ConditionS
Bipolar Depression
How Ketamine treats Bipolar Depression
A different path forward. Our physician-led approach pairs the rapid neurological benefits of ketamine with personalized intention setting — so you're not just managing anxiety, you're building a framework for lasting calm.
How it works
What ketamine does in the brain
Traditional anti-anxiety medications like SSRIs and benzodiazepines can take weeks to show results — or come with side effects and dependency risks that create new problems. Ketamine works through an entirely different mechanism — one that can produce noticeable relief from anxiety within hours to days.
Rapid Onset
Unlike traditional anti-anxiety medications that require weeks, ketamine can begin easing anxiety within hours of the first infusion.
Neuroplasticity
Ketamine promotes the growth of new neural connections, giving the brain an opportunity to move beyond entrenched anxiety patterns and fear responses.
Glutamate Signaling
By modulating glutamate — the brain's most active neurotransmitter — ketamine helps restore balance in the brain's stress-response and anxiety circuits.
Sustained Relief
With a proper induction series, many patients experience lasting improvement that extends well beyond each individual session.
OUR APPROACH
Treatment that starts with understanding you
At Ketamine Uplift, your treatment doesn't begin when the IV starts — it begins the moment you connect with your doctor. Our physician works one-on-one with each patient to build a deep understanding of their anxiety: what thought patterns are triggering it, what situations amplify it, and what coping mechanisms may no longer serve them. From there, we create a personalized intention roadmap — a guide designed to help you move beyond the cycles of worry and tension that keep you stuck.
Complimentary Telehealth Consultation
Everything begins here. Your doctor meets you for the first time over a video call — no commitment, no pressure. The first priority is safety: the doctor reviews your intake and medical history to confirm that ketamine infusion is physically appropriate for you. From there, the conversation turns to your story. When did the anxiety begin? Is it connected to a specific chapter in your life, or has it been more gradual? Your doctor listens for the patterns — the recurring worries, the physical tension — and starts shaping a preliminary approach for your intention setting.
First Infusion Appointment — The Deep Dive
When you decide to move forward and come in for your first session, your doctor spends 45 minutes to an hour with you before the infusion. This is where things go deeper. Together, you'll explore how the infusion experience can help you reframe the anxious thought patterns that keep you on edge. During this session, your doctor delivers your intention roadmap — the specific themes and reframes you'll focus on throughout your induction phase. Think of it as a compass for the inner work that ketamine makes possible.
Induction Series & Ongoing Calibration
You'll then begin your induction series — a sequence of infusions designed to build on one another. As you progress, your doctor checks in and adjusts your intentions based on your feedback. Some themes may shift, new insights may surface, and the roadmap evolves with you. This isn't a one-size-fits-all protocol. It's a living, responsive treatment plan shaped by your experience.
Efficacy
What the research shows
Ketamine infusion therapy for anxiety is one of the most promising emerging treatments in modern psychiatry. A growing body of clinical research supports its effectiveness — and the numbers are encouraging.
A growing number of clinical studies have found that ketamine produces rapid and significant reductions in anxiety symptoms, often within hours of the first infusion. Research suggests that more than half of patients with treatment-resistant anxiety disorders respond positively to a ketamine induction series. Notably, these benefits have been observed across generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety, and PTSD-related anxiety. Functional brain imaging studies confirm that ketamine reduces hyperactivity in the amygdala — the brain's fear center — within 24 hours of a single infusion, which may explain the rapid calming effects patients report.
Safety
A well-studied treatment with a strong safety record
Every infusion at Ketamine Uplift is administered under direct physician supervision. Throughout your session, your vitals — including blood pressure, heart rate, and oxygen levels — are continuously monitored. The doses used for anxiety treatment are a fraction of what's administered in surgical settings, and the clinical environment is designed so you can relax safely while your body and mind do their work.
The most commonly reported side effects are mild and temporary — things like light nausea or a brief headache. Some patients also describe feeling a sense of lightheadedness or gentle dissociation during the infusion itself. These effects typically resolve on their own within an hour or so of the session ending, and your care team is with you through it all.
An NIH-led assessment of 163 patients across five placebo-controlled clinical trials found that a single subanesthetic-dose ketamine infusion was well tolerated, with no serious drug-related adverse events. Researchers noted that the most commonly reported experience was simply "feeling strange or loopy" — transient and self-resolving. Patients are advised not to drive for the remainder of the day following their infusion, and our team ensures you're feeling grounded before you leave.
Considerations for Use
Is ketamine infusion therapy right for you?
Ketamine infusion therapy can be a powerful option — but it's not for everyone, and that's okay. Your complimentary telehealth consultation is specifically designed to determine whether this treatment is appropriate and safe for your unique situation.
Ketamine infusion therapy is generally considered for individuals who have not found adequate relief from conventional anti-anxiety treatments such as SSRIs, benzodiazepines, or therapy alone. It's also being studied for those experiencing severe, treatment-resistant anxiety disorders.
During your initial consultation, your doctor will review your complete medical history — including any cardiovascular conditions, history of psychotic disorders, or substance use — to ensure the treatment can be administered safely.
Certain conditions may require additional evaluation or may make alternative treatments more suitable. These include uncontrolled hypertension, active substance dependence, and specific cardiovascular or neurological conditions.
Ketamine infusion therapy is one piece of a larger mental health picture. Your doctor will discuss how it fits alongside any existing medications, therapy, or lifestyle approaches that are part of your care.
Take the first step and talk to a care navigator
Your care navigator will explain the process, discuss costs, and connect you with Dr. O'Neill to explore today’s most advanced mental health treatment.
