Suicide is one of the leading causes of death among adolescents in the United States. The 'Acute Course of Ketamine Versus Midazolam for Recurrence of Suicidality in Adolescents' (TASK), a double-blind, randomized, controlled trial, was designed to examine the signal for efficacy of ketamine, compared to midazolam (active control), in reducing 1) repeat suicidal events, 2) implicit cognition,...
Abstract Post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating disorder with limited pharmaceutical treatment options. Ketamine, a noncompetitive N ‐methyl‐ d ‐aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist with rapid‐onset effects, has emerged as a potential treatment, particularly for patients who do not respond to first‐line therapies. This systematic review synthesizes the current evidence on the...
Abstract Background Anhedonia, a prominent symptom of major depressive disorder (MDD), severely impairs patients’ quality of life and is challenging to treat. Although esketamine has shown potential in treating anhedonia in adult treatment-resistant MDD, its effects on adolescents remain under-explored. Methods In this study, a prospective, randomized, double-blind, controlled trial was...
Insomnia and anxiety frequently co-occur with treatment-resistant depression (TRD). This study examined short-term changes in depression, anxiety, and insomnia symptoms post-ketamine in TRD and their inter-relationships. Seventy-one patients with TRD were assessed at baseline and 24 h after intravenous ketamine (0.5 mg/kg). Depression, anxiety, and insomnia were measured using the...
INTRODUCTION: This study investigated changes in multiband amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations in patients with major depressive disorder following a 2-week combination treatment regimen of esketamine and sertraline, and examined the associations between ALFF changes and clinical symptom improvement. METHODS: Forty patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) received esketamine (0.25...
Near-death experiences (NDEs) occasionally include claims of veridical perception — accurate information about the physical environment obtained from a reported out-of-body vantage point, ostensibly without ordinary sensory access. The largest attempt to test this directly (the AWARE I/II studies) placed hidden visual targets, visible only from a ceiling-level vantage point, in resuscitation...
Depressive episodes are common but has great impact either in unipolar or bipolar mood disorder. Medical management of severe depression with suicidal attempts are challenging. The rate of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) who are non-responders are about 30% of those receiving treatment in research settings. Over the past 15 years, ketamine infusions have demonstrated rapid antidepressant and...
Ketamine has gained increasing attention for its therapeutic potential, yet concerns remain regarding its misuse and the associated complications of its use. Ketamine use and ketamine use disorder can induce psychotic symptoms, but the persistence of such symptoms with chronic use and effective treatment of these symptoms is poorly characterized. Although case reports of ketamine use and...
Background Ketamine use has increased in recent years, with growing recognition of associated physical, psychological, and cognitive harms. Existing assessment approaches, largely derived from dependence-based models, may be insufficiently sensitive to the multi-domain and progressive nature of ketamine-related harm, particularly in its earlier stages.Methods A vignette-based inter-rater...
PharmacopsychiatryOctober 2, 2026Masami Murao, Daiki Setoyama, Yasuyuki Matsumoto et al.
Abstract This study investigated the antisuicidal effects of repeated intravenous ketamine in patients with treatment-resistant depression and explored associations between suicidal ideation and temporal changes in selected plasma biomarkers to identify potential biomarkers. This secondary analysis of an open-label trial included outpatients with treatment-resistant depression who received four...
Objective: To synthesize evidence for intravenous racemic ketamine and regulated intranasal esketamine in adults with acute suicidal presentations; distinguish the outcomes these interventions have and have not been shown to change; and place any rapid response within a complete emergency suicide-care pathway. Methods: A narrative review of PubMed/MEDLINE-indexed literature was updated through...
Aim: To assess the effectiveness of ketamine-based treatment for adults with treatment-resistant depression in terms of the persistence of antidepressant responses or remission after treatment discontinuation. Data Sources: PubMed/MEDLINE database search was performed to select randomized clinical trials that assessed the effect of ketamine interventions on TRD in adults. Study Selection: The...
In 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a patented formulation and delivery method of esketamine, the S-enantiomer of ketamine, for patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD). While ketamine-based treatments share similarities with serotonin 2 A receptor-mediated “classic psychedelics” like psilocybin regarding subjective drug effects and stimulation of...
Pain ManagementOctober 1, 2026Steven Paul Cohen, Roman Smolynets, Jordan Wood et al.
BACKGROUND: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) are conditions that share common mechanisms and are highly co-prevalent with each other and chronic pain. This pragmatic study will compare ketamine infusions to stellate ganglion blocks (SGB), their combination, and a placebo-sham-controlled arm. METHODS: A double-blind study conducted at 3 U.S. and Ukrainian...
Ketamine has progressed from solely being an anesthetic agent to a drug of rising clinical and research interest due to its distinctive pharmacological properties. Its dissociative properties and rapid-acting antidepressant effects have made it a prominent area of investigation across many medical and psychiatric applications. This systematic review examines ketamine’s history, mechanisms of...
Abstract Ketamine is known to have anti-depressant effects and is suggested to reduce substance use. However, little is known about the mechanism of these effects. Given evidence from studies in depression of a greater therapeutic effect in those with a family history of AUD, this latter factor was also investigated as a moderating factor. We used data from the KARE trial, a randomised...
Consider neuromodulation for BPD patients with comorbid major depression who have failed antidepressants and other medications. Systematic review evidence supports a supplementary role in these cases. When using ketamine in BPD, monitor carefully for disinhibited behaviors and increased suicidal ideation. Case reports have documented both as negative reactions. MDMA-assisted psychotherapy has...
Overweeg neuromodulatie voor patiënten met borderline persoonlijkheidsstoornis en comorbide majeure depressie bij wie antidepressiva en andere medicatie hebben gefaald. Systematische review-evidentie ondersteunt een aanvullende rol in deze gevallen. Let bij het gebruik van ketamine bij borderline persoonlijkheidsstoornis goed op ontremd gedrag en toegenomen suïcidale ideatie. Casusrapporten...
Introduction: Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) affects approximately one-third of patients with major depressive disorder and accounts for disproportionate disability and mortality. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has long been the definitive intervention, whereas subanaesthetic intravenous ketamine has emerged as a rapid-acting alternative. Direct head-to-head evidence has accumulated...
The article aims to compare receptor mechanisms related to neurotransmitters for some of the most widely used psychoactive substances - amphetamine, cocaine, ecstasy (MDMA), and psilocybin - and to link these mechanisms to cardiovascular effects, thermoregulation, and neurotoxicity. The review is based mainly on in vitro studies on transporters and receptors, animal models, and controlled...