Ketamine was originally derived from phencyclidine or phenylcyclohexyl piperidine, also known as ‘angel dust’. It is a Class B drug sometimes used recreationally for its significant mind-altering effects. Ketamine is on the World Health Organisation’s list of essential medicines, because of its usefulness as an anaesthetic in countries where access to other anaesthetics can be limited. It is also known to some as a veterinary anaesthetic, and to others as the psychedelic drug ‘Special K.’
However, much more recently, very low doses (micro-doses) of ketamine have been approved by the FDA in the USA and by the European Union to be used under medical supervision for treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Ketamine takes just minutes to work, but the long-term effects are less well known at the moment, because this use is relatively new. It does not work on the serotonin levels, but instead on glutamate, another neurotransmitter thought to control mood. By binding to N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors in the brain, ketamine appears to increase the amount of glutamate in the spaces between neurons.
Because of its speedy action, ketamine has been demonstrated to reduce thoughts of suicide (Grunebaum, 2018, Abbar et al., 2022). Other treatments for suicidal thoughts can often take weeks or months to be effective. A clinical trial published in the USA in June 2023 found that ketamine was as effective as ECT for treating severe TRD, with fewer negative effects on the memory (Anand et al., 2023). At a recent conference in Oxford, consultant psychiatrist Professor Rupert McShane called for ketamine to be used as an option for patients with severe TRD who were being considered for Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT).
https://www.maxpixel.net/Person-Young-Sad-Depressed-Depression-Sadness-505857
When asked about biomedical treatments for major depressive disorder, consider discussing ketamine. Times are moving on, and we should move on to, from ECT, used extensively in the 1950s and 1960s, MAOIs (1970s) and SSRIs (1990s and 2000s). Ketamine has been around as long as the others as an anaesthetic, but is only now coming into its own as an anti-depressant. If you want to know more, Oxford University holds a ketamine conference every year and many of the discussions are reported online.
Psychology Sorted 