Free Ketamine Therapy? Laid Off Tech Workers Can Request Month Of 'Freedom' Program

A considerable number of employees have been fired from their jobs at big tech firms.

Meta Platforms Inc. META, Twitter and Amazon.com Inc. AMZN have each cut staff in the past months. Field Trip Health & Wellness has since stepped up and is now offering these workers a month of its psychedelic-assisted therapy program “Freedom” at no cost.

A hybrid composed of ketamine-assisted therapy (KAP) and additional wellness practices, the new treatment program was built on an evidence-based, in-clinic protocol to aid in a flexible healing journey through conditions such as anxiety, depression and diminished self-worth.

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Starting Nov. 30, “Freedom” is available in California and Washington with individual consultations occurring on a first-come-first-serve basis during December. 

Considering KAP is not for everyone, those eligible will receive Field Trip’s services for one month, including one ketamine-assisted therapy session -at home orally or in-clinic injectable dose- and one individual integration session with a clinician.

A Bit Of Ketamine’s History

The FDA initially approved ketamine for use as a general anesthetic in 1970, yet in 2000 researchers found that lower doses of ketamine could treat depression symptoms in a shorter time span.

Currently, ketamine prescriptions for psychiatric conditions are legal though not FDA-approved for that use -AKA “off-label” use. The exception is nasal spray esketamine, which was approved by the FDA in 2019 for Treatment-Resistant Depression (TRD) or other symptoms that have found no relief in existing therapeutics.

Although ketamine has usually been studied for treating depression cases, Field Trip’s CEO Ronan Levy believes that KAP can be “powerfully transformative for people dealing with some of the more common challenges of everyday life,” as the substance can increase production of brain neurotransmitter glutamate, which helps establish new brain pathways.

Photo courtesy by True Touch Lifestyle and Gorodenkoff on Shutterstock and Doc James on Wikimedia Commons.