[nickbarnwell]

The problem is that the effect sizes for most anti-depressants is quite small and the role of pharmaceutical companies in advancing their use has been quite a bit larger. The difference between psychotherapy and medication and psychotherapy alone is small.

I would also point out that dialysis, chemotherapy, etc are also quite expensive, time consuming, and difficult to scale. We still consider them valid, life-saving treatments.

[cc-d]

>The problem is that the effect sizes for most anti-depressants is quite small and the role of pharmaceutical companies in advancing their use has been quite a bit larger. The difference between psychotherapy and medication and psychotherapy alone is small.

Ketamine is not your traditional SSRI. You're making the same error as the other poster in grouping all "antidepressants" under the same umbrella, which is particularly egregious when discussing ketamine.

[nickbarnwell]

I am referring to traditional agents, not ketamine. There is insufficient evidence to draw conclusions about Ketamine's usefulness as a rapidly acting agent for treatment of depression.

I lack training in psychopharmacology or neuroscience and thus my interpretation of the research is that of a layperson, but my understanding from talking with psychiatrists on the matter is that it is unlikely that ketamine will become a frontline treatment but its mechanism of action will be explored and lead to the development of new drugs that activate the same pathways in the brain but lack or have lessened anesthetic effect.