Ketamine for Bipolar Disorder

Today, the NY Times reported on a double-blind, placebo controlled study using ketamine to treat severe depressive symptoms in a small group of patients with Bipolar Disorder. As was rightly noted in the article, it's highly debatable that the study truly remained blinded as the effects of ketamine are well-known and were likely evident to the patients within an hour of infusion. However, the study is interesting in terms of understanding how yet another product used off-label can provide assistance to this long-suffering population. Now, the use of an oft-abused drug like Special K in a population prone to dangerous behaviors is another question that should be addressed before physicians start prescribing it.