Micro-dose, macro-impact: Leveraging psychedelics in frontline healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic
A. Atoian, Harry C. R. Bowles, Sarah Gerhke, Suzy Atoian, N. Bowles, D. Thangathurai
Journal of Psychedelic Studies December 8, 2022 DOI: 10.1556/2054.2022.00227 (opens in new tab) via Semantic Scholar
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractA virtual care program provided daily sublingual ketamine micro-doses to 25 frontline physicians diagnosed with acute stress disorder during the COVID-19 pandemic. Over a 4–6-week period, 100% of patients showed improved anxiety, 92% improved stress, 96% improved PTSD, and 91% improved depression, with no significant side effects reported. The authors caution that definitive conclusions cannot be drawn from this association but argue that the results warrant further research into daily, short-term ketamine micro-doses for acute stress disorder.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Case series Case report Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 25 |
| Population | Frontline physicians diagnosed with acute stress disorder during the COVID-19 pandemic |
| Intervention | Sublingual ketamine |
| Duration | 4–6-week follow-up |
| Keywords | Medicine Psychology |
| Key finding | Daily sublingual ketamine micro-doses were associated with improvements in anxiety, stress, PTSD, and depression in frontline physicians with acute stress disorder over 4–6 weeks. |
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated pre-existing high-levels of physician stress and burnout1. In order to help treat frontline colleagues who were diagnosed with acute stress disorder, we chose a non-psychedelic, ketamine micro-dose treatment strategy for symptom management.We provided care virtually, and all patients were prescribed sublingual ketamine once daily. Each patient was evaluated using the NIH-PROMIS CAT assessments for stress, depression, anxiety, and PTSD via a remote, HIPAA compliant patient self-reporting platform. Progress was tracked and assessed against a baseline value obtained prior to the start of treatment. Patient progress was evaluated at a 4–6-week interval. Patients did not report any significant side effects to the treatment regimen.100% (25/25) of patients experienced improved anxiety, 92% (23/25) experienced improved stress, 96% (24/25) experienced improved PTSD, and 91% (20/22) experienced improved depression.While we cannot draw definitive conclusions from the association demonstrated by this data, we believe these results demonstrate that further research into the efficacy of daily, short-term ketamine micro-doses for treatment of acute stress disorder is warranted.