Addiction
March 11, 2026
Christina Mcanulty, Nicolas Garel
Bloy et al. [1] provide an important and methodologically rigorous secondary analysis of the Ketamine for the reduction of Alcoholic Relapse (KARE) trial, examining whether acute psychoactive effects mediate the therapeutic impact of ketamine in alcohol use disorder (AUD). Their finding that dissociative and perceptual effects did not mediate abstinence outcomes is clinically relevant, and...
Pharmacological Reports
March 11, 2026
Benjamin D. Brody, Dora Kanellopoulos
1 citation
Recent retrospective analyses have shown that individuals with comorbid Substance Use Disorders (SUDs) are overrepresented among responders to ketamine for Treatment Resistant Depression (TRD). Ketamine is an effective treatment for depression and also a potential substance of misuse. The authors contrast a mechanistic pathway with a possible expectancy effect to account for these findings, and...
Healthcare
March 3, 2026
Paul Lie, Titus Lie, Madeleine Nguyen et al.
1 citation
This narrative literature review explores the clinical use of Ketamine as part of an untested hypothetical model framework for bridge therapy for acute suicidality. Long-term suicide rates continue to increase in the United States and in many other countries, creating a pressing public health challenge with a variety of treatment considerations. Existing standard-of-care SSRI therapeutics have...
SVOA Medical Research
March 2, 2026
Olumuyiwa A. Bamgbade, Olumide O. Asaolu, Daniel O. Bamgbade et al.
Background: Chronic pain is complicated by comorbid substance misuse. This multifaceted problem increases the risks of polypharmacy, overdose, impaired driving, and avoidable emergency care. Methods: This is an observational study of a convenience sample of twenty adult chronic pain patients who underwent regular monthly intramuscular ketamine for multimodal pain therapy. Ketamine was...
Alcohol Clin Exp Res
March 1, 2026
Sarah D Jennings, Ian Yates, Samantha K Saland et al.
Background: Effective pharmacotherapies for Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) are lacking, and factors such as sex, drinking patterns, and timing of treatment during the addiction cycle may influence treatment efficacy. Clinical studies suggest that ketamine may be effective in AUD; however, preclinical findings have been inconclusive, likely due to varying rodent strains, intake protocols, and...
BMJ Open
March 1, 2026
Christina Mcanulty, Philippe Lavoie, Samuel Cyr et al.
BACKGROUND: Alcohol use disorder and treatment-resistant depression (TRD) often co-occur, presenting a major clinical challenge with limited effective treatments. However, ketamine produces rapid antidepressant effects and has shown promise in reducing alcohol use, and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) can be effective for both substance use and mood disorders. This study explores the...
The Nursing clinics of North America
March 1, 2026
Amanda Canada
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) often co-occur, worsening outcomes, relapse rates, and treatment response. Ketamine produces rapid and sustained PTSD symptom reduction and reduces AUD relapse. Prazosin effectively treats PTSD-related nightmares and may reduce alcohol consumption in individuals with heightened autonomic reactivity. The dual complementary...
Journal of Psychopharmacology
February 23, 2026
Tiphaine Raingeard, Thomas Soeiro, Caroline Victorri-Vigneau et al.
Background: While ketamine is widely used in anesthesia and pain management, its non-medical use is increasing worldwide. In France, surveillance data indicate a sharp rise in ketamine-related disorders, but comprehensive characterization of affected patients and associated complications remains limited. Aims: To examine trends on ketamine in France from 2019 to 2023, and describe severe...
Addiction
February 16, 2026
Cassie Bloy, Ananya Sarma, Bethan Marsh et al.
1 citation
People with alcohol use disorder experience alterations in consciousness from 0.8 mg/kg intravenous ketamine administration. Ketamine's effects appear to be broadly consistent across three repeated infusions. Ketamine-related reductions in alcohol consumption do not appear to be mediated by the acute psychoactive effects of ketamine.
Addiction Science & Clinical Practice
February 4, 2026
Maya Appley, Jessica R Gray, Dima Abdulrahim et al.
1 citation
Non-medical ketamine use is becoming increasingly common in the United States (US), but awareness remains limited among US healthcare providers. Here we present the case of a young woman who developed severe ketamine use disorder in the setting of an acute exacerbation of chronic post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). She also demonstrated symptoms concerning for two known complications of...