Ketamine therapy can reduce depression symptoms and suicidal thoughts: review

A systematic review of dozens of research papers has found that ketamine therapy has a quick, short-term effect of reducing depression symptoms and suicidal thoughts, making it a promising mental health treatment alternative.

The U.K’s University of Exeter, in collaboration with the University of British Columbia, examined 33 systematic reviews, 29 randomized control trials, and 21 observational studies.

In a paper published in the British Journal of Psychiatry Open, they found the strongest evidence around the use of ketamine to treat both major depression and bipolar depression, with symptoms reduced as quickly as one to four hours after a single treatment that lasted up to two weeks.

The review also found that single or multiple doses of ketamine resulted in large reductions in suicidal thoughts, from four hours after the treatment and onward. The effect lasted on average three days, and up to one week, according to a news release.