New Hope for Depression
Author: Zachary Taylor, CRNA
You may have heard about the use of an anesthetic drug normally used in the operating room now being used for the treatment of depression. The name of the drug is ketamine. This well established and used drug is finding a new application in the treatment of depression and other mental illnesses. Time magazine featured ketamine on the cover of their August 2017 issue with a leading article titled “New Hope for Depression”. In the article Time magazined highlighted those who struggle to find relief with traditional medications, the history of ketamine, as well as a testimonial of a woman who had finally found relief from her depression with the use of ketamine.
The National Institute of Mental Health in a recent highlight article touched on some of the most interesting aspects of ketamine. First it works in a different way than all other traditional antidepressants. It binds to the glutamate pathway in the brain instead of simply increasing or decreasing the neurotransmitters serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine. Secondly it works much faster than traditional oral anti-depressants. Instead of waiting 4-8 weeks to determine if a medication is helpful. Some patients have reported “lifted depression in as little as 2 hours.”
At Utah Ketamine Clinic, our goal is not only to treat those that have failed with traditional anti-depressant medications but to help educate and inform those of this new option for the treatment of their depression.
Check out the Time Magazine article here and the National Institute of Medicine article here.