Using the highs to combat the lows: ketamine-assisted therapy for anxiety and depression

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In her debut blog, Gabrielle Williams reviews a US study on the safety and effectiveness of ketamine-assisted therapy (a digital intervention combining psychotherapy, journaling and ketamine) for moderate to severe anxiety and depression.

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Ketamine and suicidal ideation: French trial finds modest short-term effects

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Anya Borissova reviews a French trial that claims to be evidence that “ketamine is rapid, safe in the short term, and has persistent benefits for acute care in suicidal patients”.

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Ketamine “shows promise” as an anti-suicidal ideation agent, but will this promise ever be realised?

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Rosalind McAlpine and Karel Kieslich summarise a recent systematic review which focuses on the rapid anti-suicidal ideation effect of ketamine.

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Can ketamine metabolites and gamma power help predict clinical response for ‘treatment resistant depression’?

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Anya Borissova summarises a recent randomised placebo-controlled trial that evaluated ketamine metabolites, clinical response, and gamma power for major depression.

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Patients’ experience of ketamine treatment for depression: the ‘Ketamine and me’ project

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In her debut blog, Harmony Jiang reviews a recent qualitative study exploring patients’ experience and response to ketamine treatment for depression.

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Intranasal esketamine for treatment-resistant depression: the first clinical study

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Jodi Rintelman writes her debut elf blog on the first randomised controlled trial on the efficacy and safety of intranasal esketamine as an adjunctive treatment to antidepressants for treatment-resistant depression.

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The antidepressant effects of ketamine are confirmed by a new systematic review and meta-analysis

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Helge Hasselmann summarises a new systematic review and meta-analysis, which confirms the antidepressant effects of ketamine.

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One new drug a week: club drugs and novel psychoactive substances

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Meg Fluharty summarises a recent report from the Royal College of Psychiatrists and explores why novel psychoactive substances and club drugs need a different response from UK treatment providers.

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Ketamine for depression: new review highlights the need for an RCT

Helge Hasselmann reviews a new systematic review of ketamine for depression, which highlights the need for an RCT to provide reliable data on the safety, tolerability and best route of administration.

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Ketamine for severe depression: what can we conclude from a small open label study?

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Last week the media reported widely on a study of ketamine for depression (McShane et al, 2014). As usual the headlines made bold assertions, the Telegraph running with “Horse tranquilliser Ketamine could cure severe depression” (Knapton, 2014). But what did the paper authored by an Oxford group and published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology really [read the full story…]