Therapy group following a Ketamine treatment – a case report of a patient with resistant depression

Abstract

Introduction

There are some patients that remain resistant to treatment for major depressive disorder - who were treated with two or more different medications, and did not demonstrate any improvement in their mental-state. These patients can be treated with a new treatment – Esketamine. The recommended Esketamine treatment protocol includes 8-treatment sessions, each session lasts about two hours. In our clinic, we added a therapy group after each treatment. The therapy group is led by two co-therapist and lasts 30 minutes. The patients are invited to share their experiences from the session.

Objectives

We will present a case report of a 44 year old man, that suffers from a major-depression for years, with symptoms such as loss of energy, recurrent thoughts of death and a decrease in functioning. He was treated with different medications, but there was no improvement in his mental state.

Methods

For the last six months, he was treated with Esketamine and also participated in the therapy group.

Results

According to content that he raised in the sessions of the therapy group and following conversations with him and with his close environment, we observed a clinical improvement in his condition – a positive mood, a decrease of the thoughts of death, an increase in his function at work and at home.

Conclusions

He reported that the improvement is more significant because of the therapy group – he found a peer group, a place to process his treatment experience and to share his feelings and thoughts. We will present vignettes to demonstrate.

Disclosure

No significant relationships.