Ketamine, Psilocybin, and Depression: Hope For Those Running Out of It
Illicit drugs elicit relief for treatment resistant depression.
This article is part of a Wise & Well Special Report: The United States of Depression.
I have witnessed many patients undergoing electroconvulsive therapy, or “ECT,” for treatment-resistant depression. Notwithstanding Jack Nicholson’s portrayal of Randle McMurphy’s ECT treatment in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, a modern ECT treatment — performed under anesthesia — is as undramatic an event as one can imagine.
ECT remains the gold standard for treating depression in patients who have not responded adequately to other forms of treatment, and response rates in this group of patients are at least 40%, possibly higher.
But what about the remaining 50–60% of people suffering from depression that simply won’t budge no matter what treatment they try? Or what if someone has failed conventional antidepressant therapy and is concerned about the side effects of ECT?
New treatment options for treatment-resistant depression are quickly emerging, the most promising of which are ketamine and psilocybin.
