The format is a two-hour session for intramuscular ketamine early in the week and a one-hour session two or three days later to process and integrate the experience.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02791072.1997.10400185

David Nichol

November 25, 2019

Wired: Ketamine Stirs Up Hope—and Controversy—as a Depression Drug

David Nichol

November 25, 2019

Wired explores ketamine combined with therapy as a potential treatment for depression. Wired speaks to Phil Wolfson, M.D., and Julane Andries, LMFT, about their experiences administering ketamine-assisted psychotherapy to treat symptoms of depression, PTSD, and for "self-exploration and understanding."

Sleep Tips

David Nichol

June 19, 2019

Your bedroom should be safe, dark, quiet, and your bed comfortable.
Use your bed and bedroom only for sleep and sex and not for office work, TV, or reading.
Use earplugs and an eye mask if necessary
Sleep in the same room and bed every night; try not to fall asleep on the couch and then move to the bedroom
15-30 minute naps during the day are fine, but longer than that can disrupt your sleep cycle
Develop a sleep ritual, a certain routine you follow every night.
Set regular bedtime and wake times. Your wake time shouldn’t vary by more than one hour, seven days a week. Avoid sleeping in on weekends
A 30-minute hot bath 2 hours before retiring will improve deep sleep.
Exercise improves deep sleep.
Avoid stimulation or anxiety-provoking work before bed, including paying bills or “important” conversations.
Avoid bright lights, TV, computer, pad, or smartphone screens 1/2 hour before bed.
Face clocks away from you so you don’t clock watch,
If you have trouble getting out of bed, put your alarm clock on the other side of the room.
Avoid alcohol within 5 hours of bedtime. It can put you to sleep but causes middle-of-night awakening.
Avoid nicotine, a frequent cause of sleep problems.
Avoid caffeine (coffee, tea, soda, chocolate) afternoon.
The best bedtime snack is oatmeal and milk, for the complex carbs and tryptophan
If you lie awake for more than 15 minutes, get up, sit in a chair and read with a dim light until you are tired, then go back to bed
Medications can be stimulating or sleep-inducing, so time them appropriately.
Prescription sleep medications are to be used only as needed and only for several weeks, otherwise they cause tolerance and dependence.
Melatonin 0.5 mg at 6 pm helps to re-set your sleep cycle.
Focusing on abdominal breathing (lengthening the exhalations and progressive muscle relaxation can help you fall asleep. Meditating 15-20 minutes sitting up, not in bed, can be a healthy part of your sleep ritual. Some people may be energized, however.
Clear your airway. Use a sedating cold or allergy medication if needed.
Anticholinergic drugs used chronically cause brain damage (smaller brains, early Alzheimer’s, poor memory, and executive functioning). These include Tylenol PM, Benadryl, Claritin, Dimetapp, Paxil, Xanax, and other benzodiazepines.
Apps for sleep can be helpful, such as Pzizz, Calm, and Headspace. Jody Whiteley’s Sleep Hypnosis on YouTube is excellent. You can purchase sleep headphones on Amazon.
Sleepbot and Sleep Cycle Apps give you feedback on how you are sleeping.
This article will give you good reasons not to take pills for sleep: mentalhealthdaily.com/2015/02/20/dementia-linked-to-benzodiazepines-sleeping-pills-anticholinergics/

For additional information and guidance, please check out Tuck Sleep

TUCK SLEEP WEBSITE

David Nichol

February 19, 2016

A Poem

David Nichol

February 19, 2016

The Sacred

Step boldly into your life
each moment awaits your participation
invites your engagement.
Give yourself generously
If not now, then when?
Sing full-throated
dance wildly
let your poems express your deepest longings.
Let your rage shake the mountains
your scream pierce the heavens.
Weep deeply that your tears
may water the parched earth.
Let your full-bellied laugh
disturb the neighbors.
Let your tenderness melt every boundary
'til all that remains is love.
Let the simplest of things amaze you.
The extraordinary
plays hide and seek in the everyday.
Find the pearl in the mundane.
Quench your thirst with that which
barely calls attention to itself.
This very moment is all there is
it awaits you in its entirety
invites you to surrender
to swim in the vastness of possibility.
There can be no peace
if you insist this moment
be other than it is.
Sometimes a sorrow, sometimes a joy
sometimes a delight, sometimes a horror.
Feel them all the way through to their departure.
Soon another guest will arrive
welcome them all.
This precious existence
is a hearty stew
each ingredient for your nourishment.
This very moment
this very breath
this very life
so very sacred.
It is enough.

-- David Glick