Carlos A. Zarate, Jr., M.D., Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry, 2020
In this editorial, Dr. Carlos Zarate of the National Institute of Mental Health looks at how ketamine changed the search for new depression treatments. For decades, most antidepressants worked in similar ways and took weeks to help, and many patients did not get better.
Ketamine’s fast antidepressant effect, first reported in 2000, pointed researchers toward new targets in the brain and led to the 2019 FDA approval of esketamine (SPRAVATO). Dr. Zarate also notes that larger, longer studies are still needed.