Can ketamine therapy fix the crisis in mental health?

Professor John Krystal dispels the myths around the drug revolutionising how we treat anxiety and depression

- John Krystal

Anti-depressant drugs typically work by targeting the dopamine and serotonin pathways in the brain — by trying to create fleeting moments of happiness. But since the Eighties, we have known that depression can be treated effectively by focusing on a different route: the glutamate pathway.

Glutamate is an energy source for brain cells and we need it more than ever when we are depressed, because messages don’t travel within our brain as they should. Rather than focusing on creating a brief moment of happiness, when you target the glutamate pathway, you give the brain the agency to fix itself in the long term.

And what substance should do this better than ketamine — a Sixties battlefield anaesthetic now more well-known as a horse tranquilliser and a recreational drug.