What Is Treatment-Resistant Depression?

Chronic depression or treatment-resistant depression is depression that has failed to respond to at least 3 antidepressant medications from different drug classes. If your primary care doctor prescribed antidepressants and your depression symptoms continue despite treatment, ask your doctor if he or she can recommend a health care provider who specializes in diagnosing and treating treatment-resistant depression. One of the medications used to treat this condition is Ketamine. Ketamine is used for rapid relief of hard-to-treat depressive symptoms and its effects can last from days to weeks. Usually, it’s given in decreasing frequencies over several weeks. The FDA approved a nasal spray form called Esketamine (Spravato) that’s given in a physician’s office or a clinic under the supervision of a health care provider to monitor for possible serious side effects and because of the potential for abuse and misuse.

The Palms Psychiatry & Mental Health is a Medical Ketamine Clinic