Yahoo Lifestyle 
I Planned To Take A Psychedelic Trip To Battle My Anxiety. Then The Pandemic Hit.
I showed up at my therapist’s office in January pulsing with big news. Normally, I’d take my time settling in, checking my phone one last time for texts from my children’s teachers and making small talk about the parking lot renovations. But that day, I had barely situated in my usual spot on her blue couch when I announced that I wanted to stop talking about my anxiety. We could use our time to talk about other things, I said, because I had decided how to address the anxiety thing once and for all.
“I am going to do ketamine,” I said.
I thought I saw skepticism on her ever-neutral face, but I pressed on, sharing what I had learned about Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy, a medically supervised “trip” to heal my psyche.
I’d read about patients who took the drug and reported dissociation, or a sense of disconnection from one’s ordinary reality and usual self. This happened as a direct result of ketamine journeys, or “trips” as they are called. Although that term made me squeamish ― I was never one for club drugs or raves, which is where ketamine is often taken recreationally, and took pride in my rule-abiding nature ― the studies I researched pointed to an improvement in outlook and mood following ketamine treatment. And often, it happened fast.
My sister is a Yale-trained psychiatrist who has spent years in conferences, training and planning sessions with her peers to understand the mechanisms and benefits of ketamine. She thought my plan had merit. “It’s worth a shot, Nik,” she said.
I used my sister’s background as fodder for the case I made to my therapist that day.
“Okay,” she said when I paused long enough for her to speak, “let me know how I can help.”
Part of me wanted something more from her. Pushback? An alternative? But mostly I was grateful for her support, and knew I’d always have her blue couch to fall back on if ketamine wasn’t the answer.
Plus, by that point, I was desperate. I had come to believe over...
