Ketamine Effective for Treatment-Resistant Depression: Clinical Trial Results Indicate

A low-cost version of ketamine to treat severe depression has performed strongly in a double-blind trial that compared it with placebo. In research published on July 13, 2023 in the British Journal of Psychiatry, researchers led by UNSW Sydney and the affiliated Black Dog Institute found that more than one in five participants achieved total remission from their symptoms after a month of twice-weekly injections, while a third had their symptoms improve by at least 50 per cent. The study was a collaboration among six academic clinical mood disorder units in Australia and one in New Zealand and was funded by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). The open-access article is titled “Efficacy and Safety Of A 4-Week Course Of Repeated Subcutaneous Ketamine Injections for Treatment-Resistant Depression (KADS Study): Randomised Double-Blind Active-Controlled Trial