Mindbloom is an American telemedicine company that treats anxiety and depression via ketamine-assisted therapy.[1][3]
 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Telehealth |
| Founded | 2018 |
| Founders | Dylan Beynon |
Area served | United States (35 states, incl. Washington, D.C.)[1] |
Key people |
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| Website | www |
History
editMindbloom was founded in late 2018 by Dylan Beynon, an entrepreneur, who also serves as the company's chief executive officer.[4] Beynon previously co-founded Mighty, a legal technology company, with Joshua Schwadron.[5] Beynon was influenced to create Mindbloom through his own positive experiences with psychedelic medicines and his family's history of mental illness.[6]
In September 2019, Mindbloom became an entirely remote company.[7] In March 2020, Mindbloom opened an in-person clinic on New York's Fifth Avenue, which was described in a Forbes article as the city's "first legal, upscale guided psychedelic therapy center".[8] Not long after the center's opening, the governor's office of New York issued the PAUSE order in response to the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic, closing all non-essential businesses,[9] causing the company to pivot back to a remote model. Mindbloom, among other telehealth providers, ultimately expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic, partially due to federal officials relaxing rules on telehealth and mailing controlled substances.[2] In 2022, it was reported in The Wall Street Journal that Mindbloom had hired former House representative Greg Walden for the purpose of lobbying on telehealth policies.[10]
Protocol
editPatients must first receive approval from a psychiatric clinician certified to prescribe ketamine. In 2021, Mindbloom reported that it denied approximately 35% of applicants to its programs, which included potential cases where symptoms either weren’t severe enough or were too severe for at-home treatment.[4]
Patients are shipped dissolvable tablets, slow-release lozenges, or faster-acting injectables containing ketamine for use at home. Another household member is expected to be present during use. A trained mental health professional is present via video conference for the first dose.[3][2] In addition to the medicine, patients are shipped a sleep mask, journal, and blood pressure cuff to monitor their vitals before and after a session. Mindbloom also provides a curated soundtrack for patients to listen to during a session.[11]
Other employees, known as "psychedelic guides", meet with patients virtually before and after sessions to process their experiences. Despite there being no formal requirements to become a psychedelic guide, a majority of guides have completed trainings in some form of mental health, life coaching, or crisis management.[4]
Studies
editIn 2022, a study was published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, testing the effectiveness of at-home ketamine therapy for treating depression and anxiety, using data from 1,247 Mindbloom patients. This was the largest study regarding the safety and efficacy of ketamine treatments at the time of its publishing. The results showed that 62.8% of patients with depression and 62.9% of patients with anxiety experienced improvement in their symptoms within four weeks, while less than 1% of patients saw their symptoms worsen. 88.6% of patients in the study reported an improvement in their symptoms, with 9.3% of that total accounting for a delayed improvement. The study lacked a control group for comparison and contained limited follow-up data.[12]
In 2024, a follow-up study was published, also in the Journal of Affective Disorders. In a sample of 11,441 Mindbloom patients, 56.4% of those experiencing depression reported an improvement in their symptoms, while 28.1% reported remission in their depressive symptoms after 4 sessions. Among patients who experienced anxiety-related symptoms, 56.1% reported an improvement, while 28.8% of patients reported remission in those symptoms after 4 sessions. Less than 5% of patients responded negatively to the treatment. The study lacked a control group and a fixed dosage of medicine, and showed a drop-off in follow-up data after 4 weeks. The study also found that "mutual activation of depressed mood and anhedonia had a substantial role in maintaining depression despite ongoing treatment."[13]
References
edit- ^ a b Gilbert, Daniel (30 December 2022). "This doctor prescribes ketamine to thousands online. It's all legal". The Washington Post.
- ^ a b c Yup, Kayla (16 August 2024). "People Are Injecting Ketamine at Home". Wall Street Journal.
- ^ a b Collins, Sonya (19 January 2024). "Your employer may be adding another health benefit to its roster: psychedelic drugs". Fortune.
- ^ a b c Dodge, David (4 November 2021). "The Ketamine Cure". New York Times.
- ^ Weinberger, Matt (6 March 2018). "This startup just got $114 million to help people get 'a better deal from the justice system' by finding investors for their lawsuits". Business Insider. Axel Springer SE.
- ^ Draffin, Leslie (13 October 2021). "At-home ketamine treatment helping people with anxiety, depression". KCEN-TV. NBC.
- ^ Harnish, Amelia (20 March 2021). "Is tripping with a therapist the next big thing In mental health?". Business Insider. Axel Springer SE.
- ^ Hasse, Javier (10 March 2020). "Upscale Psychedelics Therapy Center Opens On New York's 5th Avenue". Forbes.
- ^ "Governor Cuomo Signs the 'New York State on PAUSE' Executive Order". Governor Andrew M. Cuomo. March 20, 2020. Archived from the original on March 28, 2020. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
- ^ Essley Whyte, Liz; Winkler, Rolfe; Abbott, Brianna (25 November 2022). "Telehealth Companies Lobby to Extend Pandemic-Era Rules". Wall Street Journal.
- ^ Singer, Maya (12 February 2021). "Could the Embrace of Psychedelics Lead to a Mental-Health Revolution?". Vogue.
- ^ Hull, Thomas D.; Malgaroli, Matteo; Gazzaley, Adam; Akiki, Teddy J.; Madan, Alok; Vando, Leonardo; Arden, Kristin; Swain, Jack; Klotz, Madeline; Paleos, Casey (1 October 2022). "At-home, sublingual ketamine telehealth is a safe and effective treatment for moderate to severe anxiety and depression: Findings from a large, prospective, open-label effectiveness trial". Journal of Affective Disorders. 314: 59–67. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2022.07.004. ISSN 0165-0327.
- ^ Mathai, David S.; Hull, Thomas D.; Vando, Leonardo; Malgaroli, Matteo (15 September 2024). "At-home, telehealth-supported ketamine treatment for depression: Findings from longitudinal, machine learning and symptom network analysis of real-world data". Journal of Affective Disorders. 361: 198–208. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2024.05.131. ISSN 0165-0327.