Ketamine for Depression: Where Do We Go from Here?

Summary & key facts

Researchers have found that the anesthetic drug ketamine can lift severe depression very quickly in many people — often within hours — but the improvement usually fades after days to a week. Most studies so far were small and short. That means ketamine looks promising as a fast-acting option, but doctors still need bigger, longer studies to learn the best dose, how to keep the benefit, and whether it is safe to use over months or years.

Key facts:

• Several small clinical studies report that a single carefully controlled infusion of ketamine can reduce symptoms of major depression within hours for many patients who had not helped from other treatments.
• The mood improvement after a single ketamine dose is usually short-lived, often lasting days to about a week for most people in the studies so far.
• Ketamine’s effects may come from blocking a brain receptor called NMDA, which then changes levels of glutamate (a brain chemical) and seems to encourage connections between brain cells; this is a possible explanation, not a proven fact.
• Common short-term side effects in the studies included feeling detached or unreal, temporary increases in blood pressure, and perceptual changes; these effects usually passed after the infusion stopped.
• Because studies to date were small and focused on short-term results, researchers call for larger, longer trials to test safer dosing, repeat treatments, how to maintain benefits, and long-term safety and addiction risk.
• Scientists also suggest studying who is most likely to benefit and whether combining ketamine with other treatments or therapy can make effects last longer.

Topics

Diet and metabolism studies Treatment of Major Depression Tryptophan and brain disorders

Categories

Health Sciences Medicine Pharmacology

Tags

Depression (economics) Economics Ketamine Macroeconomics Medicine Psychiatry Psychology

Substances

Ketamine

Conditions & symptoms

Depression Lack of energy or motivation Sadness or low mood