Illicit Ketamine Use Linked to Depression in Youth

Recreational ketamine use appears to be associated with depressive symptoms in youth, astudy in theAmerican Journal on Addictions has found. The study also suggests that the higher the dose of ketamine and more frequent use, the higher the risk of depression.“Although recent trials suggest that ketamine administration in clinical settings is efficacious in treating treatment-resistant depression, our study demonstrates that past-year recreational ketamine use is actually a risk factor for reporting current depressive symptoms among adolescents,” wro te Joseph J. Palamar, Ph.D., of the New York University Grossman School of Medicine and colleagues.The researchers examined data from 15,673 youth who participated in the Monitoring the Future survey, an annual survey administered to middle- and high-school students in approximately 130 public and private schools in the 48 contiguous states. Researchers drew their data from surveys administered from 2016 to 2019, and majority of the sample examined was at least 18 years old when they took the survey.In the surveys, participants were asked how much they agreed with the following four statements:Life is often meaningless.The future often seems hopeless.I enjoy life as much as anyone.It feels good to be alive.Participants rated their agreement as “agree,” “mostly agree,” “neither,” “mostly disagree,” or “disagree.” The researchers then scored the students’ responses and defined students with scores in the to...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: American Journal on Addictions APA election depression ketamine Monitoring the Future recreational use Source Type: research