Rapid-Acting Antidepressants: Where Do We Stand with Ketamine?

The lay press has focused a lot of attention on the use of ketamine as a potentially rapidly acting treatment for depression. But are psychiatrists really ready to offer ketamine as a treatment alternative for mood disorders?

In this podcast, Gerard Sanacora, MD, PhD, addresses issues related to ketamine. Dr Sanacora is Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Yale Depression Research Program in New Haven, Connecticut. Specific questions include:

• Why has ketamine gained such interest in the lay-media?

• What’s the clinical reality? How would you recommend counseling a patient who asks you for ketamine?

• Are there other drugs with similar mechanisms of action that can be used or are there new drugs in development that may act similarly to ketamine?

Dr Sanacora will speak at this year’s PsychCongress in a presentation titled “Rapid-Acting Antidepressants: Ready for Prime Time?”