Ketamine Enhanced Psychotherapy: Preliminary Clinical Observations on Its Effectiveness in Treating Alcoholism

Abstract

Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic widely used by physicians in the United States and also a psychedelic drug that physicians can legally prescribe off-label within the United States for other therapeutic purposes. It has been used in Russia and elsewhere to successfully treat alcoholism and other psychological or psychiatric problems, but has not been researched for this purpose in the United States. Results of a series of clinical trials using ketamine for treating alcoholism in the United States are retrospectively reported, along with 2 case studies of how psychotherapy facilitated by this substance helped two individuals achieve abstinence through ketamine's transpersonal effects. Considering the massive problems caused by alcoholism, the need to begin formal research studies on ketamine psychotherapy for alcoholism is emphasized.