Background
- Ketamine is a new medicine for unipolar depression that works well in the short-term
- There are some early studies that suggests ketamine may also help Bipolar depression
- The early studies used injections which causes a strong dissociative reaction or “trip”
- Our study will involve swallowing ketamine liquid which is easier to tolerate
- The aim of our study is to learn if ketamine improves Bipolar depression
Who can participate in this study?
- Healthy volunteers with Bipolar depression
- Aged between 18 and 65 years
- If you have serious medical or other mental health issues including strong self-harm or suicidal thoughts you are not able to participate.
Recruitment Process
You or your treatment provider can contact our research nurses to learn more about the study and ask questions. If you wish to proceed further, we will organise a meeting for more assessment and an informed consent discussion.
What does the study involve?
- Each participant will receive ketamine twice weekly for eight weeks
- The first visit takes half a day. Subsequent visits will take about two hours
- We will monitor your mood during the eight weeks and for 12 weeks after treatment to learn if any benefits are maintained
Contact information
Thank you for taking the time to consider being part of this project.
For more details, information or to discuss a referral, please contact us or email our study nurses
Tel +64 3 372 6700
Email psychmednurse@otago.ac.nz