Study! Ketamine May Be an Effective Treatment For Symptoms of Bipolar Disorder

Researchers have found that ketamine may be an effective treatment for depressed patients with bipolar disorder. A National Institutes of Health study found that the anesthetic which is used illegally as a club drug, provided rapid and sustained relief from anhedonia, a term used to described a person’s inability to experience pleasure from activities that would normally be considered enjoyable.

The National Institute of Mental Health reports: “Within 40 minutes after a single infusion of ketamine, treatment-resistant depressed bipolar disorder patients experienced a reversal of a key symptom – loss of interest in pleasurable activities – which lasted up to 14 days. Brain scans traced the agent’s action to boosted activity in areas at the front and deep in the right hemisphere of the brain.”

Researchers also noted that other depressive symptoms improved within 2 hours and that the anti-anhedonic effect remained significant even in the absence of otherantidepressant effects.