Dr. Priya Parmar: Reimagining Psychiatry

The Psychedelic Renaissance is well underway, but thirty years ago there was another revolution in psychiatry, the introduction of prozac, the first SSRI. Today’s guest Dr Priya Parmar started her residency at that time but today she is ending her relationship with traditional psychiatry. Since 2017 she has been using ketamine in her practice which she feels is a potent frontline treatment for mental health disorders… with the caveat of the importance of integration.

On the show Priya and I share a long preamble about the state of the American healthcare system and we talk about the crisis in confidence in Western medical authority. Priya explains why she started using ketamine and her particular protocol with the medicine. We discuss set and setting, group vs individual sessions, recreational use of ketamine, as well as tolerance and dependency. Finally Priya shares her passion for supporting patients in getting off of the antidepressants that were once heralded as a miraculous cure.

Priya is a board certified psychiatrist in Los Angeles, California. After almost twenty years in a solo practice in San Francisco, she is now the CEO of State of Mind Wellness Center where she offers ketamine-assisted therapy based on the social theory of primates.

Links:

• State of Mind Wellness Center
• Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions

Timestamps

• :07 - Preamble about issues with the healthcare system
• :15 - Why Priya went into psychiatry and what has changed
• :22 - The crisis of confidence in Western medical authority
• :29 - Why Priya uses ketamine and her protocol
• :35 - How recreational use of ketamine influences her practice
• :48 - Supporting patients in going off antidepressants
• :56 - Concerns about psychedelic medicine