Written By: Prerna Mittra | Updated : December 18, 2023 3:01 PM IST
Social media apps and the constant flow of notifications can lead to anxiety and depression. We should limit our phone usage and reduce our dependency on them to avoid this.
Ketamine, a drug listed as 'schedule III non-narcotic' -- according to Medical News Today -- that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved for use only as a general anesthetic, has been found to significantly improve symptoms of depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation. A study, published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, found that people who got "intravenous ketamine" at three private ketamine infusion clinics had a "significant improvement" in their symptoms.
Recently, the Los Angeles County medical examiner's office released an autopsy report dated December 15, where it was mentioned that the death of 'F.R.I.E.N.D.S' actor Matthew Perry was from the "acute effects" of ketamine. The 54-year-old actor was found unresponsive in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home on October 28, where he was "floating face down in the heated end", media reports stated. The autopsy report also mentioned that drowning, coronary artery disease and the effects of buprenorphine, an opioid, contributed to his death.
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According to Medical News Today, doctors sometimes prescribe ketamine for "off-label" uses, such as for depression. 'Off-label', it explained, means using the drugs to treat conditions that the FDA has not approved. Some people, however, use ketamine for its hallucinogenic properties. It is known to sedate a person, incapacitate them, and cause short short-term memory loss.
According to a CNN report, while doing the study, researchers looked at data on 424 people with "treatment-resistant depression", who were treated between November 2017 and May 2021 at three ketamine infusion clinics in Virginia, US. These clinics purportedly specialise in people with suicidal ideation, depression or anxiety. Each time they visited the clinic, the patients filled out physical and mental health surveys and were given six infusions in 21 days.
The researchers found that within six weeks of beginning infusions, half of the participants responded to the treatment, and 20 per cent had "depressive symptoms in remission". After 10 infusions, response and remission rates were 72 per cent and 38 per cent, respectively, the report stated.
According to the study, while half of the patients who had "suicidal ideation were in remission after six weeks", there was a "30 per cent reduction in anxiety symptoms over the course of treatment".
But, more information is needed on the adverse effects of the drug, so as to prevent its misuse. Per the CNN report, while researchers noted they did not "systematically assess side effects or adverse events of the treatment", previous studies have not found any long-term or permanent side effects on memory or cognitive decline.
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