Many of us know about high-profile examples of ketamine addiction. The Matthew Perry thing. The Elon Musk thing. There’s a trail of tears behind all kinds of drug abuse — including ketamine — and there’s nothing to be gained from pretending otherwise.
That said, the risk of addiction is not something I’d been thinking about until last week, when my doctors reduced the frequency of my own ketamine treatments for depression. I had been receiving treatments twice a week for several months, and now I’m down to once every two weeks. The change has been a bit jarring, I’m still sorting through how I feel about it.
In scientific terms, the literature is unambiguous. Ketamine can be addictive, especially for people with a history of addiction to alcohol or other drugs. According to one report I read this week, ketamine lends itself to addiction. It acts quickly, and it’s strong.
Based on my experience, the risk of ketamine addiction is primarily psychological, not physical. Repeated use alters brain chemistry — that’s the whole point — and people who are depressed or anxious can really benefit from that. Ketamine especially affects the part of the brain involved in mood and cognition, which can trigger addictive cravings. I’m feeling a touch of that this week without my weekly “fix” to look forward to.
Having a week off, I realize I do feel more psychologically balanced after I’ve had a treatment, and I’ve come to like that feeling. I can understand why someone would want more.
So yeah, I’m having small urges of interest in continuing treatments, which makes me think it’s working. Which makes me wonder about my risk of addiction.
From what I can tell, it’s going to take months for me to reach a place where I can judge if I’m doing okay, with or without ketamine. What I don’t know at this time is whether I’ll want to keep having regular treatments — or go ahead and take the training wheels off.