Mental Illness and Bipolar Disorder go hand in hand, but a drug called Ketamine is giving those that suffer from bipolar depression a new outlook on life. The drug is being studied in a new trial under the auspices of the National Institutes of Health, (NIH), division of The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Patients suffering from bipolar disorder and depression lose their ability to enjoy pleasurable activities, creating mood swings and other less than attractive behaviors. Understanding how these behaviors begin, and what can be done to reverse the trend, is omnipresent in the minds of doctors and scientists at the NIH.
Bipolar Disorder sufferers know that the Pharmaceutical industry has all but given up on research and development to find new medications to treat the symptoms of the disease. There are no new drugs currently being marketed that afford people with mental health disorders and depression any relief. These facts are even worse for those with treatment-resistant depressive symptoms. But there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel for these unfortunate people.
Ketamine has been used as a general anesthetic since the 1970’s, and is available by prescription only for human and veterinary surgery. This drug hasn’t been prescribed to treat mental illness or bipolar disorder previous to this study. The potential for abuse is evident, as with all anti-depressants, causing it to be labeled as a “club’ drug. It has been labeled as a Schedule III drug by the DEA, even though it is not technically a narcotic. Ketamine is found as a clear liquid or as a crystalline powder, and can be taken orally or intravenously, as well as being smoked or made into pill form.
Adverse psychological side effects include paranoia, delusions, anxiety, schizophrenia, heart palpations, disorientation, chest pain, delirium and hallucinations. Physiological changes may also occur, and include increased saliva output, a rapid rise in blood pressure readings, a reduced feeling of pain, dehydration, rapid heartbeat, slurred speech and amnesia in some cases.
With all these side effects and the potential for abuse, those with mental illness and bipolar disorder should be seeking other alternatives to treat symptomology. That is why this new trial and study should bear fruit, because is working with a genetic relative of the drug Ketamine, not the actual drug itself.
According to a study published in the journal of Translational Psychiatry, published on Oct 14, study author Dr. Carlos Zarate has indicated some success with this “cousin” of Ketamine, in treating patients with various forms of mental illness The study participants, most of whom suffer from resistant-depression, a hallmark of bipolar disorder, have achieved the ability to enjoy “pleasurable activities” which is lost in most cases.
Participants were given the drug intravenously by researchers, and the results were labeled as “promising”. The resultant decrease in Anhedonia was seen in as little as 40 minutes, and lasted as long as two weeks in most participants. Anhedonia is described as the inability to perceive pleasure from activities normally found enjoyable by the general population.
These findings tend to lead the researchers to believe that the study participants can at some point return to normal activities, with increased motivation to participate in any number of these pleasurable activities, interacting with friends and family on a regular basis. Positive treatment of a mental illness symptom.
Mental illness, and more importantly bipolar disorder symptoms have been ignored for too long. The study of this derivative of the drug Ketamine gives folks with mental health issues a measure of hope.
By Jim Donahue
Discover more from Guardian Liberty Voice
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
7 Responses
Oh my goodness! an amazing article dude. Thank you However I am experiencing issue with ur rss . Don?t know why Unable to subscribe to it. Is there anyone getting identical rss problem? Anyone who knows kindly respond. Thnkx
Hi this is Ahamed from india and my brother is having BIPOLAR disorder first 3 times he had depression attacks and the third one was a Maniac attack.Please can anyone here guide how to treat so that he can enjoy his life and get a good medication (he is taking medication regularly).
You are already on the right track. If your brother is willing to take medication for his bi-polar then he realizes what is happening to him and he wants to get better. That’s the most important thing. You should make sure his doctor is also monitoring his medication(s). Sometimes the medication stop working and there needs to be a change in the current medication. Sometimes the dosage needs to be adjusted. A therapist would also be good for him to talk out his problems and issues with the bi-polar and the medications.
ALL anti-depressants are club drugs??? Maybe tranquilizers (benzos), but anti-depressant drugs like Prozac, Zoloft, Welbutrin etc are not addictive street drugs!
No new drugs for bipolar disorder???? Latuda came out just last year.
Mental Illness and Bipolar go hand in hand???? Bipolar Disorder IS a mental illness, as are Depression, Anxiety Disorders etc. You make mental illness sound like something very negative. 18% of Americans have an anxiety disorder. Around 9% of Americans have Depression each year, with around 17% having clinical depression in their lifetime.
And I agree with the above comments. This was a very offensive, poorly written article. Remove it!
Over the past 10 years my daughter used Ketamine on an occasional basis. Her constant depression and negativity (which she had since she was very young) disappeared early in her use and in a short time she became a basically level person. She still has delusions and magical thinking because she has had schizophrenia and borderline personality disorder since she was 12 years old – maybe younger, but her general outlook is agreeable and not depressive. She is now 43 years old.
I found this article to be poorly written, poorly edited, and OFFENSIVE: “…creating mood swings and other *less than attractive* behaviors.”? “…these *unfortunate* people”? According to this article, not only am I unlucky but mood swings are behaviours, as if there were a choice (meds or no meds).Sheesh.
Terrible article. Reads as if it were written by a 3rd grader. The very first sentence sets the stage. “Mental illness and bipolar disorder go hand-in-hand.” That’s like saying soup and potato soup go hand-in-hand.
This article should be pulled. The little bits of correct information are old, and everything in between is insulting.