Frankie Bridge has opened up about the ‘positive difference’ that having ketamine therapy has had for her mental health, praising it as ‘life changing.
The Saturdays singer, 36, has always been candid about her struggles with depression that resulted in her being hospitalised in 2011 after reaching ‘rock bottom’.
In her latest YouTube vlog, she addressed her fans before heading to a treatment session, explaining that she had been motivated to share her experience as ‘it’s been making such a positive difference.
Frankie admitted that while initially she had found the idea of taking ketamine ‘terrifying’, she had now been using the treatment for a few years and had found it to be the ‘only thing that really helps me long term’.
She began: ‘Obviously my mental health is always a work in process and I’m always trying to find new ways of just making it better basically. And quite a few years ago now, I started ketamine treatment.’
She confessed: ‘As someone whose never taken a drug before, it was terrifying. I’ve never had that feeling of completely letting go, I think I’ve realised control is a big thing for me, and that is fully out of control – like I don’t even like being really drunk.
Frankie Bridge has opened up about the ‘positive difference’ that having ketamine therapy has had for her mental health, praising it as ‘life changing
The Saturdays singer, 36, has always been candid about her struggles with depression that resulted in her being hospitalised in 2011 after reaching ‘rock bottom’ (pictured on stage in 2011)
‘And so I started it a few years ago and that was quite a big deal for me. It’s just the only thing that really helps me long term.’
Detailing the treatment she’s had, she said: ‘I’ve done IV treatment and I’ve done lozenge treatment. Now I do it with a therapist and then the next day we follow up and we talk through if I said anything while I was having the treatment, or how I felt during it.
‘Because it’s very good at bringing things up that maybe in the past you have pushed down or not acknowledged. Or it brings up things you didn’t think were bothering you that much, and then you say it and you’re like “Oh wow, okay.”
‘But it also helps with the neuropathways. So for me it’s like I have a wall in between my neuropathways, so they can’t meet and attach and with ketamine it builds new ones around that wall.
‘So it’s not just helpful in that moment while you’re having the treatment, it’s long term and it rebuilds those for you and I really noticed a difference long term.’
Frankie explained that she was now working with her therapist to determine how frequently she needed the treatment.
She said: ‘But we’re just trying to figure out if I need top-ups. I did IV treatments and for quite a few months I had no dips and I felt really good, it was the first time I was like, “Wow this really works!”
‘Then after quite a few months I had a dip and we tried lozenge treatment. It’s kind of the same process, but I didn’t find them as effective because they can’t be as strong.
Frankie admitted that while initially she had found the idea of taking ketamine ‘terrifying’, she had now been using the treatment for a few years and had found it to be the ‘only thing that really helps me long term’
‘So now I’m doing a course of six IVs to start off. And then we’re going to see how many months it takes for the positive effects to wear off I suppose. And then I’ll have one every month, every three months, or every six months like whenever it’s needed.’
But while Frankie was full of praise for treatment, she admitted that she was ‘annoyed’ by the fact that it is still very inaccessible, due to it not being widely available and very expensive.
She said: ‘The annoying thing about it, is for me it’s it’s quite life-changing, but it’s not readily available and it’s really f***ing expensive. It annoys me because it could help so many people.
‘Some people have it and they never need to have it again, or they don’t need to take antidepressants, just so many positive effects from it.’
The Loose Women panellist added that the experience of being on the drug could be frightening, but that it has become easier for her to cope with the more she’s done it.
She acknowledged: ‘It is scary. I always have to have someone there, because you have to have that out of body experience to fully get the right effects.
‘And sometimes I feel like I’m going really far away and I have a real fear of death, so sometimes it feels like I’m never going to come back, and that can be really scary.
‘So just to have someone there, that I can reach out my hand and they can hold my hand, it’s really grounding.
Frankie previously spoke about how she’d turned to ketamine therapy after learning she had ‘treatment-resistant depression’, making antidepressants ineffective
‘But the more I’ve done it, the less I feel scared of that now, because obviously now I know the process.’
Frankie previously spoke about how she’d turned to ketamine therapy after learning she had ‘treatment-resistant depression’, making antidepressants ineffective.
She opened up about her mental health on Loose Women in November last year, explaining: ‘I started taking antidepressants when I was about 18 and I still ended up in hospital when I was about 21 with really bad depression and anxiety.
‘It’s one of those things for me where they work to a degree in that I’m able to get out of bed in the morning and I’m able to come and work and be present with my friends and family.’
The singer added: ‘I’ve had like tests done and my body isn’t able to create seratonin or to keep it. So even if I’m taking antidepressants it’s almost counter productive.
But because I’ve been on them for so long for now the fear of coming off them is really scary because I’m like would I end up back in hospital again?
‘I’ve got children now, a husband. I’ve tried a lot of different ones and I’ve tried different combinations of different antidepressants and things like that.’
Frankie continued: ‘So now I’m constantly trying to think of different things to try so I’ve recently tried ketamine treatment which has been really effective for me but it’s really expensive, it’s not available for everyone.
‘That was a really big deal for me, that was really scary for me. I’ve taken myself off of antidepressants before and the side effects of coming off these things are brutal.
‘I spent two weeks in bed, I felt awful. It’s a really good message to say to people that you can obviously give it a go if you feel ready but you have to do it with a doctor because it’s not that easy just to go right, I’ll stop.’
There has been growing interest in ketamine, also known as Vitamin K, Special K or Ket, as a potential treatment for various mental health conditions over the last few years.
It increases levels of a glutamate in the brain, a neurotransmitter crucial to mood regulation, learning, memory, and information processing.
Ketamine therapy works by taking an extremely low dose of the drug, to provoke its glutamate boosting effects, and then working through issues with a trained psychotherapist.
By taking the drug, a patient opens up emotionally and becomes more receptive to therapy, a concept known as psychedelic medicine.
The treatment has attracted high-profile endorsements from the likes of celebrities like of Sharon Osborne, Chrissy Teigen and Elon Musk.
Ketamine is being offered in Britain as infusions to treat depression and anxiety at private psychotherapy clinics around the country – and even on the NHS.
