What is Ketamine?

Ketamine has been used safely as an anesthetic medicine for decades. This medicine is now an “off-label” treatment for various mental health conditions that have not improved with conventional treatment.

Ketamine was first synthesized by chemists at Parke Davis Company in 1965 as a human anesthetic. It is unique for its dissociative effect and its preservation of airway reflexes and respiratory drive. Research in the 1960s established ketamine’s safety in patients from infants to elderly. It was widely used as a rapid, but short-lasting anesthesia that produced a non-ordinary state of consciousness.

In the 1990s, the National Institute of Mental Health began to assess ketamine’s use at low doses with patients living with treatment resistant depression. A protocol for IV ketamine was established which showed promising results. This model uses a 40-minute intravenous drip that is repeated 6 times over a 2-week period followed by “booster” sessions.