Many patients have struggled for years with debilitating depression. Many of these patients continue to feel little hope of ever having a full recovery. This is why many experts are beginning to encourage special clinics to offer ketamine as another solution for treating severely depressed patients.
What Is Ketamine?
Ketamine is already a licensed medical drug, however, it is somewhat controversial as it is also known as somewhat of a “party drug” or by the nickname “Special K” and is known to be of an addictive nature for many users. However, despite the history of ketamine, many professionals, such as those who published in the Lancet Psychiatry Journal, have begun to urge medical professionals to allow certain patients who have severe cases of depression to use the drug to try to help improve their overall quality of life under certain conditions.
When Is Ketamine Useful For Treating Depression?
Shane Rupert, who has headed several medical studies at Oxford University states that he has seen ketamine help treat many patients, who, for one reason or another failed to respond to traditional antidepressant medications. Currently, Johnson & Johnson is working on creating an intranasal form of ketamine that is known as esketamine.
So far, the results have been promising enough for the FDA to even call the medication a “breakthrough” in finding a form of ketamine that can be used to treat depression when other forms of treatment fail. This means that the FDA is making way to speed up the regulation process for the treatment so that it can be available to patients sooner than it otherwise would be. Extra time and energy are being put into the research and testing of ketamine as a possible solution for the treatment of depression.
What Population of People with Depression Would Benefit From Ketamine as a Form of Treatment?
Ketamine is still considered to be an “alternative” form of treatment for depression. Regular medications including other antidepressants are tried before a patient is prescribed something such as ketamine for treatment. When these other medications fail to help someone with depression ketamine is looking to be a viable alternative to helping give people with depression a newfound hope of a way to treat it!
