Depression and its severe outcomes, suicidal ideation and behavior, are exacerbated by stress. A broad literature links dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) stress response system to depression, suicidal ideation and behavior. Our midazolam-controlled clinical trial of subanesthetic, intravenous ketamine infusion for suicidal depressed patients found rapid reduction...
Objective Pharmacotherapy to rapidly relieve suicidal ideation in depression may reduce suicide risk. Rapid reduction in suicidal thoughts after ketamine treatment has mostly been studied in patients with low levels of suicidal ideation. Method This randomized clinical trial tested the effect of adjunctive sub-anesthetic intravenous ketamine on clinically significant suicidal ideation in major...