An infamous anesthetic, previously approved by FDA, Ketamine has shown great benefits for people with treatment-resistant depression. Administration of ketamine infusion has shown to reduce symptoms of depression, suicidal thoughts, and anxiety.
Ketamine is known for its dissociative effects for which it is also used illegally as a party drug, but originally it found its use in hospitals as an anesthetic.
Ketamine for treatment-resistant depression participants
- A total of 424 treatment-resistant depression-ridden participants were administered six infusions of ketamine to which within three weeks, half of the participants responded well.
- 20% of them reported remission of their symptoms.
- The response and remission rates increased up to 72% & 38% after 10 infusions of ketamine.
- It successfully reduced symptoms like suicide ideation and anxiety (30% reduction) in 50% of participants after six weeks.
- One participant came forward and shared their experience about how they felt sudden waves of changes that they never felt for years in an interview.
What does the FDA say about this?
FDA has already approved a nasal spray, Spravato (esketamine) along with an oral antidepressant. Currently, these drugs are available only through a strict distribution system due to the risk of unprecedented outcomes as these drugs have dissociative properties.
