Is ketamine an effective treatment for depression?

The ketamine treatment for depression is gaining ground as a promising depression treatment for a few cases of major depression, which is the leading explanation for disability worldwide. Sixteen million adults in the US, recent estimates show, had an episode of major depression within a year. Suicide rates have substantially risen between 1999 and 2016, increasing by quite 30% in 25 states. Due to its rapid action, ketamine could have a task to play in helping to stop suicide.

Why is ketamine exciting for treating depression?

• If an individual responds to ketamine, it can rapidly reduce suicidal thoughts and behavior (life-threatening thoughts and acts) and relieve other severe symptoms of depression. Ketamine can also be effectively used as a treatment of depression combined with anxiety.

• Other treatments for depression and suicidal thoughts often take weeks or maybe months to require effect, and a few people got to try several medications or approaches to realize relief. It is often true for talk therapies, antidepressant medicines, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), and electroshock (ECT), which is currently the first effective treatment for major depression that fails to reply to other therapies.