Elon Musk recently spoke about his own use of ketamine in an interview with journalist Don Lemon. The Tesla boss said he was “almost always” calm during X’s late-night or early morning posting sessions.
Ketamine has gained attention in recent years as a potential treatment for depression, mainly after his death from friend, actor Matthew Perry, due to acute administration of medication in 2023.
“When there’s something like depression and depression in my brain that’s not related to negative news, ketamine helps me get it from a negative mental framework,” Musk told Lemon. He added that he has a “real, real doctor” prescription and takes “once every other week or something like that.”
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Musk comes to depression, ketamine use, Wall Street’s expectations
Ketamine was first approved as an anesthetic by the FDA in the 1970s and has been used for a long time in emergencies and surgical settings. In 2019, escamine (Spravato), derived from ketamine, was approved by the FDA as a nasal spray for treatment-resistant depression.
Ketamine therapy has shown promising results, but its use is controversial. Some experts have expressed concern about possible abuse given its history as a recreational medicine known as “Special K.” However, when administered under medical supervision, ketamine therapy has been reported to provide palliative treatment for patients who are not responding to traditional antidepressants.
“If you use too much ketamine, you really can’t get the job done. I do a lot of work, I usually spend 16 hours of days… so I don’t have a situation where I can’t really be mentally sharp for a long period of time,” Musk explained.
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In particular, several studies suggest that ketamine helps restore neural connections in the brain that are weakened by chronic stress and depression.
However, Musk argued his depression in genetics, describing “From a Wall Street perspective, the key is execution.”
“Do you build value for investors? Tesla is almost as valuable as other automotive industry combinations. So, from an investor perspective, if there’s something I’m taking, I should take it.”
