Suicide is a major threat to public health. In recent years, suicide rates have actually worsened in the US, and tragically, it’s a phenomenon that’s accelerating even among children.
There are reasons for hope in the face of this deadly despair, however, and it comes from an unlikely quarter. Ketamine – an anaesthetic discovered in the 1950s – may be dismissed by many as a horse tranquilliser or illicit party drug, but that’s far from the whole story about this powerful chemical.
A new study shows oral doses of ketamine can dramatically lower suicidal ideation in patients with chronic suicidal thoughts – the latest finding in a series of experiments forcing us to reevaluate the drug.
In recent years, ketamines’s reputation has undergone a makeover of sorts, thanks to new scientific discoveries of the positive effects it can have on people experiencing mental health issues.
A wealth of research has shown that ketamine seems to be capable of treating severe depression, among other conditions.
While the mysterious mechanisms behind these effects are still being explored, the FDA approved a ketamine-based nasal spray for depression in 2019.
In addition, researchers have found the chemical significantly and quickly reduces suicidal ideation in people who experience such thoughts – which is something traditional antidepressants often fail to achieve, and can take weeks to work if they are in fact successful.
Yet, there’s much we still don’t know about how effective ketamine is at reducing suicidal thoughts, scientists say.
For starters, most existing experiments assessing the efficacy of the drug on suicidality have delivered it by intravenous (IV) administration – a workable method, but also one that’s costly, invasive, and sometimes complication-prone to implement.
Researchers say there’s another, simpler, cheaper way.
“An oral form of ketamine that can be administered with ease, and potentially on a more frequent basis, is … an attractive option for the treatment of suicidal ideation,” researchers from the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) in Australia write in a new study.
“However, very few studies have explored the feasibility of low-dose oral ketamine in treating suicidality.”
To help bridge that gap, a team led by USC psychiatrist Adem Can conducted an open-label trial where 32 adult patients were given mild, sub-anaesthetic doses of oral ketamine over six weeks, mixed into orange juice, with the dosage increasing over the course of the experiment.
The participants in the study all experienced what is known as chronic suicidality – an ongoing level of suicidal thoughts that linger in the mind over a period of time, but which never rise to acute or extreme risk of suicide.
“These patients had lived with suicidality for a very long time and presented a range of psychiatric conditions, including mood, anxiety and personality disorders, and many of them had lost hope of recovery,” Can explains.
Despite the chronic nature of their condition, the experiment produced a substantial and rapid-acting response.
Oral Ketamine Experiment Reduces Suicidal Thoughts in Over Two-Thirds of Patients