Sharon Osbourne.Photo: Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images
In the monthssince exitingThe Talk,Sharon Osbournedeveloped anxiety that led her to seek out therapy in the form of ketamine treatments, the former talk show host said Monday.
“I definitely went through a difficult patch at the beginning,” she told the outlet. “I found it embarrassing. The humiliation that people would think that I might be a racist.”
Osbourne said that she and husband Ozzy Osbourne started getting death threats and hired round-the-clock security as protection. The experience, she said, caused her to develop anxiety, and her friend and former co-host Sara Gilbert suggested Osbournetry ketamine therapy treatments.
“I went through three months of therapy,” she said. “I had ketamine treatment and I got it all out. All the tears and everything that I felt, you know. All of that, it’s gone.”
Ketamineis a medication used on patients as an anesthetic, but people alsoillegally take it to get high, as it can put them into a relaxed or detached state or create hallucinations.
In recent years, though, researchers have started looking at ketamine therapy as a treatment for severe depression and anxiety, particularly for people who haven’t had success on other anti-depression medications.A 2019 studyconducted at Massachusetts General Hospital found that patients with anxiety experienced lessened symptoms just 40 minutes after taking a low dose of ketamine. That same year, theFood and Drug Administration approved a nasal spraycalled esketamine, derived from ketamine, as a medication for depression.
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Researchers are unsure exactly why ketamine appears to reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety, but they believe the drug goes to the NMDA receptors in the brain, which can help neurons better communicate with each other and improve mood and thought patterns,according to Harvard Health.
source: people.com
