You Had Your Bell Rung. Life Moved On. Something Never Felt Right After.
Half of people who took a bell-ringing hit aren't fully recovered years later, and most were never told the two things are connected. Brain Recovery Centers has neurology available to consult, which is why our approach can work when standard depression treatment hasn't. Pick the story that sounds like you or your loved one.
Pick the One That Sounds Like You
What a Clinic With Neurology Available to Consult Can Actually Look At
Depression that follows a bell-ringing hit often has a driver ordinary depression care never checks for. A GP managing fatigue or a psychiatrist managing mood usually is not looking across the whole picture. Because we have neurology available to consult, we can:
Screen the hormone axis
A hit can bruise the pituitary, the master hormone gland, and up to 1 in 6 people develop a deficiency (low thyroid, testosterone, or growth hormone) that looks exactly like getting older.
Take sleep seriously
Sleep disorders affect roughly 30 to 70 percent of people with a head-injury history (Viola-Saltzman and Watson, 2012, Neurologic Clinics), and broken sleep keeps depression from lifting.
Check the autonomic system
A hit can disrupt automatic control of heart rate and blood pressure, which is why some people feel dizzy standing up or exhausted for no clear reason.
Take a real head-injury history
The hit is often remote, years or decades back, and rarely asked about. Connecting it to today's symptoms is the whole point.
This is capability, not a promise of a specific outcome. It means we know where to look before we recommend anything.
Whichever Story Is Yours, the Biology Rhymes
An old hit can show up across eight areas: mood, thinking and memory, sleep, energy and hormones, the body's autopilot, balance and vision, headache and sensory sensitivity, and personality. Standard depression care usually looks at only one.
- People with a history of a bell-ringing hit are more than three times more likely to have depression than people without. (Beaton et al. 2020, meta-analysis, Frontiers in Neurology)
- Standard antidepressants often can't reach this population. A meta-analysis of antidepressants for depression after a head impact found no significant difference from placebo. (Foreman et al. 2019, J Head Trauma Rehabil)
- Ketamine and esketamine (Spravato®) work on a different system entirely, glutamate, with effects measurable in hours and a 24 to 72 hour neuroplasticity window. (Zanos & Gould 2018, Molecular Psychiatry)
We do not claim to repair, reverse, or cure a concussion or any brain injury. What we do is treat the depression that a head-injury history can make more likely, and more resistant to standard care. A head-injury history is a risk factor for that depression, not an indication for ketamine itself.
It All Starts With a Recovery Evaluation
Everything begins with a Recovery Evaluation, a proper clinical evaluation from a clinic with neurology available to consult, not a sales call. It is $99, fully refunded if you don't qualify. If you do, the treatment pathway is Spravato in our clinic.
Spravato® in our clinic
FDA-approved for treatment-resistant depression. Given only in certified healthcare settings under its REMS program, with supervision and two-hour monitoring, and often covered by commercial plans, MO HealthNet, TRICARE and Medicare, subject to prior authorization and our participation with your plan. We verify your exact cost first.
Your PHQ-9 is measured at every visit, so you see the numbers move, not just how you feel.
Safety & Compliance
Spravato under its REMS program
Every dose is observed by a healthcare provider, with two-hour post-dose monitoring and blood-pressure checks before you leave.
No driving until the next day
Someone drives you home, and per the FDA label you do not drive again until the next day, after a restful sleep. This is a firm rule, not a suggestion.
We screen for substance use
This treatment is not compatible with active substance use, and we screen for it carefully.
Crisis: if you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 (Suicide and Crisis Lifeline) or go to your nearest emergency room. Brain Recovery Centers is not an emergency service.
Spravato® (esketamine) is FDA-approved for treatment-resistant depression and for depressive symptoms in adults with major depressive disorder with acute suicidal ideation or behavior. It is not FDA-approved for concussion, traumatic brain injury, or post-concussion syndrome. Use in patients with a concussion history is based on clinical judgment regarding the depression component. We do not offer IV ketamine infusions. This page is educational and not medical advice. Individual results vary.
Common questions
I was never diagnosed with a concussion. Does this still apply?
Very possibly. Between 40 and 80 percent of concussions are never reported at the time, and even ER visits miss many of them. If you ever got your bell rung playing sports, in a wreck, in a fall, or on the job, that counts. Absence of a paper trail does not mean the brain was not affected.
That hit was 20 years ago. Can it still be affecting me?
Research on tens of thousands of people shows the effects can persist for decades. The elevated risk of depression, broken sleep, and hormone issues has been documented 10 to 15 years after a hit and beyond.
Why would ketamine work when antidepressants haven't?
Standard antidepressants act on serotonin and norepinephrine over weeks. Ketamine and esketamine act on a different system, glutamate, and the depression that follows a head impact often has a different underlying driver. That is why we consider this pathway for this population.
Is this a claim that ketamine fixes concussions?
No. We do not treat, repair, or reverse a concussion or any brain injury. A head-injury history is a risk factor for treatment-resistant depression. We treat that depression, and neurology available to consult helps us understand why standard care has not worked.
What does it cost to start?
A Recovery Evaluation is $99 and is fully refunded if you do not qualify. If you do, Spravato is often covered by insurance, subject to prior authorization and our participation with your plan including MO HealthNet, TRICARE, and Medicare. We verify your exact cost before anything begins.
Standard Treatment Hasn't Worked Because It May Not Be Standard Depression.
Start with a Recovery Evaluation. $99, fully refunded if you don't qualify. Or take the 2-minute screener first.
Start the 2-minute screener Book a free consultPrefer to talk it through? Call us at (314) 314-9112.