cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/8180477
Why this is significant: There is no currently known treatment to stop suicidal thoughts when they happen. Antidepressants take 4-6 weeks to start working, and they don’t work for everyone. Therapy also takes time. Our best option for acutely suicidal people is to lock them up in a psychiatric facility until they are no longer a threat to themselves.
Intravenous ketamine offers a glimpse of hope. A single dose appears able to alleviate suicidal ideation immediately after administration and for up to a week afterwards.
That’s interesting, I’ve also heard the opposite, and I think this just shows we need way more research - and of course way more coverage by insurance. I also wonder if people who got worse had just depression or depression and PTSD. I have a personal pet theory about that (basically, I’m curious whether, if you have PTSD the infusions will make you better short-term, but you still need therapy to process the trauma to receive long-term relief - no actual research support for this yet).