Ketamine may be used to treat treatment-resistant depression. However, it must be used under the supervision of a health care provider.
Ketamine was shown to have clinically and statistically significant decreases in depression scores in short-term studies, and longer-term studies have shown that ketamine can help people stay in stable remission.
Ketamine isn’t a first-option treatment for depression and is usually used when other, more longstanding treatments haven’t been effective. It doesn’t cure depression, but rather serves as a treatment to alleviate some of the symptoms and provide relief, which is often the push needed to make positive change in life to fully overcome depression.
Independent, outpatient ketamine clinics are popping up at a fast pace due to recent findings of Ketamine’s ability to successfully treat depression. These clinics are typically staffed by a psychiatrist or anesthesiologist, a nurse, a social worker, and the businesspeople who make it all work.
Ketamine is avoided or used with extreme caution in the following groups: people with a history of psychosis or schizophrenia, people with a history of substance use disorder, teenagers, and older adults with symptoms of dementia.
Ketamine therapy may be beneficial for treating PTSD, OCD, alcohol use disorder, and other mental health conditions, but more research is needed to determine its long-term safety and effectiveness. However, it is clear that Ketamine has provided hope and relief in thousands of patients with serious depression who had not previously found relief with any other treatments.