Impact of ketamine assisted psychotherapy in anxiety and depression symptoms

: a quasi-experimental study

Abstract

Ketamine, commonly used as an anesthetic, has shown promising therapeutic potential in subanesthetic doses for treating mental health conditions such as treatment-resistant depression (TRD) and anxiety. When integrated with psychotherapy in a clinical context, it appears to induce antidepressant and anxiolytic effects. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) protocol in reducing depressive and anxiety symptoms in a naturalistic clinic setting, as well as to assess the impact of sociodemographic variables on its efficacy. A quasi-experimental study with a pre-post design was carried out with 27 participants from a KAP clinic in Barcelona. Symptoms were assessed before and after the intervention with the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 scale (GAD-7). Findings revealed statistically significant reductions in symptom scores post-KAP. A large proportion of the patients shifted from moderate (33.3% on both BDI-II and GAD-7) or severe (40.7% for BDI-II and 37% for GAD-7) to minimal (63% for BDI-II and 51.9% for GAD-7) categories. Sociodemographic variables were not associated with the outcomes, although the baseline symptom severity may partially explain the reduction observed. These results support existing evidence for the therapeutic potential of KAP. The limitations (small sample size, absence of control group and reliance on self report measures) justify the need for future research with larger samples, controlled trials and follow up assessments.

Date of Award	11 Jul 2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Maria Carmo Carvalho (Supervisor)