Welcome to Back from the Abyss. I'm Dr. Craig Hecock.

Very few people are willing and are able to share and describe their descent into psychosis,

in part because memory formation and consolidation are so impaired during episodes of psychosis,

and also because there's often so much fear and shame tied up in the experience of losing

one's mind. In today's story, my patient

Corbyn describes his very early onset illness, how it started with years of profound depression,

and then shifted into alienation and eventual psychosis. As you listen to his story, you might

notice that it doesn't necessarily follow a strict

chronology.

This is because of the way that psychotic symptoms aren't stored a narrative memory.

They tend to be like random clouds of frightening despair that occasionally block out the sun,

predictably unpredictable, and difficult to weave into one's life story.

This may seem an unusual episode to follow my critique two weeks ago of mid-management

as an antipsychotic played such a critical role in Corbyn's path to recovery,

but I encourage you all to listen to the role that trust played in Corbyn's willingness

to try taking

medication. No basic foundation of trust, no treatment. No respect and compassion. Again,

no treatment. Another interesting aspect of Corbin's treatment journey involves ketamine.

Now, there's this belief out there that if someone has had

psychotic symptoms or psychotic episode, then they aren't safe to do ketamine. But the reality is

that if past psychotic symptoms came out of a primary mood disorder, such as bipolar disorder,

schizophrenia, sycissotaffective disorder, then ketamine can be very safe and a game changer.

...