Men’s mental health is an area where improved mental health services can benefit all of society. Ketamine therapy is revolutionizing the way negative psychological and behavioral patterns are interrupted in truly meaningful, life-enhancing ways.

The plight of men’s mental health crisis is a patchwork of suicidality, drug abuse, and destructive behaviors haunting individuals, not only globally, but here in Collier and Lee county. Supportive psychedelic ketamine therapy provided at MY Self Wellness in Bonita Springs serves to interrupt self-critical patterns of negative mood and unhealthy behaviors that keep many men from fulfilling and authentic lives. 

Too many men are tragically more likely to commit suicide than seek help. According to the Illinois Department of Health, suicide is one of the top 10 causes of death in men. Globally, men die by their own hand at rates three to five times more frequently than women. More men struggle with substance abuse than women, although according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, more women seek help for it and other issues than men. Stigmas against needing help—undermining male ideals of strength and unflinching independence—lead men to not seek help, even when in dire need. Rather than seeking help and growing healthy enough to contribute to the community, men too often keep things to themself and never deal with the roots of their angst. Therapeutic use of ketamine permits men to dig deep and discover how strong they can be after honest self-inquiry and healing.

Men are taught to stuff their feelings away from the knowledge of others. Despite the disguises of strength and social assumptions society encourages men to assume, men too rarely reveal courage in dealing with emotions. Inadequacy, fear, unfulfilled longing and desire for acceptance are issues all people endure, but society discourages men from confronting these emotions. Unattended feelings don’t go away. Rather, they consume us from within and erode the well-being of the world around us. ketamine therapy can be a key to unlock the self-acceptance each man must deliver to himself, the way to reconnect to love within and without.

Stereotypically, men like tools they can use. Ketamine therapy is just another tool, not something that does the job done without proper use. It does not hinge on a therapist to dispense the benefits, despite the therapeutic value of support in the process. Rather, it swings open doors to patients’ own self-discovery, capacities to forgive, powers to love and the psycho-spiritual release toward fuller, more satisfied lives.

It is not up to a doctor, a therapist, medication or the world to make things better for men. It is what we’ve always feared—our psycho-spiritual healing is up to us and the tools we put to wise use. Alone, ketamine doesn’t solve problems, but it can help to clear the mind and heart, loosening knots of suffering which have tormented us long enough.

Adam Mitchell, MA, is the director of clinical research at MY Self Awareness. Call MY Self Wellness at 239-908-9958 to arrange a tour of the facilities. Learn about the available healing resources and get answers to any questions as well as a free consultation.