Science

The psychedelic used by Equanimity Wellness works primarily by blocking the NMDA receptors in the brain. This allows for the balancing of two key brain chemicals or ‘neurotransmitters’ called Glutamate and GABA. Glutamate is our main excitatory neurotransmitter –  the ‘gas pedal’ of the brain. It plays a key role in motivation, learning and memory. GABA is the main inhibitory neurotransmitter – the ‘brake pedal’ of the brain. It reduces excitability and activity in the nervous system, allowing us to feel calm.

When optimal balance or ‘homeostasis’ is achieved between these two key neurotransmitters, the brain releases an important protein called Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF). BDNF has been likened to ‘fertilizer in the soil of the brain.’ It promotes the growth of new neural pathways (known as ‘neurogenesis’) and increased connectivity between existing pathways (known as ‘synaptogenesis’).

Neuroscience suggests a relationship between conditions like depression, anxiety, addiction, PTSD and OCD and reduced density, connectivity and communication between key neural pathways, resulting in low mood, excessive and repetitive worry, rumination and unhealthy habits.

However, through this process of neurogenesis and synaptogenesis, new and different brain regions are allowed to activate, connect and communicate. In this state of heightened connectivity, we experience fundamental shifts in our perceptions of ourselves and reality. These deep perceptual shifts allow us to process trauma and loss, resolve inner conflict, release suppressed emotion, gain self-insight and transform core beliefs and behaviors that may no longer serve us. Combining psychedelic medicine with therapy – hence the discipline of Ketamine-Assisted Therapy – allows us to deepen and sustain the profound benefits of psychedelic medicine.

A welcome analogy is to imagine the brain as a block of clay. Traditional therapies attempt to ‘chip away’ at this clay over time, shaping the mind into a more adaptive form. Ketamine-assisted therapy ‘heats up the clay,’ making the brain malleable and remoldable in a remarkably short space of time. Hence, under the right conditions, psychedelic-assisted therapy has been likened to ‘undergoing years of therapy in the space of a few hours.’