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When working with those who are chronically depressed one thing many in the field worry about is “self-medicating”. It is not unusual for those with chronic mental health problems to turn to alcohol and other drugs when they have nowhere else to turn for help. Medication can be expensive, and therapy can be difficult to get to. So when I read recently that researchers were looking to “club drugs” for possible answers to depression I can’t say that I was totally surprised. Many drugs are known to cause depression after the initial “high”, or cause depression in the first place, so seeking out why some are different makes sense.
In recent weeks there has been an onslaught of articles discussing research about some of these drugs and their impact on depression. Some things seemed a little crazy for me to give much credence to, but one article jumped out at me. Although the research was on a so-called “club drug”, it is also a legal anesthetic called ketamine.
This is not new research, as there were published reports of the potential positive impact of ketamine on depression back in 2006, and even earlier, but more recent research has surfaced that may give hope to those who don’t respond to the medications that are on the market right now.
When I read the research on new drugs I have to be honest – there are a lot of big words and scientific mumbo-jumbo that goes over my head. Yet, I do get some of the basics. The research that was recently posted basically just further clarified what had been found earlier – that ketamine seems to be a fast acting anti-depressant that last 2 -3 weeks, even in those who have been resistant to medications.
This research made an attempt to further understand what neuro-transmitters this drug was impacting; it is well known that this drug has psychoactive side-effects so there are concerns about dependence. Finding a way to isolate the positive impact of the drug without the side-effects has been a goal in the research community for awhile. From what I can tell, this research was able to identify the information needed to develop fast-acting anti-depressants. This is only a first step in what is sure to be a long process, but the success of these trials can give hope to the hopeless.