The Guardian · California · Original story
Ketamine, TMS, a fecal analysis: my year trying San Francisco’s most experimental depression treatments
Carly Schwartz wanted a solution for her mental health struggles. She found one, but not where she expected
On a threadbare carpet in the living room of a Bernal Heights bungalow, I lay blindfolded on my back. Two middle-aged rescue terriers, one missing an eye, sniffed my feet and climbed up and down my legs. F**kin’ Perfect by Pink blared in the background, but the music sounded muffled and distant, like I was listening from underwater.
It was 1pm on a Thursday. Instead of going to the office, I’d allowed a shaman named Jonathan to inject my thigh muscle with a large dose of liquid ketamine. Even in my compromised state, high and spread out like a corpse on a stranger’s rug, I knew I’d reached peak absurdity. I also knew I wouldn’t emerge from this activity with even a slight improvement to my mental health.
Carly Schwartz is the author of the new memoir I’ll Try Anything Twice: Misadventures of a Self-Medicated Life and the former editor in chief of the San Francisco Examiner
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Carly Schwartz in San Francisco · Mon, May 11, 2026, 7:00 AM
California | The Guardian
Carly Schwartz wanted a solution for her mental health struggles. She found one, but not where she expected
On a threadbare carpet in the living room of a Bernal Heights bungalow, I lay blindfolded on my back. Two middle-aged rescue terriers, one missing an eye, sniffed my feet and climbed up and down my legs. F**kin’ Perfect by Pink blared in the background, but the music sounded muffled and distant, like I was listening from underwater.
It was 1pm on a Thursday. Instead of going to the office, I’d allowed a shaman named Jonathan to inject my thigh muscle with a large dose of liquid ketamine. Even in my compromised state, high and spread out like a corpse on a stranger’s rug, I knew I’d reached peak absurdity. I also knew I wouldn’t emerge from this activity with even a slight improvement to my mental health.
Carly Schwartz is the author of the new memoir I’ll Try Anything Twice: Misadventures of a Self-Medicated Life and the former editor in chief of the San Francisco Examiner
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