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New research shows that ketamine can be effective for treating pain, and could be an alternative to opioids.

Patients with mood disorders that are refractory to standard therapies may be candidates for the off-label use of ketamine. According to a report published in JAMA, although ketamine has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for use as an anesthetic for more than 45 years, concerns persist regarding the safety of repeated ketamine dosing.

Despite advances in behavioral and pharmacotherapy interventions, substance use disorders (SUDs) are frequently refractory to treatment. Glutamatergic dysregulation has received increasing attention as one common neuropathology across multiple substances of abuse.

Ketamine, most commonly known for its use as a recreational drug, has in recent years come to be thought of as the biggest breakthrough psychiatric treatment for severe depression in half a century.

Joe Wright has no doubt that ketamine saved his life. A 34-year-old high school teacher who writes poetry every day on a typewriter, Wright was plagued by suicidal impulses for years.