If you’re considering Spravato for depression, one of the biggest questions is simple:
Is it worth it?
The answer depends on what you’re hoping to gain, what you’re willing to tolerate during treatment, and how much depression is currently costing you in your daily life.
Like any treatment, Spravato has advantages and drawbacks. Understanding both can help you decide whether it’s the right fit for you.
Pro: It Works Fast
Traditional antidepressants often take four to eight weeks to show meaningful improvement. For someone who is struggling to get out of bed, concentrate at work, or find joy in life, that can feel like an eternity. Spravato is different. Many patients begin noticing changes within days or weeks rather than months. While not everyone responds immediately, the potential for faster relief is one of the main reasons people choose it.
When you’ve already spent years trying medications that didn’t work, speed matters. Having hope again can be motivating to make other lifestyle changes that can support your mental health and help sustain benefits.
Pro: Spravato May Be More Affordable Than You Think
Many people assume Spravato is financially out of reach. In reality, most commercial insurance plans cover Spravato when medical criteria are met. Johnson & Johnson also offers a Spravato withMe savings program with a $10 copay per visit that can significantly reduce out-of-pocket costs for eligible patients. We’ve built a Spravato cost calculator that can help you estimate what your total out of pocket will be for the year to get treatment with your insurance and savings card information taken into consideration.
Because of the savings card and insurance coverage, you will reach your deductible and out-of-pocket max much faster with Spravato treatment. That said, there are still financial considerations. You may need to satisfy part or all of your deductible before insurance begins paying. Depending on your plan, the first few treatments can cost more than later treatments. You also may need to pay for Uber rides if you don’t have a ride to and from treatment.
For many patients, the question becomes:
Is the cost of treatment greater than the cost of staying depressed?
Lost productivity and growth, missed work, strained relationships with loved ones, and years spent feeling stuck all have a price too.
Pro/Con: How Spravato Feels
Many people ask what Spravato feels like. The true answer is that in the same way that no two Spravato treatments are the same, no two people react to the medication in the same way. For some people, Spravato may feel like a transcendental experience. This experience helps people feel weightless, relaxed and reconnect to their feelings and experience. We’ve also had patients who don’t experience the psychedelic visions that other patients report. Some patients just get nauseated and don’t ever want to do it again (we can prescribe Zofran prior to treatment if you have a history of car sickness, nausea, or hyperemesis during pregnancy) or Deep TMS if you want a drug-free approach. For a deeper dive on what Spravato treatment felt like for our founder, read Liesl Perez’s blog here.
What is universally true is that everyone who does Spravato treatment must stop whatever they’re doing and do nothing but rest for 2 hours or longer, as legally required by the FDA. Spravato is a ketamine-derived compound that has a sedative effect. Even after you’re past the observation period, you may feel tired, move a bit more slowly, and may need the rest of the day to recover.
For some people, this sounds frustrating. For others, it may be exactly what’s needed. Many people with depression and anxiety develop coping mechanisms that involve constant movement, productivity, scrolling, working, planning, worrying, or staying busy. Slowing down feels uncomfortable because it creates space for thoughts and emotions they’ve been avoiding. Spravato makes slowing down unavoidable.
For two hours during treatment and often for several hours afterward, your brain gets permission to stop performing. And for many people, forced relaxation is the only relaxation they’ve experienced in years.
Some patients describe this as one of the most healing aspects of treatment.
Con: You Have to Plan Your Entire Day Around Treatment
Even if you schedule treatment at the end of a workday, you still need to plan ahead for Spravato treatment. This is one of the biggest inconveniences.
On treatment days:
- You cannot drive yourself home.
- You need a responsible adult to take you home.
- You should not return to work afterward.
- You may feel tired, dizzy, detached, or mentally slower for the rest of the day.
- You’ll need to avoid eating before treatment according to your provider’s instructions.
- You may need to stay relaxed before treatment if you have high blood pressure.
- Sometimes, ADHD meds can increase blood pressure so you might need to avoid these on treatment days.
With other treatments like TMS, you go in to treatment and then can go back to work or your life right after. This is not the case with Spravato. Some people view this as a major downside. Others see it as a protected block of time dedicated to healing. Only you can decide whether that tradeoff is worth it.
Con: Nausea Is Real
Not everyone experiences nausea with Spravato treatment, but it’s common enough that we may prescribe Zofran ahead of time and we keep emetic bags in every treatment room. For some patients, the nausea can be so bad that they choose not to continue with treatment. We cannot predict what your reaction will be to Spravato, but don’t worry if you do throw up. Most nausea is temporary, and we’ve seen it all. Just make sure that you don’t eat 2 hours before treatment (3 if you’re especially sensitive to medications).
Con: No Driving After Treatment, and Rideshares Can Get Expensive
Driving after treatment is strictly prohibited and will be grounds for immediate dismissal from treatment. This isn’t optional. Driving afterward is unsafe as Spravato can impair your judgment, reaction time, and coordination.
You’ll need a trusted friend, family member, rideshare companion or another transportation arrangement to get home after treatment. For some patients, transportation becomes the biggest logistical challenge of treatment.
Con: The First Month Requires a Significant Time Commitment
The standard Spravato schedule is intensive at first. It’s twice a week for the first month, and once a week for the second month. That means arranging transportation, adjusting work schedules, and setting aside time for recovery multiple times each week.
The good news is that treatment frequency usually decreases over time. Many patients eventually transition to weekly, every-other-week, or monthly maintenance treatments. And you don’t have to take daily pills.
Some patients even begin looking forward to their appointments because they associate them with feeling better, resting, and reconnecting with themselves.
Pro: Spravato May Help Your Brain Become More Flexible
Researchers believe ketamine-based treatments stimulate neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to form and strengthen connections between neurons. Think of it as creating fresh pathways in a brain that has been stuck in the same depressive patterns for years.
Many patients report improvements in:
- Concentration
- Mental clarity
- Motivation
- Emotional flexibility
- Ability to engage in therapy
While Spravato isn’t a magic solution, it may help create the conditions that allow lasting change to happen.
The Biggest Question: What Is Depression Costing You?
When people ask whether Spravato is worth it, they’re often focused on the cost, the time commitment, or the inconvenience. Those are important considerations. But there’s another question worth asking:
What is untreated depression costing you?
How much is it costing your relationships?
Your career?
Your energy?
Your ability to enjoy your life?
For many patients, the inconvenience of treatment becomes easier to accept when compared to the burden they’ve been carrying for years.
Final Conclusion: Is Spravato Worth It?
For someone whose depression has not improved with traditional treatments, many patients would say yes. We have an entire page dedicated to patient videos saying that Spravato treatment changed their life. The treatment requires time, planning, transportation, and a willingness to slow down. You may experience temporary side effects, and you’ll need to organize your schedule around treatment days.
But it also offers something many people haven’t experienced in a long time: Hope.
And for people who have spent years trying medication after medication without success, that possibility alone can make Spravato worth considering.
The Hidden Benefit Nobody Talks About: Permission to Stop Performing
Most articles about Spravato focus on neurotransmitters, clinical studies, and remission rates.
Those things matter. But ask enough patients about their experience, and you’ll hear something unexpected.
For the first time in years, they were forced to stop.
No emails.
No multitasking.
No taking care of everyone else.
No pretending they’re okay.
No pushing through exhaustion.
For many people with depression, especially high achievers, productivity becomes a coping mechanism. If they keep moving, they don’t have to sit with how exhausted, anxious, overwhelmed, or disconnected they feel. The problem is that constantly outrunning your emotions is exhausting. Eventually, the tank runs empty.
Spravato creates a protected space where there is nowhere to go and nothing to do except be present. Some patients listen to music. Some reflect on their lives. Some simply rest. Others find themselves experiencing moments of peace they haven’t felt in years.
Is it always comfortable? No.
In fact, slowing down can feel surprisingly difficult at first.
Many people discover that the hardest part of treatment isn’t the medication itself. It’s allowing themselves to stop performing for everyone else.
But healing often requires something that depression and burnout have stolen from us: rest.
Not the kind of rest where you’re scrolling your phone while answering emails and worrying about tomorrow. Real rest.
The kind that gives your brain and nervous system a chance to recover. For some patients, the medication is only part of what makes Spravato effective. The other part is finally creating space for healing to happen.
Start Your Spravato Journey This Week
Axis Integrated Mental Health takes new psychiatric appointments within 7 business days. If you are eligible, we can typically get your prior authorization approved within 2 weeks. Book your first appointment to start your healing journey today at axismh.com/book-online or call or text (720) 400-7025 to talk to our team.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, available 24/7.
