A Death Doula's Substack

A Death Doula's Substack

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A Death Doula's Substack
A Death Doula's Substack
It's Everything, It's Nothing

It's Everything, It's Nothing

My ketamine journey.

Catherine Durkin Robinson's avatar
Catherine Durkin Robinson
Feb 27, 2025
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A Death Doula's Substack
A Death Doula's Substack
It's Everything, It's Nothing
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The idea of dying can make anyone nervous. For some of my clients, the existing ways to soothe those nerves are also anxiety-inducing.

Let’s see. There’s meditation. But some of my clients feel too anxious to sit still for longer than a minute. They could talk with a therapist. But remember, they’re at the end of their lives, and many don’t have that kind of time.

Older clients had been raised to believe that traditional or illegal psychedelics make everything worse. This isn’t true, but decades of propaganda still live inside their heads.

That’s why ketamine may be just what the doctor ordered. The fact that this medicine is legal and, where available, administered by a licensed physician puts a lot of people at ease.

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Dr. Gayle Bereskin, a hospice and palliative medicine physician, who also happens to be my friend, provides this medicine in Chicago. Over coffee recently, she asked if I’d like to experience a ketamine journey.

Most of my readers know my “Yes, and…” approach to …

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