Ketamine, a Class C drug sometimes used as a horse tranquilizer, could offer an instant remedy for depression. According to the Daily Mail, doctors at Ben Taub General Hospital in Houston are testing the effectiveness of the drug on patients with severe depression.
The mental health researchers believe ketamine may offer a way to bridge the gap between the time a patient first starts taking anti-depressants and when they begin to feel relief. Current drugs normally take a few weeks to kick in, leaving the patient at risk for suicidal thoughts. Ketamine, meanwhile, is believed to work instantly.
Researchers are working to determine the effectiveness of the drug by giving patients one infusion of either ketamine or a normal sedative, and then comparing results. Already, patients are expressing symptoms of relief. Heather Merrill, a trial patient and mother of three, told National Public Radio that ketamine got rid of her depression instantly.
“It was almost immediate, the sense of calmness and relaxation,” Merrill said. “No more fogginess. No more heaviness. I feel like I’m a clean slate right now. I want to go home and see friends or, you know, go to the grocery store and cook the family dinner.”
