Ketamine could help save the lives of suicidal people

Researchers say some patients could benefit from being given party drug Two-thirds of patients given drug don't have suicidal thoughts three days later Ketamine is short-term effective treatment for some suicidal patients in hospital Giving suicidal patients ketamine could save thousands of lives each year, a study suggests. Researchers found 63 per cent of patients in the ketamine group had no suicidal thoughts by day three, compared to 31.6 per cent of those in the placebo group. And the treatment kicked in rapidly, with 43.8 per cent of patients feeling better within two hours, compared to 7.3 per cent who didn't get the drug The University of Montpellier researchers found that six weeks after receiving the IV infusion of either ketamine or saline, 69.5 per cent of the ketamine group had not had suicidal thoughts, compared to 56.3 per cent of the placebo group. The findings show 84.6 per cent of bipolar patients given ketamine no longer had suicidal thoughts within three days, compared to 28 per cent of people with the condition in the placebo group. Six weeks later, 69.5 per cent of the ketamine group had not had suicidal thoughts, compared to 56.3 per cent of the placebo group, which the scientists said was not a statistically significant difference.