Interesting results
Professor Colleen Luis a clinical psychiatrist and researcher at the University of New South Wales and BDI, who has previously contributed to research into injectable and nasal spray ketamine for the treatment of depression.
“The results we’re seeing are as good as any other way of administering ketamine, which is interesting for two reasons,” she says.
“Firstly, there is a practical clinical reason that this is a much easier way to administer ketamine to treat depression. Rather than coming into a clinic once or twice a week for an injection and two hours of medical monitoring, this is much more convenient, and patients can receive the treatment at home, making it just as convenient as other antidepressants.”
“Some people may respond to one treatment, such as a pill, and others to another, such as an injection, so having more treatments available is very helpful.”
The second reason is that it calls into question some beliefs about how ketamine works to overcome depression.
“There’s a theory that suggests that what’s called the dissociative effect – that sort of shift in reality and perception – is actually essential to how ketamine helps treat depression,” says Professor Lu.
“This is very similar to the psychedelic drug-assisted therapy model, where changing how brain circuits work at a very deep level gives you new insights that help you get out of your mindset, and this acute dissociative reality-altering experience is what’s needed to make you better.
“But when it’s given in this pill form, it only releases a very small amount into the bloodstream at one time, and it’s released slowly over a period of days, so you don’t get that. You don’t feel any dissociation, but you still get relief.”
“So the theory that you have to change your perception of reality to get better may not be true.”
