Helping Veterans Access Treatment with the Founders of The Ketamine Fund
Michael "Zappy" Zapolin and Warren Gumpel co-founded The Ketamine Fund, a 501(c)(3), that provides free ketamine treatments to veterans suffering from PTSD or having suicidal ideations, with the mission of lowering suicide rates by 75 percent. The Ketamine Fund has donated more than 400 free treatments to veterans suffering from PTSD.
In this week’s episode, Zappy and Warren share their stories, and what led them to advocate for ketamine treatments. Noticing how expensive this therapy can be, Zappy and Warren wanted to help veterans who would benefit the most by subsidizing this treatment.
Zappy and Warren also discuss some additional projects they work on to increase awareness of ketamine treatments, such as their upcoming documentary about Lamar Odom and their work with the Mind Army Movement. They also talk about why a proper ketamine facilitator is so important and how certain ketamine treatments are not as effective due to underdosing.
In this episode:
How Zappy and Warren became involved in advocating for ketamine.
Their upcoming documentary about Lamar Odom and how ketamine helped him in his recovery.
How ketamine addresses trauma and how it’s helping soldiers with PTSD.
How the Ketamine Fund is supporting soldiers through partnerships with treatment centers in the US.
Quotes:
“After my ketamine treatments, my depression and anxiety were gone. Nothing had ever happened so quickly and so miraculously.” [7:29]
"Probably the most beautiful thing about ketamine is it needs the least integration of what I've seen, because some of the plant medicine takes a long time." [18:50]
“It became very apparent to us that one of the most underserved communities in this country that deserves it [ketamine treatment] is the veteran community.” [25:38]
"We think if we can fund that [the Ketamine Fund] properly, and then anybody in the country who says that they're having suicidal ideation; we can get them into a clinic, in our network, within 24 hours in a clinic and get a free treatment." [44:37]
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