Ketamine Case Study Essay

Lucy has lived a life of depression, constantly feeling alone, upset or worthless. Living with alcoholic parents drove her to become an alcoholic as well. Week after week she would come home to find her parents arguing about her. She found everything to be her fault, and she regretted being alive. Lucy was affected by depression. For example, she attempted to commit suicide multiple times in an effort to make her parents lives easier. Eventually after a while she began drinking uncontrollably and becoming a monster like her parents. Once she realized she was becoming the person she vowed never to become, she set off to get help. Ketamine was her answer. Ketamine is being used as a treatment for suicidal contemplation, depression, and alcoholism in Treatment-Resistant Depression (TRD) or Major Depressive Disorders (MDD).
Ketamine, a common antidepressant, is used for suicidal ideation with physical and psychological effects …show more content…
Many patients using ketamine experience these effects (McKenna). Other psychological effects include out-of-body experiences. Patients usually experience these effects within two hours post treatment, in this case 17% of patients reported experiencing the effects (Serafini). “Ketamine is also associated with other common psychological effects such as dissociation/perceptual disorders, transient cognitive deficits, euphoria, increased blood pressure and libido, and potential misuse” (Serafini). Patients often relapse when using ketamine mainly because it was previously referred to as “Special K”. Before ketamine, an addictive drug, was being used as an anesthetic. It was a popular street drug or “Party Drug”, several depressed patients have had drug or alcohol problems before which can cause the relapses during treatment. Many side effects are caused from the relapses; however, common side effects can cause the repetition of those relapses