IbizaMalta
Greenlighter
- Joined
- Sep 19, 2025
- Messages
- 1
Ketamine and Triggers
I am coming to the conclusion that ketamine therapy for mental health has a very beneficial effect on making our “triggers” (“buttons”) much more resilient. After 3.5 years of ketamine therapy, over 1,000 doses, I find that my triggers are successfully “pulled” to the point where my reactions “fire” are fewer and less intense. I still feel others’ behavior/statements touching my triggers; even pulling on them. I feel my reactions to these trigger touches/presses. Yet, they usually fail to successfully “pull” my triggers to the point of discharge.
I think I see the reason why ketamine has this effect. I suspect that ketamine slows the thinking process of the body+mind. Depending on the context, this slow-down in the thinking process can be either beneficial or problematic.
First, consider the problematic contexts. If one is driving a car one must think very rapidly. An obstacle on a collision course with one’s own vehicle must be recognized in miliseconds. We have to react by breaking or stearing. Rarely, we have to react by pressing on the accellerator to get out of the way. There is no time to think. We need instantanious reaction. Perhaps the best example of all is our eyes’ ability to detect an incoming “missile” in the form of debris heading toward our eyes. Our minds work so fast that they almost always blink to avoid the debris hitting our cornea. Clearly, a fighter pilot in a combat situation needs the utmost of reaction time to survive.
Next, consider the occasions where thinking slowly is beneficial. When someone presses our triggers it’s vastly better of us to take a few miliseconds/seconds/minutes to reflect on the severity and urgency of our reaction/response. Apart from the occasions mentioned first, in the previous paragraphs, there is typically no urgency in formulating a response. Almost never is an instantanious thoughtless reaction the appropriate thing to do.
When the mind has time to evaluate the threat the mind has the opportunity to reflect on much more lifetime experience. Does the in-the-moment attack represent a fight/flight/freeze/fawn reaction? Rarely is this the case. Given a few miliseconds/seconds/minutes to reflect on memories of a lifetime of experience our minds are capable of considering alternate responses.
I’m growing to beleive that - more often than not - the ideal response is to respond not at all. To allow the other person an opportunity to reflect on what s/he has just done/said and to wallow in her/his own reflection on her/his own behavior. In such a scenario the very worst thing for me to do is to distract my counterpart from her/his own reflection on her/his own behavior.
The thing I’m not yet clear on is whether this slowing of response time due to ketamine therapy is relatively durable or not. When I am not under the immediate influence of ketamine I think my slowness to react is improving. My slowness to react is most acute when I am currently under the influence of ketamine. Sometimes I can anticipate that in the next hour(s) I will be in a social context where others are stressed and are apt to touch/press my triggers. Usually I can dose ketamine and be under its modest/moderate influence. In these cases my resiliance to trigger touches/presses is very high. I still feel the emotions of fight/flight/freeze/fawn yet I don’t feel the urge to fight, fly, freeze or fawn.
Inciently, I find myself being vastly more creative when under the influence of ketamine. I experience insights that I can’t imagine having prior to ketamine therapy. This makes sense. The more time my mind+body has to reflect on a lifetime of experiences the more opportunity it has to conect the dots and realize associations that wouldn’t have come up were I to reach some conclusion that resolves whatever issue is implicit in the thought. It was just such an experience that inspired me to write this article.
I am coming to the conclusion that ketamine therapy for mental health has a very beneficial effect on making our “triggers” (“buttons”) much more resilient. After 3.5 years of ketamine therapy, over 1,000 doses, I find that my triggers are successfully “pulled” to the point where my reactions “fire” are fewer and less intense. I still feel others’ behavior/statements touching my triggers; even pulling on them. I feel my reactions to these trigger touches/presses. Yet, they usually fail to successfully “pull” my triggers to the point of discharge.
I think I see the reason why ketamine has this effect. I suspect that ketamine slows the thinking process of the body+mind. Depending on the context, this slow-down in the thinking process can be either beneficial or problematic.
First, consider the problematic contexts. If one is driving a car one must think very rapidly. An obstacle on a collision course with one’s own vehicle must be recognized in miliseconds. We have to react by breaking or stearing. Rarely, we have to react by pressing on the accellerator to get out of the way. There is no time to think. We need instantanious reaction. Perhaps the best example of all is our eyes’ ability to detect an incoming “missile” in the form of debris heading toward our eyes. Our minds work so fast that they almost always blink to avoid the debris hitting our cornea. Clearly, a fighter pilot in a combat situation needs the utmost of reaction time to survive.
Next, consider the occasions where thinking slowly is beneficial. When someone presses our triggers it’s vastly better of us to take a few miliseconds/seconds/minutes to reflect on the severity and urgency of our reaction/response. Apart from the occasions mentioned first, in the previous paragraphs, there is typically no urgency in formulating a response. Almost never is an instantanious thoughtless reaction the appropriate thing to do.
When the mind has time to evaluate the threat the mind has the opportunity to reflect on much more lifetime experience. Does the in-the-moment attack represent a fight/flight/freeze/fawn reaction? Rarely is this the case. Given a few miliseconds/seconds/minutes to reflect on memories of a lifetime of experience our minds are capable of considering alternate responses.
I’m growing to beleive that - more often than not - the ideal response is to respond not at all. To allow the other person an opportunity to reflect on what s/he has just done/said and to wallow in her/his own reflection on her/his own behavior. In such a scenario the very worst thing for me to do is to distract my counterpart from her/his own reflection on her/his own behavior.
The thing I’m not yet clear on is whether this slowing of response time due to ketamine therapy is relatively durable or not. When I am not under the immediate influence of ketamine I think my slowness to react is improving. My slowness to react is most acute when I am currently under the influence of ketamine. Sometimes I can anticipate that in the next hour(s) I will be in a social context where others are stressed and are apt to touch/press my triggers. Usually I can dose ketamine and be under its modest/moderate influence. In these cases my resiliance to trigger touches/presses is very high. I still feel the emotions of fight/flight/freeze/fawn yet I don’t feel the urge to fight, fly, freeze or fawn.
Inciently, I find myself being vastly more creative when under the influence of ketamine. I experience insights that I can’t imagine having prior to ketamine therapy. This makes sense. The more time my mind+body has to reflect on a lifetime of experiences the more opportunity it has to conect the dots and realize associations that wouldn’t have come up were I to reach some conclusion that resolves whatever issue is implicit in the thought. It was just such an experience that inspired me to write this article.
