Health & Fitness
Does Ketamine Therapy Really Work? What the Research Says
Ketamine for mental health has been studied for more than 20 years. Here's what scientists have learned — and what they're still exploring.
For people living with depression, anxiety, PTSD, and other mental health disorders, finding the right treatment can be a long and difficult journey. While many patients benefit from traditional medications and therapy, others continue to struggle despite trying multiple treatment approaches.
For those whom traditional therapies haven’t helped, or haven’t helped effectively enough, ketamine has become a well-established second-line treatment — not least because it has been studied for depression and other mental health conditions for more than two decades, generating an extensive and continually expanding body of research.
"We are seeing a paradigm shift in how the medical community approaches treatment-resistant mental health conditions," explains Dr. Haviva Malina, Medical Director at Keta Medical Center in New York. “The patients for whom conventional treatments don’t work deserve access to treatments supported by strong scientific evidence.”
From Operating Rooms to Mental Health Clinics
Ketamine has been used safely as an anesthetic in human medicine for more than 50 years. Its role in mental health treatment began attracting attention in the year 2000, when researchers at Yale University reported that a single low dose of ketamine produced rapid and potent antidepressant effects. That finding sparked a wave of research that continues today.
Since then, ketamine has been the subject of thousands of scientific papers and hundreds of registered clinical trials for depression alone — more than any other drug studied for depression in the last 25 years. According to an analysis in Frontiers in Neuroscience, “between January 1, 2014, and December 31, 2023, a total of 10,328 articles on ketamine research were published across 1,752 academic journals by 45,891 authors from 8,914 institutions in 128 countries. The publication volume has shown a steady increase over this period.” In 2019, the FDA approved Spravato, a ketamine-derived nasal spray, for treatment-resistant depression, bringing ketamine further into mainstream psychiatric care.
Watch: ABC News features Keta Medical Center’s treatment protocol, patients, and the mechanism behind ketamine therapy.
Why Ketamine Is Different
The exact mechanism behind ketamine's antidepressant effects remains incompletely understood and is the subject of ongoing research. Unlike traditional antidepressants, which primarily target serotonin, ketamine acts on glutamate, the brain's most abundant neurotransmitter. Glutamate plays an important role in learning, memory, and the formation of neural connections.
Researchers believe this triggers a cascade of biological changes that strengthen communication between brain cells and promote the growth of new neural connections. These effects increase neuroplasticity — the brain's ability to adapt and reorganize itself — and are widely considered central to ketamine's rapid antidepressant effects. Scientists believe this process helps reverse some of the effects of chronic stress and improve the brain's ability to regulate mood and emotions.
The Evidence Across Different Conditions
Depression
Depression is the most extensively studied psychiatric application of ketamine. Approximately 30% of people with major depressive disorder do not achieve adequate relief from standard antidepressant treatments, a condition known as treatment-resistant depression. For these patients, multiple systematic reviews published in recent years have reported response rates ranging from 60% to 75%.
In one individual clinical trial of the nasal spray Spravato (esketamine), approximately 52% of patients achieved remission within four weeks of treatment.
PTSD
Researchers have also investigated ketamine's potential in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Studies on PTSD indicate that ketamine can reduce symptoms by at least 30% for approximately two-thirds of patients.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Studies have shown that ketamine can reduce obsessive-compulsive symptoms within hours of intake, with some patients reporting relief lasting up to two weeks.
Bipolar Depression
Ketamine is also being studied as a treatment specifically for bipolar depression. A 2023 review reported response rates of approximately 63%, while other research has also demonstrated a reduction in suicidal ideation.
Postpartum Depression
While research into PPD is relatively new, clinical trials have produced encouraging results and scientists are exploring ketamine's potential in treating it. In a 2024 clinical trial published in The BMJ, researchers found that a single low dose of esketamine administered after childbirth reduced the risk of a major depressive episode by approximately 75% among mothers with prenatal depressive symptoms. At 42 days postpartum, 6.7% of mothers who received esketamine experienced a major depressive episode, compared with 25.4% of those who received a placebo.
Alcohol Use Disorder
Researchers have also investigated ketamine's potential in alcohol use disorder (AUD), particularly when combined with psychotherapy. Two studies reported abstinence rates of approximately 66% to 70% one year after treatment among patients who received ketamine-assisted therapy, substantially higher than rates observed with conventional treatment approaches.
More research has continued to produce encouraging findings. A 2019 study found that 80% of participants experienced reductions in alcohol cravings and consumption following ketamine treatment. Other studies examining ketamine in combination with therapy have also reported higher abstinence rates compared with control groups.
Scientists believe ketamine may support recovery in several ways. In addition to its antidepressant effects, the effects of ketamine may potentially make patients more receptive to psychotherapy and behavioral interventions that support long-term recovery.
Extending the Benefits Through Therapy
One of the most interesting areas of ketamine research involves psychotherapy. Researchers believe ketamine's ability to promote neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to “rewire” itself, may create an opportunity for patients to develop healthier patterns of thinking and behavior. This can potentially enhance the benefits of therapy.
Just recently, in June 2026, Yale researchers Dr. Morgan Hardy and Dr. William Li presented evidence showing that cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) delivered within the 12-to-72-hour period following ketamine treatment can produce more durable antidepressant benefits than ketamine alone.
Their presentation builds on a growing body of research examining ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP). A 2017 study published in Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics found that CBT may sustain ketamine's antidepressant effects, while subsequent studies and reviews have continued to investigate how psychotherapy can help patients maintain improvements after treatment.
Today, ketamine-assisted psychotherapy remains an active area of research. Scientists are looking at how therapy can help extend the benefits of ketamine treatment and support longer-lasting recovery, and at how ketamine in turn can support therapeutic efforts.
What About Long-Term Results?
Long-term outcomes are also an important focus of ketamine research. A 2022 review published in Lancet Psychiatry found that ketamine remained effective and well-tolerated with longer-term use, with no increase in serious side effects over time. Long-term studies of the ketamine-derived medication esketamine have reported sustained improvements in depression symptoms for more than five years.
Researchers are still studying how treatment response evolves in the long term, but existing data has generally supported the sustained effectiveness of ketamine therapy.
Why Medical Supervision Matters
Evidence consistently shows that ketamine treatment is safe when delivered in controlled medical settings. Studies have reported no cases of overdose associated with therapeutic ketamine use in supervised clinical settings and the risk of dependency in a monitored medical environment is considered extremely low. Proper screening, individualized dosing, monitoring, and follow-up care help ensure patient safety and improve the overall treatment experience.
Expanding Access for New Yorkers
Ketamine remains one of the most actively studied drugs in psychiatry. For patients seeking alternatives after years of struggling with depression and other mental health conditions, a wealth of scientific evidence combined with expanding clinical practice has established ketamine as an important option when conventional approaches fail to provide adequate relief.
Keta Medical Center is the largest provider of physician-led ketamine therapy in the tri-state area, with eight locations across New York and New Jersey. The center specializes in evidence-based ketamine treatment for depression, anxiety, PTSD, and other mental health conditions, combining medical oversight with comprehensive and compassionate patient care.
To meet growing demand, Keta Medical Center recently opened its eighth location in Hudson Yards, broadening access to treatment for residents, students, and working professionals in Manhattan.
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