Experiences - Any personal experiences with using ketamine as an antidepressant?

[Expat98]

I am seeing more and more news articles and research papers on the subject of ketamine being a very effective and fast-acting anti-depressant. But I have seen very little in the way of personal experiences reported here or elsewhere on using ketamine as an antidepressant. Does anyone have experience reports they can share on this subject?

I did a search but did not see any threads about this.

[dave-o]

Well, in the short term it would help with depression yes, but after the initial effects wear off there is often a feeling of paranoia, which would not be good for depressive people.

[Psych0naut]

I thought it was a very effective (even long-term) anti-depressant, only needing an occasional dose to keep depression away for very long periods. Also, I didn't read anything about causing paranoia as a side effect, and I've read up a lot on ketamine being used as anti-depressant.

[Nature Boy]

SWIM used ketamine to lift him out of a fairly depressed state of mind once. He doesn't suffer from depression or anything like that but was feeling quite sad and heart-broken on this occasion. Within a few minutes of insufflation, it felt as though a huge weight was lifted off his shoulders. He gained clarity which made him confront the direct cause of why he was feeling down in the first place. It was a rather remarkable experience. It's effectiveness as an anti-depressant was obvious although having never used any other anti-depressants, it's impossible to compare to other treatments.

The quickness of its effects were really outstanding though. It was like being told by a doctor that you have AIDS and a minute later he says "oops, that was someone else's chart I was reading, you don't have AIDS". Dodgy example I know but it sort of captures the moment. Ketamine definitely has huge potential as an anti-depressant. Certainly in the short-term anyway.

[sterling77]

Originally Posted by Nature Boy

Within a few minutes of insufflation, it felt as though a huge weight was lifted off his shoulders. He gained clarity which made him confront the direct cause of why he was feeling down in the first place.

Agreed, swim experiences this also. And it lasts for a little while. However, doing recreational doses two days in a row leaves swim in a rather fragile psychological state.

Edit: To Psychonoaut, swim has experienced ketamine paranoia that usually sets in at about the 20 minute mark. This is by no means an overwhelming paranoia but he has noticed it in the background. It's nothing bad. It also seems to gain more ground with more frequent use.

[arman]

SWIM had personal exprience with Ketamine anti-depressant action and, for more info UTFSE

[Expat98]

Thanks Arman, just found your report on it. FYI, here is the link:

http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=32154

[VitaminK22]

Swim used to have bad anxiety that built up to a point where he lost all coordination of his body and would usually fall over or something, this pissed swim off alot and the more he was pissed of at it, the worse it would get, he sees this as a form of depression. Anyway he took ket a few times and started to notice that the anxiety would go away for about a week after the session but then came back. He would never have anxiety when he was on ket, actually, the fact that he wasnt feeling anxious gave him a nice feeling.
Swim then decided to try LSD, which he didnt think was a good idea since it was weed that started the anxiety in the first place, but he thought fuk it, wots the worst that could happen, and went ahead and took just 1 tab. He had the best experience ever and ever since then hes never had an anxiety attack, he has felt anxious at times but doesnt everyone?