Ketamine Therapy for Vets In Texas May Soon Shrink

But first, inspired by a conversation with his autistic cousin, Jamil Karriem created Hiki, a friendship and dating app for neurodivergent people. After mentioning that autism made it tough to make new friends, his cousin shared that “ultimately, he was terrified that he wouldn’t be able to find a partner,” Karriem told CBS News. Today, though, Karriem’s cousin is thriving, and Hiki boasts more than 350,000 users across over 100 countries. Couples like Mariah Caezza and Dominic Modugno credit the app with helping them find forever love in each other. “It’s pure happiness,” Caezza said. 

Rule change might make ketamine therapy far less accessible in Texas

As a 30-year Navy vet and paramedic, Steve Viola has seen some troubles. Still, he couldn’t quite understand why some people ended their own lives – until the moment he was considering ending his own. It was just a few years ago; his marriage was ending and he had spiralled into a deep depression. “You want the pain to stop, and it seems like the next right step,” he told Texas Monthly. Fortunately, Viola told someone about his feelings, which led to a physician suggesting ketamine as a treatment.

In recent years, the drug, long used as a surgical anesthetic, has become popular for use in mental health treatment. Research suggests it can trigger a breakthrough for those battling treatment-resistant depression. The state of Texas, where Viola lives, has long tacitly permitted clinics to administer ketamine under the nominal supervision of a licensed physician. But a rule clarification might lead to enforcement of a state law that says they must have a physician physically onsite. 

Just a few years ago, Viola drove 90 minutes from his home in San Antonio to a clinic in Austin, where he received a dose of ketamine that took him on a life-changing “journey of discovery.” Due to the serious effects of the drug, which can prompt dissociative trance-like hallucinations and even send one into heart failure, Viola was monitored during his entire course of treatment by a paramedic. When he emerged from the hallucinations induced by the drug, his thoughts of suicide were gone. 

A change in regulation would mean that far fewer patients in Texas have the same options for treatment. Many clinics offering ketamine treatment are staffed by nurses, nurse practitioners, and paramedics, like the one who aided Viola. Now though, following rule clarification from the Texas Medical Board that ketamine treatments count as office-based anesthesia, they will only be able to operate with a physician onsite. With the anticipated financial burden, some clinics have already closed their doors.

Ben McCauley, an entrepreneur whose ketamine clinic opened six years ago in Lubbock, chose to shut his down, realizing that he could not handle legal fees a state investigation would entail. Hiring a physician to be physically present at all times was similarly out of financial reach. Some patients who can no longer receive treatment in Lubbock have turned to Tammy Vaught’s clinic in Midland, but Vaught is a nurse anesthesiologist and psychiatric nurse, and her clinic is similarly on the line. Though hers is the only clinic of its kind within a 200-mile radius, the supervising doctor she partners with lives more than 300 miles away in Dallas-Fort Worth. 

Operators argue that the way they administer the drug for mental health treatment is far different from the process used by anesthesiologists for surgery, and as such does not need the same strict oversight. In ketamine clinics, patients stay fully conscious for the entire treatment, thanks to the low doses given slowly over the course of an appointment. 

But Jeremie Perry, president of the Texas Society of Anesthesiologists points out that some patients take other prescription medications that might interact dangerously with ketamine, like benzodiazepines. In those cases, “instead of having an awake, talking patient, you have one who’s not breathing anymore,” he says. Psychiatrist Doctor Sandhya Prashad did, however, note that telemedicine companies are still allowed to operate. “If you’re not cracking down on that, how are you cracking down on somebody who’s providing good care in a clinic?” 

A spokesperson for the Texas Medical Board said that it is likely to reconsider rules for low-dose ketamine treatment at its December meeting. The state was the first to fund psychedelic therapy with a psilocybin clinical trial in 2021, and recently allocated funding for research into ibogaine, potentially in part due to its large veteran population – historic openness to psychedelic mental health treatment for conditions like PTSD might be reason to expect softer ketamine regulation.

Is FOFO – fear of finding out – delaying important diagnoses?

Many are familiar with the term FOMO, or fear of missing out. But what about FOFO? While not an official condition, mental health clinicians say the term is used informally to describe how people avoid vital health screenings due to anxieties about what might be discovered. These include mammograms, Pap smears, STD tests, blood tests, and full-body skin cancer checks, Time Magazine reports. 

A 2025 survey covering employed adults from supplemental insurer AFLAC found that three out of five respondents avoid important health screenings. Moreover, another survey from Prevent Cancer noticed a 10% reduction in the number of US adults 21 or older who had a routine appointment or cancer screening from 2024 to 2025. 

In part, FOFO stems from our tendency to prioritize the short-term – we might put off the stress of medical investigations even as it imperils our long term health. But that can also mean spending longer with those anxieties. “It’s to your benefit to get the test – you’re either going to be relieved that nothing is wrong, or you’re going to know what you’re dealing with,” says psychologist Jonathan Abramowitz. “The anticipation is often worse than the actual outcome.”

If you’re reading this and know FOFO is something you struggle with, the pros have some advice: Risk vulnerability and talk to your doctor about it. They can help you develop a plan for dealing with the uncertainty of waiting for test results, or work with you to reduce that wait by scheduling multiple necessary screenings within the same time period. To make appointments less daunting, you might also consider taking a trusted friend with you, and rewarding yourself with a treat afterwards. 

Most importantly, remember that taking the screening and getting the results is aimed at empowering you to give the best care to yourself. Lynn Bufka, Head of Practice at the American Psychological Association, puts it simply: “Facing the fear helps us make choices that are more in line with our values.”

Financial troubles return at Community Counseling Centers of Chicago

In 2019 and 2020, financial woes plagued Community Counseling Centers of Chicago (C4), but several years of quiet seemed to suggest that leaders of the organization were able to guide it back on track. Unfortunately things seem to have soured once again – employees recently told CBS Chicago that they’ve had to walk away from a dream job after C4 failed to pay dozens of staff for months-long stretches. “All we want to do is help, and it feels like that fact is being taken advantage of by these people in these positions of power,” said Imani Jacquet, a former staff clinician.

Now, staff say, patient care is being affected. C4 treats thousands of people each year, and staff departures exacerbate strain on an already taxed mental healthcare system. Employees who remain suffer the weight of overwork and financial distress with no end date – some are facing food insecurity and eviction as they navigate two full months of missed pay. When similar issues arose in 2019, the State of Illinois opened an investigation into the nonprofit’s management of its finances, eventually demanding the return of a $1.3 million grant gifted in 2013 for a building renovation, plus interest. In addition, $256,000 of Social Security Funds had been misused to pay for staff salaries, which then Interim CEO Pat Nichols said was his predecessor’s decision. 

While C4’s official website was inaccessible at the time of this writing, reporting from Hoodline days ago said the nonprofit’s public pages still listed clinic locations and crisis phone lines, while unspecified staff commented on the nonprofit’s commitment to fixing its operational challenges. The organization’s IRS filings are roughly two years behind, and CBS Chicago could not find anyone to speak to at their office. 

Employees who are still owed wages can file complaints with the Illinois Department of Labor – so far, more than 50 complaints have been made, totaling more than a quarter of a million dollars.

In other news…

Hard choices aren’t about pros and cons – they’re about you: ICYMI, in this summertime advice column from Vox, a soon-to-be lawyer agonizes over which career direction to choose – to go with better pay at a corporate firm or rewarding work in the government or at a nonprofit. The answer the lawyer letter writer received was unexpected. Rather than offer up obvious strategies, like a pros/cons list, columnist Sigal Samuel turns to philosopher Ruth Chang, who walked away from a law career to study hard choices. In Chang’s words: “When alternatives are on a par, the reasons given to us – the ones that determine whether we’re making a mistake – are silent as to what to do. It’s here in the space of hard choices that we get to exercise our normative power: the power to create reasons for yourself.” The truth we can all learn something from is that hard choices can only be made by the person facing them, based on who it is they want to become.

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Better serving Thai Americans with culturally-relevant approaches to mental healthcare: Recently, the Los Angeles Times ran a short feature on specific ways mental health professionals can help LA’s Thai community connect to mental healthcare. Recommendations are based on conversations with therapists, social workers, researchers, and organizations directly serving the community. It’s particularly pertinent because, as one expert explains, Asian Americans have high dropout rates from therapy. But the ideas are also widely relevant to other cultures, because of the charge given to providers to respect and honor clients’ community values, family systems, and cultural strengths. 

Suggestions include a collectivist approach to care that involves family and community, as well as a focus on practical scenarios. Plainly, not even all Asian Americans will benefit from any one approach – the key to good care is prioritizing cultural competence and using treatment models as guides, rather than relying on a one-size-fits-all model.