Reflections on Psychiatry & Psychology

Hypervigilance to bodily sensations can trigger faster breathing and hyperventilation, lowering CO₂ and reducing oxygen delivery to tissues. This causes dizziness, tingling, and panic. Alcohol may give brief relief but worsens anxiety later; therapy can help.

“Brain zaps” are shock-like sensations during antidepressant withdrawal, especially with short–half-life SSRIs like Effexor or Paxil. Poorly studied, often abrupt-stop related; tapering helps only somewhat.

In 2019, Elijah McClain died after EMTs injected him with 500 mg ketamine during a police arrest. The text argues ketamine is not a sedative but a dissociative anesthetic that inhibits GABA indirectly and can raise heart rate and blood pressure. In a stressful arrest, this may worsen agitation and cardiac strain. It concludes ketamine should not be used to “sedate” detainees.