TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2022//
TI  - Oral ketamine reduces the experience of stress in people with chronic suicidality
JO  - Journal of affective disorders
A1  - Dutton, Megan
A1  - Can, Adem T.
A1  - Beaudequin, Denise
A1  - Jensen, Emma
A1  - Jones, Monique
A1  - Gallay, Cyrana C.
A1  - Schwenn, Paul E.
A1  - Scherman, Jennifer K.
A1  - Yang, Cian
A1  - Forsyth, Grace
A1  - Lagopoulos, Jim
A1  - Hermens, Daniel F.
SP  - 410
EP  - 417
VL  - 300
IS  - 
N2  - 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 ketamine'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.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0165-0327
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2022.01.018
ID  - ref1
ER  -