4.7 Article

Oral ketamine reduces the experience of stress in people with chronic suicidality

Journal

JOURNAL OF AFFECTIVE DISORDERS
Volume 300, Issue -, Pages 410-417

Publisher

ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2022.01.018

Keywords

Ketamine; Stress; Suicidality; Open label

Funding

  1. Australian Common-wealth Government's 'Prioritizing Mental Health' initiative

Ask authors/readers for more resources

This study is the first to examine the effect of ketamine treatment on self-reported stress in adults with chronic suicidality. The results showed that ketamine was able to significantly reduce stress and had a sustained improvement effect. However, the study had limitations such as small sample size and open label design.
Background: Stress is prevalent in people experiencing suicidality and is a major contributor to the development of mental disorders. Evidence suggests ketamine shows capacity to reverse stress-induced brain changes. Though stress and ketamine have been explored individually for suicidality, this study is the first to examine ketamine treatment for self-reported stress in adults with chronic suicidality, building on pre-clinical evidence of ket-amine's capacity to normalize stress-induced responses and contributing to our understanding of oral ketamine in clinical populations. Methods: Thirty two adult participants (22-72 years; 17 female) with chronic suicidality completed 6 weeks of active treatment, receiving low (0.5 mg/kg - 3.0 mg/kg) doses of oral ketamine once per week, with a 4-week follow-up phase, to assess the effect of ketamine on their perceived stress. Stress was measured via self-report utilizing the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21(DASS-21), and analysed at pre-treatment (week 0), post-treatment (week 6) and at follow-up (week 10). Results: Repeated measures ANOVA showed a significant reduction in stress (p<.001) post-treatment and Reliable Change Index calculations confirmed this to be clinically significant. Furthermore, those classified as 'prolonged responders' demonstrated a sustained reduction in stress at follow-up (i.e. after 4 weeks of nil ketamine). Limitations: Small sample size, open label design, expectancy, secondary analysis Conclusions: Ketamine showed the capacity to produce a robust and sustained improvement in stress symptoms, in people with chronic suicidality. Future larger, controlled studies examining treatment suitability in a range of stress related disorders are warranted.

Authors

I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.

Reviews

Primary Rating

4.7
Not enough ratings

Secondary Ratings

Novelty
-
Significance
-
Scientific rigor
-
Rate this paper

Recommended

No Data Available
No Data Available