Author: N.N.
Sapo, March 18, 2024
[Image taken from the article: Lukasz Palka]
Alexandre Almeida had already tried almost everything and was about to give up when he discovered that ketamine psychotherapy was the way out of the alcoholism that was rotting him and his family relationships. "I got my family back, my sanity, my joie de vivre," he admits.
Alexandre Almeida tried for years to save himself from chronic alcoholism. After decades of failed treatments and several relapses, he almost lost hope in his own recovery. "I went through all kinds of treatments, but to no avail. I was followed up in hospital, where at one point I was told that they no longer knew what to do for me. It was a shock, but it was reality. I had reached rock bottom," he recalled.
Alcohol dependence syndrome, or alcohol use disorder, commonly known as alcoholism, is a chronic, multifactorial disease. Several factors contribute to its development, including the amount and frequency of alcohol consumption, the individual's health condition, and genetic, psychosocial and environmental factors.
Data from the Service for Intervention in Addictive Behaviors and Dependencies (SICAD) indicates that the prevalence of alcohol dependency in Portugal has increased from 3% in 2012 to 4.2% in 2022. Another recent study estimates that there are 58,000 Portuguese alcoholics and 750,000 binge drinkers.
Illness with effects that spread to the family
Alexandre Almeida wanted to recover from a bout of alcoholism that persisted, but the unsuccessful treatments, the feeling of failure and the addiction almost always made him make the mistake of taking refuge in alcohol again.
"I was about to lose my family, my children no longer spoke to me, my wife was sick with despair because she no longer knew what to do and she was about to end the relationship, which would certainly be the end of me," he recalls.
"My wife tried everything, but at the same time she was my salvation by suggesting The Clinic of Change. I went without hope, which is natural after so many treatments, so many clinics and so many failed results," he says.
After a diagnostic consultation, he was considered eligible for treatment. "The treatment consisted of psychotherapy with the administration of ketamine. With this drug and the accompaniment of the psychotherapist, I was finally allowed to get to the root of my problems, understanding why I suffered so much and why I turned to alcohol. If I had things weighing me down in the past, I couldn't imagine how much," she says.
Clinical studies on the effects of psychotherapy combined with ketamine on alcoholics [also known as psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy] show 86% abstinence rates within six months of treatment, and no adverse effects, in contrast to rates below 25% when compared to conventional methods.
"Psychotherapy that is assisted or facilitated by a drug, in this case ketamine [or ketamine], will allow access to a set of psychological and psychic material, psychic contents, which in turn can be worked on in psychotherapy," explained Victor Amorim Rodrigues, psychiatrist and psychotherapist and clinical director of The Clinic of Change.
"Although we also have all the antidepressant benefits of the drug, we really strive for psychotherapeutic work in order to prolong, in the long term - that's what we want, in the long term - the therapeutic effects of this treatment," he says. "There are other ways and other places to avoid these dissociative and psychedelic effects of the substance as much as possible. We not only don't avoid them, and this is in fact distinctive in relation to other ways of using ketamine as a therapy, because not only do we not avoid these effects but, on the contrary, we want them to occur. What is needed is trained psychotherapists, as is the case with us, who have many years of experience," says the doctor.
Psychotherapy using ketamine is emerging as a promising approach in the recovery of alcoholic patients. Recent studies indicate that ketamine, when combined with psychological therapy, can result in significant benefits, including a reduction in alcohol compulsion, a decrease in withdrawal symptoms and an overall improvement in the patient's mental health. In addition, ketamine seems to facilitate introspection and the resolution of underlying emotional issues that often contribute to alcohol abuse.
New phase, new life
Alexandre Almeida admits that he is now living a new life. "The traumas of the past haven't disappeared, but they've been resolved and sorted out, and they no longer cause me suffering. Today I'm free of alcohol, I've recovered my family, my sanity, my joy of living. And how good it is to live," he adds.
"It would be selfish of me to talk only about my suffering, because those around me were suffering as much or more than me. I'm leaving my testimony in the hope that it may be useful to those who are suffering and going through the same pain I did," she concluded.
Cases like Alexandre Almeida's and various findings suggest that psychotherapy with ketamine [psychedelics] may represent an effective new therapeutic approach to help individuals overcome alcohol addiction and maintain long-term sobriety. However, further studies are needed to fully understand the mechanisms underlying the scientific results, and also to optimize this promising form of treatment.
A The Clinic of Change é um prestador de cuidados de saúde com o n.º E166508, sediado na Rua das Picoas, 12 R/C, 1050-173 Lisboa, com licença de funcionamento n.º 22863/2023, inscrito na ERS com o n.º 39467.
Diretor clínico: Professor Doutor Victor Amorim Rodrigues, Médico Psiquiatra com a cédula profissional n.º 31127, emitida pela Ordem dos Médicos.
