subfebrile (a slight increase in body temperature), sore throat, poor tolerance to previously familiar activities; sleep disorders; headaches; forgetfulness; irritability; decreased mental activity and ability to concentrate,
Emotional burnout is the result not only of accumulated fatigue, but also of a mismatch between expectations of work results and actual reality, when professional activity loses its subjective meaning. As a result of chronic stress, these symptoms may also indicate the initial stage. of chronic cerebral vascular insufficiencyleading to encephalopathy and early dementia.
Researchers are currently looking at ketamine infusions as an effective treatment for burnout and chronic fatigue. Moreover, they even consider it an "antidote" that can prevent the development of severe burnout complications.
According to Dr. Gerald Grass, director of the Ketamine Institute, "We see many executives who initially come to us with traditional diagnoses of anxiety or depression, but when we listen to what they tell us, it becomes clear that they are suffering from burnout syndrome. due to chronic work-related stress." Many of these patients are in such a difficult position to function optimally and are often at risk of leaving their jobs or being fired. And they often experience difficulties not only at work but also at home, and their families suffer as well.
Ketamine infusions, prescribed in the correct dose, in combination with other anti-stress therapies (primarily the Neurohelp program), can be an effective way to eliminate these symptoms. Often, after just one session of ketamine therapy, patients notice a rapid improvement in mood and a decrease in anxiety. Many report improved concentration and ability to focus, reduced fatigue, and become much more effective at work and at home. In fact, says Dr. Grass, recent studies have shown that ketamine infusion treatment can not only treat the symptoms of burnout and PTSD, but can even prevent it from occurring.
How does ketamine work for burnout and SAD?
People with these symptoms are often prescribed antidepressants or anxiety medications. Patients usually have to take them for several weeks or several months before they start to have an effect, and only about 38% experience any improvement with treatment. These medications have to build up in your body to have an effect. Ketamine works much faster: its effects on depression, anxiety, and PTSD occur within hours of infusion, and it is about 75% effective - twice as good as traditional medications or treatments.
Researchers have not yet established exactly how ketamine alleviates the symptoms of burnout and SAD. One theory is that it reboots the nervous system, causing new connections to form between brain cells involved in emotional mechanisms.
"Recent evidence suggests that intravenously administered ketamine may be the most important breakthrough in antidepressant research in decades," said Dr. Thomas Insel, director of the US National Institute of Mental Health.
The Expio Center, using its own developments and many years of experience of the neurological departments of the Gerontology Research Institute of the Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine, on the basis of which we were organized, has developed an integrative multimodal program for the restoration of the psyche and brain in case of chronic fatigue, burnout, encephalopathy and other consequences of chronic stress.
The program is offered in two versions of a five-day block:
Optimal:
- A session of psychotherapy (if necessary, hypnotherapy) to relieve stress and learn self-regulation skills,
- 5 sessions of transcranial electrical stimulation and vagus nerve stimulation to restore proper electrical activity in the brain and relieve overexcitation in the peripheral neural system,
- one session of ketamine psychotherapy to eliminate deep mental stress and activate neurogenesis in the hippocampus,
- one session of oxybutyrate-sodium therapy to "reboot the brain" and reduce tension in the body,
- Neurohelp drip (a complex of neurometabolic and neuroprotective drugs),
- Prescription of tablet medications.
The cost of one unit is UAH 11,000.
Minimal:
- A session of psychotherapy (if necessary, hypnotherapy) to relieve stress and learn self-regulation skills,
- one session of ketamine therapy to eliminate deep mental stress and activate neurogenesis in the hippocampus,
- one session of oxybutyrate-sodium therapy to "reboot the brain" and reduce tension in the body.
The cost of one unit is UAH 6500.
The course is recommended for 2-3 week blocks depending on the severity of the condition.
