Everything you need to know about ketamine.

What is ketamine?

Ketamine is an anesthetic. It is a preferred choice in operating rooms and clinical settings today due to its excellent safety profile. First approved by the US Food & Drug Administration in 1970, Ketamine was originally brought to market as a safer alternative to existing anesthetics.

Ketamine as an antidepressant.

At the start of the 21st century, ketamine was found to be remarkably effective as an antidepressant when administered in low doses.

Ketamine triggers neuroplasticity (a state when your brain can more easily learn, change and adapt), allowing the brain to make new connections and disconnect from old patterns of thinking, which contribute to mental health symptoms. This creates a temporary window for establishing new habits, thought patterns, and perceptions.

Unlike traditional antidepressants which can take weeks to make an impact, Ketamine can rapidly reduce depressive symptoms within two hours of administration, and this relief can be sustained for up to two weeksfollowing just a single dose.

Why ketamine?

Safe

Ketamine has been studied as an anaesthetic for over 50 years.

Effective

As an antidepressant, ketamine has been proven to provide rapid and sustained relief.

Legal

Ketamine is approved for therapeutic use in the US and Canada.

Quick

Ketamine takes effect in minutes, and only lasts for about 45-90 minutes.

Flexible

Dosage is personalized throughout treatment, customized just for you.

Frequently asked questions.

Is ketamine a psychedelic?

Although ketamine works on different parts of the brain than classic psychedelics like psilocybin, the experiences on ketamine can be very similar.

Is ketamine safe?

Ketamine has been used safely as an anesthetic for over 50 years at doses much higher than we use at Field Trip.
As with any drug, if misused or abused, there can be risks associated with ketamine, but the harm to those who use it and the people around them is actually lower than other commonly used recreational drugs such as alcohol, tobacco and cannabis.³
When taken infrequently under clinical supervision, the risks for addiction and adverse reactions are extremely low, and the potential for harm is greatly minimized.

How is ketamine taken at Field Trip?

How does ketamine feel?

A sense of sacredness, a deeply felt positive mood, a transcendence of space and time, and ineffability – the core components of a mystical experience – can all apply to a ketamine exploration. However, ketamine’s effect is highly personal and depends on a person’s mindset and the setting of their experience.
Generally, clients report…
- Sense of calm
- Feelings of awe or joy
- Tingling sensations
- Slightly elevated heart rate
- Altered sense of time and space
- In higher doses, reduced awareness of the physical body or “out of body” experience

Are there ketamine side effects?

The most common reported side effect is nausea, which is felt in less than 5% of people. To minimize this, we ask our clients to fast beforehand. We can also administer anti-nausea medication before and during your session to reduce any discomfort.

Other side effects, which are temporary and only arise in 10% of people, include:
- Headache
- Elevated heart rate
- Drowsiness, light-headedness, dizziness
- Increased blood pressure

Learn more about ketamine on our blog.

The way ketamine is used can change its effectiveness.

While ketamine alone can be used as an antidepressant, there is mounting evidence suggesting that ketamine, when administered with psychotherapy, has longer lasting improvements in depression and anxiety severity. ^4-6

Zarate et al (2006). A randomized trial of an N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonist in treatment-resistant major depression.
Yale Medicine, 2019
Nutt, D. J., King, L.A., & Phillips, L. D. (2010), Drug harms in the UK: a multicriteria decision analysis. The Lancet, 376(9752). 1558-1565. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(10)61462-6
Dore J. et al (2019). Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP): Patient Demographics, Clinical Data and Outcomes in Three Large Practices Administering Ketamine with Psychotherapy.
aan het Rot, M. et al (2010). Safety and efficacy of repeated-dose intravenous ketamine for treatment-resistant depression
Field Trip Health Preliminary Data, 2020-2022