higher happiness reported in ketamine therapy patients

By: Shannon Keane, NP-C

A study conducted in Taiwan in 2020 revealed that a higher reported “happiness” state during ketamine infusions predicted a better outcome in patients experiencing treatment resistant depression.

This study assessed happiness levels three times throughout a low dose ketamine infusion. The researchers used a visual analog scale for happiness (VASH) which is essentially a rating scale from 0 to 10 measuring the level of reported happiness ( 0 being “not at all”, and 10 being “very”).

The researchers found that there seemed to be a correlation between reported higher levels of happiness during the ketamine infusion with a greater reduction in depressive symptoms.

This study demonstrated how the subjective mental state during a ketamine infusion is quite important when predicting if a ketamine series will be effective. 

Out of 71 patients in the study, 44 of them reported feelings of happiness during the ketamine infusion. Each patient’s depressive symptoms were monitored from pre-infusion to 2 weeks post infusion using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS). The researchers found that patients who consistently reported higher levels of happiness during their ketamine experience, also reported a reduction in their depressive symptoms for up to two weeks post-infusion. 

Ketamine infusions can help with depression, and can help you or a friend fight depression. This treatment for depression has demonstrated to be an effective, fast-acting and revolutionary option in psychiatry. 

Learn About Ketamine Therapy at Bloom Mental Health


Referenced Study: 
Chen MH, Lin WC, Wu HJ, Bai YM, Li CT, Tsai SJ, Hong CJ, Tu PC, Cheng CM, Su TP. Happiness During Low-Dose Ketamine Infusion Predicts Treatment Response: Reexploring the Adjunctive Ketamine Study of Taiwanese Patients With Treatment-Resistant Depression. J Clin Psychiatry. 2020 Nov 10;81(6):20m13232. doi: 10.4088/JCP.20m13232. PMID: 33176071.

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