Journal of Affective Disorders
August 15, 2026
Michał Walaszek, Wiesław Jerzy Cubała, Zofia Kachlik et al.
Anhedonia, a core symptom of major depressive disorder (MDD), is associated with illness severity, suicide risk, poor functioning, and predicts poor response to antidepressants. While no treatments are approved, ketamine and esketamine show promise in reducing anhedonia. This study examines clinical and sociodemographic features linked to anhedonia treatment response in treatment-resistant...
medRxiv
August 14, 2026
Annette M Braxton, Christina Driver, Daniel F. Hermens et al.
preprint
Abstract Major depressive disorder (MDD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are prevalent, chronic, and disabling mental health conditions which are difficult to treat. Ketamine has demonstrated effect for improving depression and PTSD symptoms independently but reports often overlook focused comorbid improvement of these symptoms within individuals. To address this, we assessed...
Journal of Affective Disorders
August 10, 2026
Discordant signals: How outcome measurement shapes interpretation of ketamine response in treatment-resistant depression.
Journal of Affective Disorders
August 10, 2026
Yves Martins Varela, Patrícia Cavalcanti-Ribeiro, Geovan Menezes de Sousa et al.
BACKGROUND: Ketamine is an effective rapid-acting treatment for treatment-resistant depression (TRD), producing antidepressant effects within hours of administration. Because it induces states of heightened neuroplasticity and psychological openness, psychotherapy may enhance its therapeutic effects. METHODS: This exploratory, nonrandomized, open-label clinical trial evaluated the adjunctive...
The Journal for Nurse Practitioners
August 10, 2026
Tanner Herb, Heeyoung Lee, Prabir Mullick et al.
This quality improvement project examined the impact of shared decision-making–guided music intervention integrated into esketamine treatment on depressive symptoms and quality of life in 10 adults with treatment-resistant depression at a private psychiatric clinic. Over 4 months, patients collaborated with their providers to select and listen to music during each session. Depressive symptoms...
Cell Death Discovery
August 8, 2026
Yuqing Liu, Jiang Jiang, Yalong Wang et al.
Depression is a common psychiatric disorder, with a higher prevalence in women than in men, and has been increasingly associated with disturbances in female reproductive health. In particular, depressive conditions may impair ovarian function and compromise oocyte quality, thereby contributing to reproductive disorders. Ketamine is a clinically effective antidepressant. However, its potential...
BMC Psychiatry
August 5, 2026
Xiang Liu, Yuanzhi He, Lifeng Li et al.
Abstract Introduction Major depressive disorder (MDD) is characterized by dysfunction in higher-order cortical regions involved in emotional and cognitive processes; however, its neurobiological basis remains unclear. Pharmacological treatments, including esketamine and sertraline, produce rapid antidepressant effects. We investigated the local intrinsic neural dynamics underlying these...
Danish medical journal
August 4, 2026
Maj Vinberg
This narrative review examines barriers to Danish patients' timely access to new treatments for treatment-resistant depression, focusing on controversies around esketamine. Delays arise from regulatory complexity, economic constraints and scientific debate over novel psychotropics. The review advocates evidence-based, faster implementation pathways for new treatments to alleviate the overall...
Alpha psychiatry
August 2026
Lei Yang, Qiuyu Zhang, Ying Zhang et al.
Ketamine may have antidepressant and anti-suicidal effects. However, the mechanism underlying ketamine-mediated improvement in cognitive impairment in patients with depression remains unclear. To improve patient cognition in depression using molecular docking and network pharmacology, we examined ketamine's key targets and identified its molecular mechanisms. To gain target information about...
Alpha psychiatry
August 2026
George Anderson
Understanding the physiological changes induced by ketamine in mood disorders, while reducing its side effects, is likely to contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the physiology underlying mood disorders, as well as to the development of faster-acting and more efficacious antidepressant treatments. An extensive review of the literature on ketamine and the pathophysiology of...