The Effect of Ketamine on Mechanises Underlying Suicidal Ideation and Drug-resistant Major Depression
Status:
Unknown status
Trial end date:
2020-05-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Suicide attempts are a serious concern worldwide. Currently, existing drugs take about three
weeks to show effect on suicidal thoughts and drives. Recent evidence suggests that
intravenous Ketamine exerts a rapid effect in suicidal patients, even after a single
injection. We aim to examine whether oral Ketamine is a safe and effective treatment in
suicidal patients. Following a suicide attempt, patients will be randomized into a group that
will be given Ketamine for 21 days and one that will receive placebo, and assessed using
questionnaires and brain scans. We expect early improvements in suicide scales in the
Ketamine group.
As a secondary goal, this study will use IV ketamine in order to access the extent to which
the experience of the embodied self mediate different levels of "embodied emotion". A better
understanding of these relations will assist in unveiling the cognitive mechanism underlying
the therapeutic effect of ketamine