User:Laceypage/Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy

Ketamine is a short-acting, noncompetitive N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist. It was discovered by Parke-Davis Labs and Dr. Calvin Lee Stevens in 1962 during research into derivatives of phencyclidine (PCP). It was first used clinically as a veterinary anesthetic. Edward Domino administered the first dose of ketamine to a human in the year 1964. Soon after, Parke-Davis filed a patent for the utilization of the anesthetic. Given its hallucinogenic properties, interest rapidly rose in the possibility of broader avenues of application, including within the field of psychiatry as a treatment for depression, substance use dependence, and more. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) first approved the use of intranasal esketamine (Spravato)—an enantiomer of ketamine—for the use of ketamine-derived therapy for treatment-resistant depression, in 2019. Ketamine is currently one of the two injected general anaesthetics that the World Health Organisation includes in its Model List of Essential Medicines.