Ketamine-Assisted Group Therapy for Work-Related Stress in First Responders and Frontline Health Care Workers

Introduction: Ketamine is an evidenced-based treatment for depression, and it has shown promise in addressing many other mental health conditions related to work-related stress or burnout, such as anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP) is part of an emerging model of psychedelic medicine that employs psychoactive agents to support the psychotherapeutic process. Frontline health care workers and first responders encountered excessive levels of job stress, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. This article reports on a 6-week community-based group-KAP program to address symptoms of trauma, anxiety, and depression in a sample of first responders and frontline health care workers.

Methods: Recruitment was self-directed based on a sense of work-related stress. All participants completed a 6-week ketamine-assisted psychotherapy group intervention with three to six participants per group. The group characteristics and repeated measures comparisons were analyzed via descriptive statistics, pre- and post-intervention measure comparisons and regression modeling.

Results: Sixteen patients received KAP in small groups with “pre” and “post” treatment evaluation of anxiety (Generalized Anxiety Disorder–7), depression (Patient Health Questionnaire–9), and trauma (Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , Fifth Edition). Symptoms of trauma, anxiety, and depression were significantly reduced ( p < 0.002) from “pre” to “post” test.

Conclusion: These results suggest that the community-based group-KAP program described here may be a useful treatment for work-related stress, though further formal evaluation is required. Future directions, limitations, and interpretations are discussed.