Party Drug Ketamine Used To Treat Severe Depression; What Is Its Long Term Effect?

Ketamine is given to patients with severe depression. This medication is known to be a party drug. There are some doctors who prescribe the medication to some patients.

According to a report, Gerard Sanacora, a professor of psychiatry at the Yale University has given ketamin drug to his patients with severe depression. It is indicated that Sanacora gives low doses to certain patients. This off-label prescribing of medication is considered legal.

Sanacora shared that if patients are in a severe depression and all the treatment has been done, then he offers his patients ketamine. There have been several doctors that agree to Sanacora and some clinics do offer ketamine to patients suffering from depression.

It is indicated that there are already more than 3,000 patients that have been treated with ketamine. This is according to a survey of providers in U.S. and Canada. There are also small studies that indicate that ketamine relieves suicidal depression in a matter of hours. These have been done to patients who have not responded positively to other treatments.

However, there are still questions needed to be answered regarding ketamine. It has to be known n how often the drug can be administered to patients with depression. Ketamine has a short-term effect to patients because of its anesthetic use.

It is indicated that ketamine's effect on patients usually wear off after several days and the patient needs to be given the drug again. The long-term effects of ketamine are also not known as of yet. Doctors need to find out more about the drug being a medication for severe depression.

Meanwhile, ketamine is reported to be popular in clubs as a party drug. It usually is called the "Special K" or "K" in the night club scene. Ketamine is also known as a "dissociative anesthetic" according to the Foundation for a Drug-Free World. This means that the one who takes ketamine experiences a feeling of detachment to the environment.